Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation In GSP lexicon

Gilgit Formation

Cretaceous (Jaglot Group, Kohistan arc)

Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc · Northern Greenstone Belt

Cited in 9 sources Last reviewed Aug 4, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Early CretaceousCretaceous (Jaglot Group, Kohistan arc)
Named by: Khan T. et al. (1996)
Type locality: Sai Nala, near Gilgit, Kohistan (Gilgit-Baltistan), northern Pakistan.
Thickness: about 1 km (succession of schists, paragneisses, calc-silicates and amphibolites, some derived from pillowed basalts)
Lithology: Interlayered schists, paragneisses and amphibolites (the Gilgit–Kachura gneisses of Le Fort & Pecher).
Synonyms: Not recorded

The metamorphosed lower part of the Kohistan arc's Jaglot Group — schists, gneisses and amphibolites of Jurassic(?) age.

Gilgit formation is named by Khan T. et al. (1996) and consists of interlayered sequence of schists, paragneisses and amphibolites may be of Jurassic age. LeFort and Pecher (2001) have included this formation in their Gilgit-Katchura gneisses.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Kohistan Arc column

IgneousLimestoneMetamorphicShale / mudConformable

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. True scale makes height ∝ recorded thickness; hatched = thickness not recorded. Ages approximate, for ordering.

This unit (highlighted) within its province column; faded ends continue above and below. Line style marks the contact type.

Distribution & setting

Kohistan Arc

Basin: Kohistan-Ladakh Magmatic Arc
Region: Northern Greenstone Belt
Depositional environment: volcanic-arc, metamorphic
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The lowest, metamorphosed part of the Jaglot Group of the Kohistan island arc; its schists and amphibolites represent deformed arc-basement and volcaniclastic rocks of the intra-oceanic Kohistan arc.

Research notes (8)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Name & nomenclature (1)

Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22 - the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan's compiled lexicon (listed in the memoir's contents). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (4)

Treloar et al. (1996) treat the Gilgit paragneisses (Khan et al. 1993) as a constituent of the mid-Cretaceous Jaglot Group rather than a separately dated formation — noting a possible tension with the curated Jurassic age; no independent age is given for the paragneisses in this paper.

Treloar, P.J., Petterson, M.G., Jan, M.Q. & Sullivan, M.A. (1996)
Khan T. et al. (1997) define the Gilgit Formation as a constituent of the Cretaceous Jaglot Group of the Kohistan island arc (arc active in Late Jurassic–Cretaceous times); its overlying Gashu-Confluence Volcanics and Thelichi Formation are the equivalents of the Chalt Volcanics and the Albian–Aptian Yasin Group, placing the Gilgit Formation in the Cretaceous. The prior uncited 'Jurassic' age is superseded (era/period/epoch reset accordingly).

Khan, T., Jan, M.Q., Khan, M.A. & Kausar, A.B. (1997)
Yamamoto et al. (2011): in the Thelichi section the Jaglot Group forms a north-dipping tectonic stack with consistent northward younging (no fold-repeated 'Jaglot syncline'), the Gilgit Formation being the structurally highest of the three units (Thelichi Formation → Gashu-Confluence Volcanics → Gilgit Formation); graded bedding, cross-bedding and pillow structures confirm clastic-and-volcanic origins in a Cretaceous back-arc basin.

Yamamoto, H., Rehman, H.U., Kaneko, Y. & Kausar, A.B. (2011)
Kazmi & Abbasi (2008): the book tags the Gilgit Formation '(Jurassic?)' as the lowest unit of the Jaglot (schist) Group (with the Gashu Confluence Volcanics and Thelichi Formation). The curated Cretaceous age (from the primary Khan 1997 Gilgit study and six other sources) is retained; the book's tentative Jurassic alternative is recorded as a note, and the member-of-Jaglot-Group relationship is confirmed.

Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)

Lithology (2)

Khan T. et al. (1997): the Gilgit Formation is a thick turbiditic metasedimentary succession (>80% paragneisses and schists — metapelite, semi-metapelite and semi-metapsammite protoliths) interstratified with amphibolites and calc-silicates, regionally metamorphosed up to sillimanite grade and locally migmatitic (peak ~640 °C, 6.7 kbar). Type locality Sai Nala; lower contact not exposed (presumed underplated by the Chilas Complex), upper contact conformable with the Gashu-Confluence Volcanics. Lithologically resembles the Katzarah Formation of Baltistan.

Khan, T., Jan, M.Q., Khan, M.A. & Kausar, A.B. (1997)
Khan T. et al. (1994), mapping the Kohistan terrane between Gilgit and Chilas: the Gilgit Formation is the ~1 km-thick basal unit of the Jaglot Group, a succession of schists, paragneisses, calc-silicates and amphibolites (some amphibolites derived from pillowed basalts), reaching sillimanite grade in the paragneisses. Its stratigraphy is repeated by the Gilgit anticline and Jaglot syncline; an earlier Jurassic–Cretaceous age correlation (with the Kalam succession) is noted, but the formation is here mapped as the base of the Cretaceous Jaglot Group.

Khan, T., Khan, M.A. & Jan, M.Q. (1994)

Geological significance (1)

Alam et al. (2024): the Gilgit Metamorphic Complex (host of the Gilgit Formation, northern Kohistan Island Arc) is intruded, in the Sakar Koi to Chimis Dass area, by small bodies of granite, granodiorite, gabbroic-diorite and basaltic trachy-andesite (SiO2 53.6-73.2 wt%) of a calc-alkaline metaluminous series (the granite peraluminous). On tectonic-discrimination diagrams the granite and granodiorite plot in the syn-collisional field while the gabbro-diorite and basaltic trachy-andesite plot in the volcanic-arc field, interpreted as upper-mantle-sourced magmatism that became more acidic with time. Records post-/syn-metamorphic arc magmatism cutting the Gilgit metasediments (not an age revision of the formation).

Alam, M., Ali, H., Hussain, I., Hussain, Z., Azam, M., Baig, S.S., Qureshi, J.A. & Khan, H. (2024)

Sources (9)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Treloar, P.J., Petterson, M.G., Jan, M.Q. & Sullivan, M.A. (1996). A re-evaluation of the stratigraphy and evolution of the Kohistan arc sequence, Pakistan Himalaya: implications for magmatic and tectonic arc-building processes. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 153, 681-693.
Khan, T., Jan, M.Q., Khan, M.A. & Kausar, A.B. (1997). High-grade metasedimentary rocks (Gilgit Formation) in the vicinity of Gilgit, Kohistan, northern Pakistan. Journal of Mineralogy, Petrology and Economic Geology, 92, 465-479.
Yamamoto, H., Rehman, H.U., Kaneko, Y. & Kausar, A.B. (2011). Tectonic stacking of back-arc formations in the Thelichi section (Indus valley) of the Kohistan arc, northern Pakistan. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 40, 417-426.
Khan, T., Khan, M.A. & Jan, M.Q. (1994). Geology between Gilgit and Chilas, Kohistan, N. Pakistan. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar, 27, 99-112.
Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008). Stratigraphy and Historical Geology of Pakistan. Department & National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar. 524 pp. ISBN 978-969-9119.
Alam, M., Ali, H., Hussain, I., Hussain, Z., Azam, M., Baig, S.S., Qureshi, J.A. & Khan, H. (2024). Petrographical and geochemical constraints on the origin of the igneous intrusions in Gilgit Metamorphic Complex, northern Kohistan Island Arc (Pakistan): Implications for Petrogenesis, magma evolution and tectonic setting. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 57(1), 79-95.

Reviewer confidence: low

Every fact on this page is source-cited. This entry is part of the peer-archived Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991, CC‑BY‑4.0).

Lexicon status: Name attested in the Shah (1977/2009) Geological Survey of Pakistan compilation — the national stratigraphic lexicon. This records where the name is documented; it is not an endorsement of the unit’s definition, age or figures.

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Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Gilgit Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_gilgitformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Gilgit Formation} --- Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21363991},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991}
}

Archived dataset: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991 (CC‑BY‑4.0) · Direct link to this entry: https://stratigraphy.pk/formation/gilgit-formation (accessed October 7, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Khan T. et al. (1996).

Above · younger

Gashu-Confluence Volcanics

Cretaceous