Chingou Fm
Type Locality and Naming
Includes in Khation Region, Sughd Region. I. Ye. Gubin (1960) and O. K. Chediya (1971) distinguish these rocks as a separate Yakhakskaya suite. [Used English spelling of Chapman et al., 2019].
Synonym: (English spelling variations): Khingou Fm, Khingou suite, Хингоуская свита, Yakhakskaya suite
Lithology and Thickness
In the Dushanbinsky district, the Khingou Fm starts with gray sandstones of the thickness 300-500 m, containing lenses of gravelites, brown clays, and siltstones. Above, grayish-brown cross-bedded sandstones (300 m) are usually found, followed by light brown interbedded sandstones, clays, and siltstones (200 m). The thickness of the suite is 400-900 m.
In the Kulab district, the suite is represented by rhythmically alternating fine and medium-grained polymictic sandstones of brownish and greenish-gray color and brownish-gray, brownish-brown clays and siltstones. The characteristic brownish-violet hue of the rocks of the Khingou suite and the "ridgy" microrelief created by them on exposed slopes. The thickness varies from 1300 to 2500 m (increasing from north to south).
In the Darvaz district (sections near the villages of Khirmandzhau, Iol, etc.), the Khingou Fm is represented by gray and purple indistinctly bedded medium and coarse-gravel polymict conglomerates of thickness 2000-2500 m, containing rare interlayers and lenses of brown sandstones.
In the Karateginsky district, the Khingou Fm is composed of gray fine and medium-grained sandstones with interlayers and lenses of brown clays. Thickness is 1000-1300 m.
In the northwestern part of the Qafirnigan district, in the northern end of the Babatag ridge, the Khingou Fm is composed of reddish-yellow sandstones with interlayers and lenses of dark brown siltstones and clays. Thickness is 800-1400 m.
Relationships and Distribution
Lower contact
The considered suite lies conformably or with minor local erosions on the lower Miocene Baldzhuan Gr (Boljuan Fm) (нижнемшеновой? больджуанской свите); of which the upper unit is the Childara Fm.
Upper contact
It is conformably overlain by the Tavildara Fm (тавильдаринской свитой) of the upper Miocene.
Regional extent
It is widespread in Karateginsky, Dushanbinsky, Qafirnigan, and Darvaz districts. I. Popov (1958) established the Yezganskaya rhythmites suite in the section near the village of Tavildara. The latter is almost a complete analog of the Khingou suite, except for its upper sandy-conglomerate part with a thickness of 100-200 m. Geological mapping works have shown the impossibility of tracing the upper boundary of the Yezganskaya suite (езганской свиты), as it quickly loses its individuality in the south-west direction. Therefore, the Yezganskaya suite is not distinguished in South-Western Tajikistan.
GeoJSON
Fossils
M. N. Gramm found ostracods similar to the Middle Miocene Iliocypris brady Sars., I. cf. gibba Ramdhor in the deposits of the Khingou Fm (Decisions..., 1959). The main palynocomplex associated with the Khingou suite is «С1» (Penjkova, Penjkov, 1973) with a certain correlating taxon. The xerophytic tugai pollen complex testifies that the climate during the accumulation of the Khingou Fm sediments was dry, close to arid.
Age
Depositional setting
The xerophytic tugai pollen complex testifies that the climate during the accumulation of the Khingou Fm sediments was dry, close to arid.
Additional Information