Paleozoic Stratigraphy of the Peshawar Basin, Pakistan
Abstract
An almost complete Paleozoic sequence of sedimentary rocks is exposed in the ranges fringing the Peshawar basin. The present study establishes a revised stratigraphy and modifies the stratigraphic nomenclature of the previous workers. The Precambrian - Cambrian Tanawal Formation forms the base of the sequence and is overlain unconformably by the Ambar Formation (Cambrian?). The Misri Banda Quartzite unconformably overlies the Ambar Formation and contains Cruziana ichnofossils which indicate an Early to Middle Ordovician age. The limestone at the base of the Panjpir Formation contains siluricus zone conodonts (Ludlovian) and unconformably overlies the Misri Banda Formation. The Early to Late Devonian Nowshera Formation overlies the Panjpir and contains a reef facies first recognized by Stauffer in 1968. The youngest recognized Paleozoic unit is the Jafar Kandao Formation from which Carboniferous conodonts have been obtained. The section outlined above has possible correlatives in the Khyber and Hazara regions, but differs dramatically from the Paleozoic sequence of the Salt Range to the south. The tectonic setting of the area is transitional between a sedimentary fold-thrust belt to the south and a metamorphic terrane to the north.
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