Paleozoic of Kashmir Basin

The fossiliferous Lower Paleozoic rocks either rests conformably over the un-fossiliferous sequence named as Dogra Slate or unconformably over the crystalline rocks comprising Salkhala Group. The succession begins with Hapatnar Group of Late Cambriam to Silurian age which is overlain successive formations of Middle and Upper Paleozoic.

Stratigraphy of the area :-

Stratigraphic Unit	Lithology	Characteristic fossils	Stratigraphic Age
Zewan Formation	Limestone and shale	Sperifera, Productus, Prtoretepora	Middle to Late Permian
Panjal volcanics	Andesite and Basalt		Permian
Agglomeratic slate (series)	Slate, quartzite and diamictites	Eurydesma, Sperifer	Late Carboniferous to Early Permian
Fenestella Shales	Shales, Quartzite, calcareous siltstone	Fenestella plebia, Productus lidarensis	Carboniferous
Syringothyris Limestone	Gray limestone, shlaes and quartzites	syringothyris crinoids and conodonts	Early Cambrian
	———————————————-	Discomformity	———————————————-
Muth quartzite	Quartzite, shales, siltstone, limestone	unfossiliferous	Late Silurian to Early Devonian
Hapatnar Group	Shales, Siltstones and quartz arenites	Trilobites, Brachiopods and Milluscs	Late Cambrian to Silurian

• A sequence of shale, siltstone and quartz-arenite exposed in the Lidder Valley of Anantnag District has been named as Hapatnar Group. The Hapatnar group has been divided into three sub units, named as Lolab Formation, Shumal Formation and Rangmal Formation. The Lolab formation is the oldest unit that rests unconformably over the Salkhala Group. Shumal formation that conformably overlies the Lolab Formation is comprised of olive green and gray shale and siltstone. Rangmal Formation is the youngest unit of Hapatnar Group. “The Shumal and the Rangmal formations, together, are regarded as equivalent of the Kunzum-La formation of the Spiti Valley in Himachal Pradesh.“
• The Muth Quartzite which is an important marker of the Kashmir Synclinorium, has been correlated to the Muth Quartzite of the Devonian age of the Spiti region in Himachal Pradesh.
• The Muth formation is disconformably overlain by carbonaceous bed (Syringothyris limestone) which suggests a possible break in deposition during the Late Devonian Epoch. The occurance of conondonts of Early Carbonifeous has also been reported from this limestone succession.
• The overlying fossiliferous succession is named as Fenestella Shales after the most abundant fossil group of the succession.
• The fenestella shale overlain by Agglomeratic Slate “series” , The formation is well exposed in the Pir Panjal Range. There are Polymictites contain rock fragments, which are either of glacial origin or derived from volcanic outbursts. The polymictites of glacial origin have been correlated with glacial deposits represented by the Talcher boulder beds, of Gondwana Supegroup.
• The Agglomeratic Slate “series” is overlain and often intermixed with a thick succession of volcanic flows of andesitic and basaltic composition. The volcanic formation that is well exposed in the higher reaches of the Pir Panjal Range and Lidder Valley has been named as Panjal Volcanics. Dolerite dykes and sills that represent hypabyssal equivalents of the volcanic have intruded the Agglomerate Slate, Fenestella Shales and older sequences. The volcanics seems to have in Kashmir from Late Carboniferous to Late Triassic Epochs.
• The association of Panjal Volcanics with the beds of continental facies containing Gondwana flora indicates withdrawn of marine conditions for some time during late Paleozoic that soon restored during Middle Permian. The shale beds containing Gondwana flora are overlain by thick succession of limestone and shales that is named as Zewan formation.