Precambrian • Neoproterozoic In GSP lexicon

Salkhala Formation

Late Precambrian (Neoproterozoic)

Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Precambrian · NeoproterozoicLate Precambrian (Neoproterozoic)
Named by: Wadia, in Pascoe (1929), as the 'Salkhala Series'
Type locality: Salkhala village, Kishanganga River, Kashmir34.5850°N, 73.7300°E
Thickness: 3000+ m
Lithology: Schist, phyllite, quartzite, carbonaceous material, marble
Synonyms: Salkhala Series

A thick Late Precambrian (Neoproterozoic) high-grade metamorphic sequence of schist, phyllite, quartzite and marble in the Kashmir Himalaya, named after Salkhala village on the Kishanganga River and broadly equivalent to the Hazara Formation.

Named after Salkhala village on Kishanganga River, Kashmir. Equivalent to Hazara Formation. High-grade metamorphic sequence with graphitic horizons.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Azad Kashmir column

LimestoneMetamorphicMixedFossils recordedUnconformityConformable

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

Azad Kashmir

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: Not recorded
Coordinates: 34.5850°N, 73.7300°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

One of the oldest metasedimentary successions of the Kashmir Lesser Himalaya, carrying graphitic (carbonaceous) horizons; regarded as part of the reworked Indian-plate cover and correlated with the Hazara Formation.

Sources (6)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
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. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
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.
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, 29 p. (Geological Investigations in Pakistan).

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_salkhalaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Salkhala 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/salkhala-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Wadia, in Pascoe (1929), as the 'Salkhala Series'.