Dada Formation
Pleistocene
Kirthar Basin · Western Kirthar (Balochistan)
Part of Sakhi Sarwar Group
Quaternary in the time scale →Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Quaternary · Quaternary · PleistocenePleistocene
- Named by
- Not recorded
- Type locality
- Dada River south of Spintangi Railway station
- Thickness
- about 1,000 m (Urak area)
- Lithology
- Conglomerate with subordinate mud and sandstone.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A Pleistocene gravel-rich molasse, one of the youngest units of the foreland.
Dada Formation Its name is derived from Dada River south of Spintangi Railway station (HSC, 1961). It consists of conglomerate with subordinate shale and sandstone. At places it also includes the white and red muds especially in the valley areas. Its lower contact with Chaudhwan Formation and upper contact with Sakhi Sarwar Formation is angular and at some places transitional. According to stratigraphic position, its age may be Pleistocene.
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
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
- Basin
- Kirthar Basin
- Region
- Western Kirthar (Balochistan)
- Depositional environment
- fluvial, alluvial
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Source of gravel and sand for construction aggregate.
Remarks
A Pleistocene conglomeratic molasse unit of the Sakhi Sarwar Group, among the youngest deposits of the Sulaiman–Kirthar foreland.
Sources (7)
- Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
- 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.
- Maldonado, F., Khan, S.H. & Mengal, J.M. (1994). Preliminary Geologic Map of Parts of Loralai, Sibi, Quetta, and Khuzdar Divisions, Balochistan Province, West-Central Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-689, 20 p., 1 sheet.
- Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
- 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.
- Brohi, I.A., Bablani, S.A. & Solangi, S.H. (2009). Geology and Economic Significance of Tertiary Rocks, Khorwari Section, Surjan Anticline, Thano Bula Khan, Sindh. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 41(1), 95-106.
Reviewer confidence: medium
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
Qudsi, L. (2026). Dada Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_dadaformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Dada 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/dada-formation (accessed September 5, 2026).
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