Abstract Neoproterozoic glaciogenic deposits crop out widely across the Lesser Himalaya fold and thrust belt in NW India. Underlain by the siliciclastic Simla and Jaunsar Groups, the Blaini Formation (Fm.) includes at least two thick and regionally extensive diamictite units, separated by siliciclastics and argillites and capped by a pink microcrystalline dolomite. A glaciogenic origin is supported by the presence of relatively abundant striated clasts and the local preservation of polished and striated pavement on underlying Simla Group clastics. The cap dolostone is isotopically light with respect to both 13 C and 18 O, which show strong covariance. The Blaini is ubiquitously deformed, incorporated in regional-scale folds and thrusts, and exhibits locally intensive intra-formational deformation. Until recently, geochronological constraints have remained poor, but new detrital zircon ages from diamictite samples provide a maximum age limit of 692±18 Ma ( 207 Pb/ 206 Pb). Reliable palaeomagnetic data are required to constrain the position of this important passive continental margin in palaeogeographical reconstructions.

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