Cenozoic • Paleogene GSP memoir

Chitarwatta Formation

Oligocene

Cited in 11 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Late Oligocene–Early MioceneOligocene
Named by: Hemphill & Kidwai (1973)
Type locality: Chitarwata Pass31.0561°N, 70.2456°E
Thickness: 200-500 m
Lithology: Red, grey and green claystone and siltstone with a sandstone-rich, ripple-marked lower part.
Synonyms: Chitarwatta; Chitarwata Formation

The reddish base of the Sulaiman molasse, where the Eocene sea finally gave way to rivers and floodplains.

Continental molasse deposits in Sulaiman basin. Records final Tethys closure and onset of continental conditions in middle Indus.

Fossils

Mammal fossils Plant fossils

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

Shale / mudLimestoneFossils recordedContact not recorded

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

Sulaiman Fold Belt

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marginal marine, fluvial
Coordinates: 31.0561°N, 70.2456°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Coal & lignite Metals & minerals

Oligocene-Miocene coal lenses and showings (Khandor, Vihowa Rud); prospective for ochre / iron.

Remarks

The basal unit of the Siwalik-equivalent molasse (Vihowa Group), marking the change from marine Eocene deposition to the continental foreland succession of the Sulaiman Range.

Research notes (4)

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)

Formerly mapped as the Nari Formation in the Sulaiman Range; renamed Chitarwata Formation (Hemphill & Kidwai 1973).

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)

Age & correlation (1)

Near-shore to terrestrial sedimentation began by the late Oligocene to basal Miocene at the base of the ~4-km, coarsening-upward Sulaiman Neogene succession (Chitarwatta -> Vihowa -> Litra -> Chaudhwan), an almost continuous terrestrial record deposited by a southerly-flowing (proto-Indus) river system (Raza et al. 2002).

Raza, S.M., Cheema, I.U., Downs, W.R., Rajpar, A.R. & Ward, S.C. (2002)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Malkani et al. (2022): the Oligocene Chitarwata Formation of the Sulaiman/Vihowa Group is reported to yield the large land rhinocerotoid Buzdartherium gulkirao ('largest land rhinoceros') and, from the Gulki area, the eusuchian crocodile Asifcroco retrai. Attributed Malkani-corpus taxa (the earlier 'largest land mammal' phrasing conflated this with Baluchitherium, which these papers do not name); recorded as notes, not added to the curated fossil list.

Malkani, M.S., Ilyas, M., Yasin, R., Abbas, A., Samiullah, K., Raza, T., Hassan, S.S.E., Fazal, R.M., Noor, A. & Malik, A. (2022)

Geological significance (1)

Hemphill & Kidwai (1973, USGS PP 716-B) NAMED the Chitarwata Formation (for rocks previously questionably assigned to the Nari Formation), type section at Chitarwata Post. Late Oligocene to late Miocene (flora Croftiella escheri; Eames 1952 preferred early Miocene); red/grey/green claystone with variegated ferruginous siltstone and sandstone, carbonaceous beds and root fragments (fluvial/lacustrine), ~500-1,260 ft; disconformable on the Drazinda Shale Member. Possibly equivalent to the Mitha Khatak Formation and laterally to the Nari/Gaj.

Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973)

Sources (11)

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.
Lindsay, E.H., Flynn, L.J. et al. (2005). Miocene stratigraphy and mammal fauna from the Sulaiman Range, Southwestern Himalayas, Pakistan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Malkani, M.S. (2010). Updated Stratigraphy and Mineral Potential of Sulaiman Basin, Pakistan. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 42(2), 39-66.
Malkani, M.S., Ilyas, M., Yasin, R., Abbas, A., Samiullah, K., Raza, T., Hassan, S.S.E., Fazal, R.M., Noor, A. & Malik, A. (2022). Geology of Northern Sulaiman Foldbelt, Shirani and Waziristan Regions (South Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): New Tomistominae (Miocene False Gharial) from Sakhi Sarwar Area of Dera Ghazi Khan (South Punjab), Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology, 12(6), 521-564.
Malkani, M.S., Khosa, M.H., Alyani, M.I., Somro, N., Zafar, T., Arif, J. & Aleem, M.Z. (2017). Revised Stratigraphic Setup and Mineral Deposits of Kirthar Basin (Lower Indus Basin), Pakistan. Lasbela University Journal of Science and Technology, VI, 54-84.
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.
Malkani, M.S., Mahmood, Z., Somro, N. & Shaikh, S.I. (2017). Revised Stratigraphy and Mineral Resources of Kirthar Basin, Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Information Release No. 1010.
Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973). Stratigraphy of the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan Areas, Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-B (Geological Investigations in Pakistan), 36 p.

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.

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Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_chitarwataformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Chitarwatta 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/chitarwata-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Hemphill & Kidwai (1973).

Below · older

Drazinda Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Vihowa Formation

Neogene

Referenced in other successions

Underlain by Kirthar Group