Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation In GSP lexicon

Krinj Limestone

Cretaceous

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · CretaceousCretaceous
Named by: Desio (1959)
Type locality: Krinj village, Lutkho valley, Chitral36.0000°N, 71.8011°E
Thickness: about 2.5 km
Lithology: Massive platform-type limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A thick (about 2.5 km) Cretaceous platform limestone near Krinj, below the Reshun Formation.

Krinj limestone is named after Krinj village in Lutkho Valley East of Shigar by Desio (1959) for platform type limestone about 2.5km thick.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Karakoram column

LimestoneSandstoneMixedFossils recordedConformable

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: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: marine, shallow marine
Coordinates: 36.0000°N, 71.8011°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A thick platform carbonate forming the north-western limb of the Chitral Slate anticline; placed in the Cretaceous by Pudsey et al. (1985), although earlier workers had proposed ages from Permian to Triassic. It is unconformably overlain by the Reshun Formation.

Sources (5)

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.
Zanchi, A. & Gaetani, M. (2011). The geology of the Karakoram range, Pakistan: the new 1:100,000 geological map of Central-Western Karakoram. Italian Journal of Geosciences, 130(2), 161-262.

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: 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). Krinj Limestone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_krinjlimestone,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Krinj Limestone} --- 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/krinj-limestone (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Desio (1959).

Above · younger

Reshun Formation