Kohistan Batholith
Cretaceous to Oligocene (c. 104-26 Ma; Stage 1 c. 104 Ma pre-suturing, Stages 2-3 c. 85-26 Ma post-suturing)
Kohistan Arc · Kohistan Batholith
Cretaceous-Paleogene in the time scale →Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026
- Rank
- complex
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Cretaceous-PaleogeneCretaceous to Oligocene (c. 104-26 Ma; Stage 1 c. 104 Ma pre-suturing, Stages 2-3 c. 85-26 Ma post-suturing)
- Named by
- Petterson & Windley (1985)
- Type locality
- Northern Kohistan (Gilgit-Chalt-Hunza belt), intruding the Jaglot and Chalt sequences.
- Thickness
- Not recorded
- Lithology
- Calc-alkaline gabbroic to granitoid plutons — tonalites (e.g. the Matum Das Stage-1 tonalite), diorites, granodiorites, granites and granite sheets (e.g. Parri, Indus Confluence).
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
The Kohistan Batholith is the calc-alkaline gabbroic-to-granitoid plutonic suite intruding the northern Kohistan arc, divided (Petterson & Windley 1985) into three stages: Stage 1 plutons (c. 104 Ma) predate suturing to Asia and are deformed with the Jaglot Group, while Stage 2 (from c. 85 Ma) and Stage 3 (to c. 26 Ma) plutons postdate suturing. Its isotopic evolution records a shift from mantle-derived to increasingly crust-derived magmas, interpreted as arc thickening and lower-arc melting after suturing.
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
Lower contact — not recorded; upper contact — intrusive.
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
- Basin
- Kohistan Arc
- Region
- Kohistan Batholith
- Depositional environment
- volcanic-arc, plutonic
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
The principal arc-plutonic record of Kohistan; the deformed Stage-1 (pre-suturing) versus undeformed Stage 2-3 (post-suturing) plutons provide the main relative-dating framework for the arc. Stage-2 plutonism (from c. 85 Ma) was driven by heat from Chilas Complex emplacement.
Sources (6)
- 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. Journal of the Geological Society, London, 153, 681-693.
- 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.
- 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.
- Khan, M.A., Jan, M.Q., Windley, B.F., Tarney, J. & Thirlwall, M.F. (1989). The Chilas mafic-ultramafic igneous complex; the root of the Kohistan island arc in the Himalaya of northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 75-94.
- Hanson, C.R. (1989). The northern suture in the Shigar valley, Baltistan, northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 203-215.
- Madin, I.P., Lawrence, R.D. & Ur-Rehman, S. (1989). The northwestern Nanga Parbat-Haramosh massif; evidence for crustal uplift at the northwestern corner of the Indian craton. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 169-182.
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
Qudsi, L. (2026). Kohistan Batholith. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_kohistanbatholith,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Kohistan Batholith} --- 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/kohistan-batholith (accessed August 30, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Petterson & Windley (1985).
Related units
Referenced in other successions
Underlain by Chilas Complex
Saved on this device only.