Paleozoic Period
The Silurian in Pakistan
444 – 419 Ma
From 444 to 419 million years ago — the first vascular land plants and jawed fishes, under warm, high seas.
In Pakistan
The Silurian is thin or absent across most of Pakistan; it is represented mainly in the Chitral and Karakoram successions of the far north, where it forms part of the continuous Palaeozoic marine record of those terranes.
This reference records 10 units assigned to the Silurian across 3 basins, most commonly conglomerate, metamorphic rocks, limestone.
At a glance
- 10
- units
- 3
- basins
- 3
- provinces
- 4
- georeferenced
- 3
- with fossils
- 9
- type localities
- 1,600 m
- max thickness
- 16
- sources
Rock types
- conglomerate (3)
- metamorphic rocks (3)
- limestone (2)
- igneous rocks (1)
Based on the primary lithology recorded for each unit; some units span more than one rock type.
Fossils recorded
- Acritarchs
- Conodonts
- Brachiopods
- Ammonoids (rare)
- Bivalves
- Crinoids
- Pelecypods
- Cephalopods
- Nautiloids
Units of the Silurian
- Baroghil Group Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
- Daradar Dolomite NW Indian plate margin
- Landikotal Formation Northern Indus Suture
- Lun Shale
- Owsi Nala Limestone Northern Indus Suture
- Panjpir Formation Middle Ordovician(?)–Late Silurian (Pridolian)
- Shagai Limestonereview Northern Indus Suture
- Sikaram Series NW Indian plate margin
- Spinghar Quartzite NW Indian plate margin
- Tursak Formation Northern Indus Suture
Provinces — Hazara Basin · Hindukush-Chitral · Khyber–Nowshera Belt.