Bara Formation
Paleocene
Kirthar Basin · Eastern Kirthar (Sindh)
Part of Ranikot Group
Paleogene in the time scale →Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Cenozoic · Paleogene · PaleocenePaleocene
- Named by
- Williams (1959)
- Type locality
- Bara Nai, northern Laki Range26.1183°N, 67.8867°E
- Thickness
- 60-600 m (based on surface exposures) m
- Lithology
- Fluviatile to paralic sandstone and shale with coal and carbonaceous beds.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
The coal-bearing middle unit of the Paleocene Ranikot Group — the source of Sindh's coal.
Named by Ahmad and Ghani (in Cheema et al., 1977) after Bara Nai in the Laki Range, with its principal reference section at Ranikot, the Bara Formation consists of soft sandstone, shale and coal. It corresponds to the lower Ranikot sandstone of Vredenburg (1906) and the equivalents of later workers. Its lower contact with the Khadro Formation and upper contact with the Lakhra Formation are transitional and conformable. Age: Early Paleocene.
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type; dotted = no contact recorded in the sources (not a claim of conformity). 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
- Basin
- Kirthar Basin
- Region
- Eastern Kirthar (Sindh)
- Depositional environment
- fluvial, paralic
- Coordinates
- 26.1183°N, 67.8867°E
See it in the field
Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
The principal coal-bearing horizon of the Sindh (Lower Indus) coalfields, including the Lakhra, Sonda and Thar areas.
Remarks
The middle, coal-bearing fluvio-paralic unit of the Paleocene Ranikot Group and the main coal horizon of the Sindh coalfields.
Research notes (6)
Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.
Name & nomenclature (1)
-
Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22 - the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan's compiled lexicon (listed in the memoir's contents). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009)
Age & correlation (1)
-
Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) treat the Bara Formation (Shah 1977) as the lower sandstone/siltstone part of the Dungan Formation; it lacks age-diagnostic fossils (Shah 1977; Afzal 1996; Wakefield & Monteil 2002) and its Paleocene age rests on stratigraphic position between the P1 Khadro and the late Thanetian-early Ilerdian upper Dungan. Supports the curated Paleocene age.
Economic significance (3)
-
Malik (1989): the mid-Paleocene Bara Formation (dominantly sandstone over Khadro basaltic lava flows, near Kalri Lake) hosts the Sonda coalfield of the Lower Indus Basin - eleven coal seams, three workable, with a cumulative 4-6 m and reserves ~500 Mt (9,599-12,743 BTU/lb); the coal is rich in fixed carbon and sulphur.
-
Wnuk et al. (1993, USGS OFR 93-256): although the Paleocene Bara Formation is the principal coal-bearing unit of the Lower Indus Basin (worked historically NW of the Lakhra Anticline), a coal-resource assessment at Fort Ranikot in the northern Lakhi Range found NO coal in the Bara rocks there - the coal beds are absent or structurally obscured at that locality. A documented negative result that bounds the field's coal distribution.
Wnuk, C., Sanfilipo, J.R., Chandio, A.H. & Fatmi, S.F. (1993)
-
Coal-resource assessment of the Paleocene Bara Formation (Ranikot Group) in the Fort Ranikot area, northern Lakhi Range, Sindh, documents its fluviatile-to-paralic coal-bearing succession — part of the Lakhi Range / Sonda-Thatta Sindh coalfields (Wnuk et al. 1993).
Wnuk, C., SanFilipo, J.R., Chandio, A.H. & Fatmi, S.F. (1993)
Sources (10)
- Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
- Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
- Wnuk, C., SanFilipo, J.R., Chandio, A.H. & Fatmi, S.F. (1993). The stratigraphy and coal resource potential of the Bara Formation in the Fort Ranikot area, Sindh Province, Pakistan; a progress report. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-256, 63 p.
- Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
- Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009). Revised stratigraphy of the lower Cenozoic succession of the Greater Indus Basin in Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 28(1): 7-23.
- Malkani, M.S. (2016). Revised stratigraphy of Indus Basin (Pakistan): Sea level changes. In: Cretaceous Ecosystems and Their Responses to Paleoenvironmental Changes in Asia and the Western Pacific — Fourth International Symposium of IGCP Project 608, Novosibirsk 2016, Abstract Volume, pp. 97-99.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
- Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008). Stratigraphy and Historical Geology of Pakistan. Department & National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar. 524 pp. ISBN 978-969-9119.
- Malik, I.A. (1989). Geodynamics and Coal Deposits of Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 12-43.
- Wnuk, C., Sanfilipo, J.R., Chandio, A.H. & Fatmi, S.F. (1993). The Stratigraphy and Coal Resource Potential of the Bara Formation in the Fort Ranikot Area, Sindh Province, Pakistan: A Progress Report. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 93-256 (also GSP Project Report IR-PK-105).
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: Name attested in the Shah (1977/2009) Geological Survey of Pakistan compilation — the national stratigraphic lexicon. This records where the name is documented; it is not an endorsement of the unit’s definition, age or figures.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Bara Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_baraformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Bara 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/bara-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Williams (1959).
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