Source provenance

DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993). Stratigraphy south of the Main Mantle Thrust, Lower Swat, Pakistan. In: Treloar, P.J. & Searle, M.P. (eds), Himalayan Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 74, 207-220.

Cited by 8 units (7 published) · 12 field-level citations · 16 revision notes.

Full text reviewed (reviewer-supplied PDF). The DEFINING paper for the Alpurai Group of Lower Swat (south of the Main Mantle Thrust): Marghazar Formation (Carboniferous or younger) + Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations (Triassic or younger), unconformable on the Manglaur formation, with the Jobra formation in lenses beneath. CORRECTION: this paper does NOT cover the Kishar/Landai/Mekhband formations — that was an agent-search mis-attribution (those belong to DiPietro & Isachsen 2001/2004, Besham/Indus-syntaxis), now reverted. Cited here for the Alpurai Group units.

This page is the reverse of each unit's per-field citations — it shows exactly what this reference supports, making the dataset's “no source, no fact” rule browsable both ways.

Units citing this source

• Paleozoic Alpurai Group
  Lower contact (overlies)
  • Age: DEFINED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Alpurai Group (Lower Swat, south of the Main Mantle Thrust) = Marghazar Formation (Carboniferous or younger) + Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations (Triassic or younger); it unconformably overlies the Manglaur formation, with the Jobra formation in lenses beneath. Type sections designated for each unit. This is the defining paper for the group.
  • Introduced by: DiPietro et al. (1993): introduced by Kazmi et al. (1984) as the 'Alpurai schist' and raised to group rank — subdivided into the Marghazar, Kashala, Saidu and Nikanai Ghar formations — by DiPietro (1990). The group records Late-Palaeozoic breakup of Gondwana, a passive Mesozoic shelf, and drowning of the shelf at the onset of the Himalayan orogeny; it unconformably overlies the Manglaur Formation and the Swat granitic gneiss.
• Paleozoic Jafar Kandao Formation Devonian–Carboniferous
  Age
  • Age: Corrected: the previous age ('Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician') contradicted the unit's own period field (Devonian–Carboniferous). DiPietro et al. (1993), after Pogue & Hussain (1988), report conodonts of late Famennian–Tournaisian near the base and Westphalian B some 20 m below the Karapa greenschist, giving a Late Devonian to Mid-Carboniferous age. Lithology: a laterally variable ~1100 m sequence of argillite, sandy limestone, conglomerate, quartzite and calcareous quartzite.
• Paleozoic Jobra Formation Ordovician
  • Age: DiPietro et al. (1993, Table 1) place the Jobra Formation (with a query) at the Early-Middle Paleozoic level, unconformably below the Alpurai Group. This is CONSISTENT with the dataset s Early-Middle Ordovician age (the text-level “unknown age” was hedging; the correlation chart positions it). No conflict.
  • Lithology: DiPietro et al. (1993) apply the name 'Jobra formation' in Lower Swat to isolated lenses of fine-grained, wollastonite-bearing calc-silicate rock interlayered with quartzite, tremolite marble, garnetiferous schist and amphibolite, overlying the Ilam gneiss and unconformably below the Marghazar Formation (formalised at formation rank by DiPietro 1990). Its age is uncertain — possibly an early–middle Palaeozoic shelf sequence, perhaps correlative with the Devonian Nowshera Formation. This metamorphic Swat unit is lithologically distinct from the canonical (Ordovician, Peshawar-basin) Jobra Formation (Misri Banda Quartzite); the two may be homonyms.
• Mesozoic Kashala Formation Triassic
  Introduced byType locality
  • Age: CONFIRMED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Kashala Formation of the Alpurai Group, Triassic or younger. Corroborates the Triassic age.
  • Geological significance: DiPietro et al. (1993): marks the transition to a stable carbonate shelf and may correlate in part with the Zanskar Supergroup of western India; thickness ranges from <700 m north of Jowar to >1200 m near Baroch.
• Precambrian Manglaur Formation Ediacaran

  Listed as a corroborating source for this unit.

• Paleozoic Marghazar Formation Carboniferous
  Type localityIntroduced by
  • Age: CONFIRMED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Marghazar Formation (subunits Am1-Am4) of the Alpurai Group unconformably overlies the Ilam gneiss and Manglaur formation in central Lower Swat; Carboniferous or younger. Corroborates the Carboniferous age. Distinct from the Karakoram Margach Formation.
  • Age: DiPietro et al. (1993): Late Carboniferous (Westphalian) or younger, constrained by conodont dating of the correlative Jafar Kandao Formation and Karapa greenschist.
  • Lithology: DiPietro et al. (1993): the only Alpurai Group formation containing amphibolites — a phlogopite-bearing marble forms discontinuous layers at the base and a persistent 20-50 m amphibolite horizon caps the formation; interpreted as a rift facies correlated with the Panjal Traps of western India.
• Mesozoic Nikanai Ghar Formation Triassic under review
  Introduced byType localityThicknessThickness (m)
  • Lithology: DiPietro et al. (1993): thick-bedded dark grey to white marble and dolomitic marble (at least 1200 m in the south), distinguished from the Kashala Formation by the near-absence of micaceous rock; the lower contact with the Kashala Formation is gradational.
  • Thickness (m): Thickness surfaced from the lithology note: the Nakanai Ghar Formation is at least 1200 m of thick-bedded marble and dolomitic marble in the south (DiPietro et al. 1993).
• Mesozoic Saidu Formation Triassic–Jurassic
  ThicknessThickness (m)
  • Age: CONFIRMED by DiPietro et al. (1993, full text): the Saidu Formation of the Alpurai Group (Triassic or younger), interpreted as shelf drowning beneath the MMT suture melange. Corroborates the Triassic-Jurassic age.
  • Introduced by: DiPietro et al. (1993) attribute the name and type section (road cuts ~1 km north of Saidu) to Martin et al. (1962), with Kazmi et al. (1984); formalised at formation rank by DiPietro (1990). (Canonical retains 'Kazmi et al. (1986)'.)
  • Geological significance: DiPietro et al. (1993): graphitic phyllite (up to ~1000 m) interpreted as recording drowning of the shelf beneath the advancing Main Mantle Thrust melange; may correlate with the Lamayuru Formation of western India.
  • Thickness (m): Thickness surfaced from the geological-significance note: the Saidu Formation is up to ~1000 m of graphitic phyllite (DiPietro et al. 1993).