Cenozoic

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

Neoproterozoic

Main source = Baratov, R.B., et al. (1976). Subdivisions of stratified and intrusive rocks of Tajikistan. Publishing House "Donish", Dushanbe, 269 pp. plus tables. Provided by Dr. Jovid Aminov, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan Translated to English by the GeoGPT group, Zhejiang Lab, Hangzhou, China--see About

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Karakuz Formation

Karakuz Fm

Period:

Cretaceous

Age Interval:

Uppermost Aptian-lower Albian (K₂¹), K1, D1, S3, S5, C1, C1a-c, C2, C2a

Province:
SW Tajik, North Tajik, Central W Tajik

Type Locality and Naming

Includes in Khation Region, Darvaz District, Hisar-Zarafshan ranges, Dushanbe - west Shirkent-Luchob, Dushanbe - east Shirkent-Luchob

Upper substage of the Aptian stage and Albian stage in the Turkestan, Zarafshan-Gissar, South Gissar, Karategin, Dushanbe, Qafirnigan, Vakhsh, Zaalai and Darvaz districts includes five horizons: 1 – Karakuz (Upper Aptian - Lower Albian); 2 - Derbent (Lower Albian); 3 - Babatag (Middle Albian); 4 – Akkapchigay (Upper Albian); 5 - Shirabad (Upper Albian). Corresponding to these are variegated sandstones, argillites and clays containing layers of limestone, less often gypsum and conglomerates. Their total thickness is 100-800 m.

Synonym: Karakuz suite, Karakuz horizon, каракузскому горизонту

Lithology and Thickness

Karakuz suite is represented by marine gray clays; 30-80 m.

Lithology Pattern:

Claystone

Relationships and Distribution

Lower contact

Overlies the slight erosion surface at top of the Obigarn Fm (Kaligrek horizon) in the Afghan-Tajik Basin schematic stratigraphy. Elsewhere, it can overlie an erosion surface that terminates the deposits of Berriasian, or Upper Hauterivian - Middle Aptian.

Upper contact

Underlies the Derbent Fm.

Regional extent

Afghan-Tajik Basin. And also in the South Gissar, Dushanbe, and Qafirnigan districts, the Karakuz Fm is related to Karakuz horizon (каракузскому горизонту)

GeoJSON

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Fossils

Numerous remains of foraminifera, ostracods, bivalves, and ammonites that determine the presence in the lower half of the suite of Upper Aptian and in the upper half as Lower Albian deposits (Andreev, 1969a, b).

Age

Uppermost Aptian-lower Albian

Age Span:

Beginning stage:

Aptian

Fraction up in beginning stage:

0.85

Beginning date (Ma):

114.43

Ending stage:

Albian

Fraction up in the ending stage:

0.10

Ending date (Ma):

111.93

Depositional setting

Depositional pattern:

Additional Information

Compiler:

Chapman, J.B., et al. (9 co-authors), 2020. The Afghan-Tajik Basin: A composite record of sedimentary basin evolution in response to tectonics in the Pamir. Basin Research, 32(3), 525-545. https:/doi.org/10.1111/bre.12381.