Paleozoic • Permian formation GSP memoir

Spinkai Formation

Permian

Northern Indus Suture · Malakand

Cited in 2 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · PermianPermian
Named by: Tahirkheli et al. (1975)
Type locality: Spinkai, Malakand area
Thickness: ~90 m
Lithology: Limestone and shale.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A limestone-and-shale unit of the Malakand area near Spinkai.

Spinkai formation is named after the Spinkai village in the upper part of Baraghat nala by Tahirkheli et al. (1975). It is exposed in the north of Bara valley, extending eastward from Spinkai to Mughabagh Kandao and Chora Hoda valley. It consists of limestone and shale.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Swat–Malakand column

MixedLimestoneMetamorphicConformable

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

Swat–Malakand

Basin: Northern Indus Suture
Region: Malakand
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A limestone-and-shale unit of the Malakand/Swat area (Tahirkheli et al., 1975).

Sources (2)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
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.

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: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_spinkaiformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Spinkai 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/spinkai-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Tahirkheli et al. (1975).