Kashmir is usually described through its visible beauty, snow-covered mountains, flowing rivers, fertile plains and agricultural land. Yet beneath this familiar landscape lies a much older world. The mountains surrounding the Valley, the rocks exposed along its slopes and the elevated plateaus scattered across its floor are not merely features of geography. They are part of a geological archive that records the movement of continents, the disappearance of ancient oceans, volcanic activity, mountain building and dramatic climate change. To understand how Kashmir acquired its present form, one must look far beyond recorded human history. The story begins when the Indian landmass occupied a very different position on Earth’s surface, and the region that would eventually become part of the Himalaya belonged to an entirely different geological setting. One of the oldest chapters is preserved in the rocks of the Pir Panjal Range.
During the Early Permian, roughly 290 million years ago, enormous volcanic eruptions produced the Panjal Traps, a major succession of basaltic and related volcanic rocks exposed across parts of the Kashmir Himalaya. Their formation is associated with continental rifting, the fragmentation of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana and the opening of the Neotethys Ocean. These eruptions were not isolated events. They formed part of a much larger geological transformation involving continental breakup and the development of new oceanic basins. Particularly striking is the occurrence of pillow basalt in the Panjal Traps at Guryul Ravine, near Khonmoh on the outskirts of Srinagar. Pillow basalts form when molten lava erupts into water and cools rapidly, producing rounded, pillow-like structures.
Their presence shows that at least some Panjal volcanic eruptions occurred in an underwater environment. The rocks of the Pir Panjal therefore preserve a direct connection with an ancient world in which the geography of this region was radically different from today. Another important chapter is recorded in the limestone and other sedimentary rocks associated with the Tethys Ocean. During much of the Mesozoic Era, parts of the region lay beneath or near marine environments connected with the Neotethys. Over millions of years, sediments accumulated on ancient sea floors and were later transformed into limestone, shale and other sedimentary rocks. Some of these formations contain fossils and chemical evidence of ancient marine conditions. They preserve a record of environments that existed long before the Himalayan ranges reached their present elevations. Their significance becomes clearer in the context of continental movement. India was once part of Gondwana. After separating from the southern supercontinent, it drifted northward. As the Indian Plate approached Eurasia, the intervening oceanic crust was progressively consumed through subduction. Continental collision between India and Eurasia began during the early Cenozoic, commonly placed around the Paleocene–Eocene transition, roughly 55–50 million years ago. That collision initiated the immense tectonic processes responsible for building the Himalaya. The Himalaya did not rise in a single event. Its formation involved prolonged crustal shortening, folding, faulting, thrusting and uplift. Older sedimentary and volcanic rocks were folded, broken and displaced as geological units were pushed over one another.
The region that now includes Kashmir became part of this evolving mountain system. The rocks visible today are therefore remnants of several very different environments, volcanic provinces, ancient seafloors, deformed mountain belts and young sedimentary basins. Yet the formation of the mountains alone does not explain the Kashmir Valley. The broad depression between the Pir Panjal Range and the Greater Himalaya has its own, younger history. The Kashmir Valley developed as an intermontane sedimentary basin during the later stages of Himalayan tectonic evolution. As the surrounding ranges rose and deformed, drainage systems changed and enormous quantities of sediment accumulated in the depression.
Rivers carried material eroded from the rising mountains. Glaciers transported rock fragments and finer sediment during colder climatic phases. At times, water accumulated in low-lying areas, producing lake environments in which fine sediments settled over long periods. The resulting deposits are collectively known as the Karewa Group. They are among the most important geological archives of the northwestern Himalaya. The word "Karewa" refers to the elevated tablelands and terraces formed as these sediments were later eroded and exposed. They occur across much of the Valley, including around Pampore and Shopian.
The Karewa succession is composed of clay, sand, gravel, conglomerate, lignite-bearing beds and other sediments. These deposits record changing river, glacial and lake environments during the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Geologists commonly divide the Karewa Group into three principal formations; the older "Hirpur Formation", the "Nagum Formation" and the younger "Dilpur Formation". The Hirpur and Nagum formations contain important river and lake deposits, while the Dilpur Formation is dominated by younger loess-like silt and interbedded palaeosols—ancient soils formed when the land surface remained stable long enough for soil development.
One of the most important tools for dating these deposits has been magneto stratigraphy. Earth’s magnetic field has reversed polarity many times through geological history. Certain magnetic minerals in sediments record the direction of the field at the time they were deposited. By comparing these magnetic signatures with the established geomagnetic polarity timescale, researchers can establish the age of sedimentary sequences that are otherwise difficult to date.
A particularly important investigation along the Romshi River examined a sedimentary succession approximately 440 metres thick. Researchers identified eight normal and eight reversed magnetic polarity zones, establishing an age range from about 4.40 million to 0.77 million years ago. The study also reconstructed changing depositional environments, identifying an earlier predominantly fluvial phase followed by extensive fluvio-lacustrine sedimentation. Such work shows that the Karewas are not simply accumulated earth and gravel. They are a scientifically valuable archive of geological and environmental change. The importance of the Karewas increases further when fossils are considered. Fossil leaves, plant remains, pollen, spores, diatoms and molluscan remains reported from different parts of the succession provide evidence of ancient vegetation and environmental conditions. Fossil records include remains attributed to plants such as oak, maple and walnut. These discoveries help researchers reconstruct the ecological conditions that existed in the Valley long before its present-day landscape emerged. The fossil record also includes evidence of larger animals. A 2022 study reported a gomphothere specimen, identified as cf. Sinomastodon sp., from Quaternary deposits of the Kashmir Valley. Gomphotheres were extinct relatives of modern elephants belonging to an ancient group of proboscideans. The specimen is the youngest known gomphothere from the Indian subcontinent and suggests that forested refugial ecosystems persisted in the high Himalaya during the Pleistocene.
Another remarkable feature of the Karewa landscape is the presence of loess. Loess consists mainly of fine, wind-transported silt that accumulates under particular environmental conditions. In Kashmir, these deposits occur especially in the upper part of the Karewa succession and contain alternating layers of loess and palaeosols.
For geologists and climate scientists, these alternating deposits are highly valuable. Their mineral composition, grain size, magnetic properties, geochemistry and soil characteristics can reveal changes in temperature, precipitation, vegetation and wind activity. They provide evidence of repeated climatic fluctuations during the Quaternary, including alternations between colder and warmer conditions associated with glacial and interglacial phases. Research on Karewa sediments has also contributed to understanding changing climatic influences over the Valley. Palaeoclimatic studies suggest that south-western monsoon influence was relatively stronger earlier in the record, up to about 1.95 million years ago, after which mid-latitude western disturbances became more influential. These findings are important for understanding the relationship between Himalayan uplift, regional atmospheric circulation and long-term environmental change.
The story of Kashmir’s geological formation is not fully settled. Scientists continue to investigate the precise tectonic mechanisms responsible for the development and later deformation of the basin. Different models have been proposed, including interpretations involving thrust-related basin development and strike-slip faulting. Recent research has questioned older explanations based on a simple rift-basin origin and instead supports a piggyback-style intermundane basin associated with Himalayan thrusting. The role of basin-bounding and intrabasinal faults, including the Jhelum Fault, and the structural evolution of the Hazara–Kashmir Syntaxis remain active areas of research. These questions show that geological understanding is continually refined as new field observations, geophysical evidence and dating techniques become available.
This geological heritage is not confined to academic research. The same processes that shaped the Valley continue to influence its physical environment. Its sedimentary formations help determine the character of its soils and agricultural landscapes. Its underlying geological structures influence drainage and groundwater conditions. Its tectonic setting is central to understanding the region’s seismic hazard. The mountains and sediments surrounding the Valley are therefore not merely scenic features, they are fundamental components of its environmental and geological identity. Yet much of this record remains poorly understood outside scientific circles. The Karewa plateaus are often viewed primarily as agricultural land or terrain available for construction. Their geological significance rarely enters public discussion about land-use planning and development. Important exposures along river sections, ravines and plateau margins deserve systematic documentation and protection. Unplanned excavation and indiscriminate alteration of significant geological exposures can destroy evidence that cannot be recreated.
Kashmir needs a more comprehensive approach to geological-heritage conservation. Universities, geological institutions and relevant government departments should identify scientifically important geological sections, document fossil-bearing locations and prepare an inventory of significant landforms and sedimentary exposures.
Geological field education should become more accessible to students and the wider public. There is also considerable scope for developing carefully managed geoheritage trails and educational interpretation sites that connect scientific knowledge with public understanding.
The ground beneath Kashmir is far more than the foundation on which its towns, villages and fields have been built. It is an extraordinary historical archive. Every layer of sediment, every fossil-bearing exposure and every ancient volcanic rock represents a different chapter in the evolution of this region.
Kashmir is often celebrated as a paradise created by nature. Its geological history reveals something even more remarkable, a landscape assembled through hundreds of millions of years of planetary change. To understand Kashmir fully, we must learn to look beyond its mountains and rivers and begin reading the ancient world beneath our feet.

Email:----------------------------mauzambakshi@gmail.com