Cenozoic • Neogene–Quaternary sequence Informal Literature

Bunthang Sequence

~3.2–0.73 Ma (Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene)

Skardu intermontane basin · Skardu, Baltistan (Karakoram Himalaya)

Neogene–Quaternary in the time scale →

Cited in 1 source Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: sequence
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Neogene–Quaternary · Pliocene–Pleistocene~3.2–0.73 Ma (Late Pliocene to Early Pleistocene)
Named by: Cronin (1982)
Type locality: Skardu Basin along the Indus River near Skardu, Baltistan; largest outcrop at Bunthang.
Thickness: ~1.3 km
Lithology: Upper Cenozoic fluvio-lacustrine intermontane-basin fill.
Synonyms: Not recorded

Nomenclature

Informal name. First defined by Cronin (1982).

Browse all alternative & superseded names →

An up to ~1.3-km-thick upper Cenozoic sedimentary sequence filling the Skardu intermontane basin along the Indus River in the Karakoram Himalaya, Baltistan. Named by Cronin (1982) from the Balti name of its largest outcrop, it records a lake/basin phase between about 3.2 and 0.73 Ma, when uplift of the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh syntaxis downstream ponded the Indus at Skardu.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

MixedIgneousConglomerateConformable

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

Karakoram

Basin: Skardu intermontane basin
Region: Skardu, Baltistan (Karakoram Himalaya)
Depositional environment: lacustrine, fluvial
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

Records a late Pliocene–Pleistocene ponding of the Indus River in the Skardu intermontane basin, attributed to differential uplift of the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh syntaxis downstream — a sensitive record of vertical tectonic movement in the Karakoram Himalaya (Cronin 1989).

Sources (1)

Cronin, V.S. (1989). Structural setting of the Skardu intermontane basin, Karakoram Himalaya, Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 183-201.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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: Defined in journal or other literature; not found in a GSP memoir. There is no body currently ratifying unit status, so provenance is shown in place of a formal ruling.

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_bunthangsequence,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Bunthang Sequence} --- 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/bunthang-sequence (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Cronin (1982).