Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation GSP memoir

Akhtar Nika Formation

Cretaceous

Balochistan Basin · Kakar-Khurasan Basin

Cited in 2 sources Last reviewed Jul 14, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · CretaceousCretaceous
Named by: Aminullah & Kansi (2012)
Type locality: Qila Saifullah–Sharin Jogezai section30.7011°N, 68.3597°E
Thickness: 1,000–1,500 m
Lithology: Alternating limestone and shale (Parh-like limestone near Mand).
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Cretaceous limestone-and-shale unit of northern Balochistan, the base of the Nisai Group.

Akhtar Nika Formation named by Aminullah and Kansi (2012). It consists of alternated limestone and shale. Its thickness is 1000-1500m in the Qila Saifullah-Sharin Jogezai section. Its age is considered Cretaceous by Malkani (2014c).

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Zhob-Muslim Bagh column

Shale / mudIgneousLimestoneMarlFossils recordedConformable

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. True scale makes height ∝ recorded thickness; hatched = thickness not recorded. Ages approximate, for ordering.

This unit (highlighted) within its province column; faded ends continue above and below. Line style marks the contact type.

Distribution & setting

Zhob-Muslim Bagh

Basin: Balochistan Basin
Region: Kakar-Khurasan Basin
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: 30.7011°N, 68.3597°E

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Correlation

Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Cretaceous limestone-shale unit at the base of the Nisai Group in the Kakar-Khurasan basin of northern Balochistan.

Sources (2)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

Reviewer confidence: high

Every fact on this page is source-cited. This entry is part of the peer-archived Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991, CC‑BY‑4.0).

Lexicon status: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.

Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Akhtar Nika Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_akhtarnikaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Akhtar Nika Formation} --- Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset},
  year      = {2026},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21363991},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991}
}

Archived dataset: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991 (CC‑BY‑4.0) · Direct link to this entry: https://stratigraphy.pk/formation/akhtar-nika-formation (accessed September 5, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Aminullah & Kansi (2012).