The Cambrian in Pakistan
539 – 485 Ma
From 539 to 485 million years ago — the “Cambrian explosion”, when most major animal groups first appear in the fossil record.
In Pakistan
The Cambrian is best seen in the Salt Range, where the purple Khewra Sandstone and the overlying Kussak, Jutana and Baghanwala formations record shallow shelf seas resting on the Precambrian salt. Broadly equivalent early Palaeozoic rocks occur in the Hazara region (the Abbottabad Formation) and the Lesser Himalaya.
This reference records 10 units assigned to the Cambrian across 2 basins, most commonly metamorphic rocks, limestone, sandstone.
At a glance
- 10
- units
- 2
- basins
- 8
- provinces
- 6
- georeferenced
- 6
- with fossils
- 10
- type localities
- 1,750 m
- max thickness
- 25
- sources
Rock types
- metamorphic rocks (3)
- limestone (3)
- sandstone (2)
- shale/mudstone (1)
- evaporite (1)
Based on the primary lithology recorded for each unit; some units span more than one rock type.
Fossils recorded
- Stromatolites
- Trace fossils
- Trilobites (rare)
- Hyolithids
- Trilobites (Redlichia noetlingi)
- Brachiopods (Lingulella fuchsia, Botsfordia granulata)
- Gastropods
- Trilobite trails (trace fossils)
- Skolithos burrows
- Cruziana traces
- Brachiopods (Neobolus warthi, Lingulella)
- Hyolithes wynnei
Units of the Cambrian
Provinces — Azad Kashmir · Hazara Basin · Hindukush-Chitral · Karakoram · Khyber–Nowshera Belt · Kohat Basin · Potwar Basin · Salt Range.