Paleozoic • Cambrian In GSP lexicon

Abbottabad Formation

Cambrian

Cited in 13 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · CambrianCambrian
Named by: Marks and Ali (1962)
Type locality: Sirban Hill near Abbottabad (the Kakul area), Hazara34.1450°N, 73.2450°E
Thickness: 500-1500 m
Lithology: Dolomite, limestone, sandstone and quartzite (the Sirban dolomite).
Synonyms: Not recorded

The Cambrian dolomite-and-limestone unit of the Abbottabad area, above the Tanawal quartzites.

Named after Abbottabad. Well exposed from Tarbela to Kashmir. Includes Tanaki, Sangargali, Mahamdagali and Mirpur members. Contains phosphate horizons.

Fossils

Stromatolites Trace fossils

Contacts

In the Hazara Basin column

IgneousMetamorphicLimestoneShale / mudFossils recordedConformableUnconformity

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type (wavy = unconformity inferred from a missing period). 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

Hazara Basin Azad Kashmir

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine, shallow marine
Coordinates: 34.1450°N, 73.2450°E

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See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Sirban Hill (Abbottabad Formation)

Hazara Basin

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The Cambrian carbonate succession of the Hazara region (the Sirban dolomite), resting unconformably on the Late Proterozoic Tanawal Formation; phosphatic beds at its base form the Hazara/Kakul phosphate.

Sources (13)

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.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Majeed, K.U., Mughal, M.S., Tan, X.-J., Criniti, S., Civitelli, M., Siddique, K., Tirmazi, S.Z.S., Baig, M.S. & Critelli, S. (2025). Petrological and stratigraphical investigations of newly discovered phosphatic microfossils from the Sirban Formation, Hazara Basin, North Pakistan: Unveiling the late Sinian to middle Cambrian ecosystem. Journal of Palaeogeography, 14(4), 100288.
Butt, A.A. (1989). An Overview of the Hazara Arc Stratigraphy, Northern Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 1-11.
Bhatti, N.A. (1989). Lesser India Versus Greater India on the Plate Scale. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 71-73.
Umar, M., Betts, P., Khan, M.M.S., Sabir, M.A., Farooq, M., Zeb, A., Jadoon, U.K. & Ali, S. (2015). Signatures of Late Neoproterozoic Gondwana assembly and Marinoan glaciation in Lesser Himalaya: a palaeogeographical and stratigraphical approach. Acta Geologica Polonica, 65(1), 1-19.
Fuchs, G. (1970). The significance of Hazara to Himalayan geology. Jahrbuch der Geologischen Bundesanstalt (Vienna), Sonderband 15, 21-23.
Qasim, M., Khan, M.A. & Haneef, M. (2014). Stratigraphic characterization of the Early Cambrian Abbottabad Formation in the Sherwan area, Hazara region, N. Pakistan: Implications for Early Paleozoic stratigraphic correlation in NW Himalayas, Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 47(1), 25-40.
Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975). Geology of the Southern Himalaya in Hazara, Pakistan, and Adjacent Areas. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-C.
Calkins, J.A. (1967). The Geology of the Western Limb of the Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis, West Pakistan and Kashmir. U.S. Geological Survey, open-file report.

Reviewer confidence: high

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.

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_abbottabadformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Abbottabad 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/abbottabad-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Marks and Ali (1962).

Below · older

Tanawal Formation

Neoproterozoic

Above · younger

Hazira Formation