Paleozoic • Permian In GSP lexicon

Dandot Formation

Early Permian (Sakmarian)

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian · CisuralianEarly Permian (Sakmarian)
Named by: Noetling (1901)
Type locality: Dandot, Salt Range32.6584°N, 72.9549°E
Thickness: 50 m (type locality, Dandot area)
Lithology: Sandstone, shale with speckled appearance
Synonyms: Conularia Beds; Conularia-Eurydesma Beds; Dandot Group

A Permian marginal-marine sandstone and shale of the Nilawahan Group, deposited during a post-glacial marine incursion; some workers treat it as a junior synonym of the Warcha Formation.

Named after Dandot in Salt Range. Post-glacial marine transgressive sequence. Speckled sandstone is distinctive marker horizon. Now considered junior synonym of Warcha Formation.

Fossils

Eurydesma Conularia Discina Martiniopsis Chonetes Neochonetes

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

MixedSandstoneShale / mudFossils 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

Salt Range

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marginal marine
Coordinates: 32.6584°N, 72.9549°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Source rock Reservoir Coal & lignite

Good source rock (dark-grey shales with coaly partings); well-sorted siltstone/sandstone may form local reservoirs; flowed oil (Tobra–Dandot/Warcha) in the Adhi field.

Remarks

A post-glacial marginal-marine unit of the lower Nilawahan Group marking the first marine influence after Tobra glaciation; several workers (including Malkani, 2017) regard it as a junior synonym of the Warcha Formation.

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.

Age & correlation (2)

Ghazi et al. (2012), full text: the Dandot Formation is Sakmarian, marginal-marine, gradational above the Tobra Formation and unconformable below the Warchha Sandstone. ~50 m thick at its type locality in the Dandot area, eastern Salt Range (Fatmi 1973; Shah 1977). Correlates with the Pebbley Beach Formation (Sydney Basin, Australia).

Ghazi, S., Mountney, N.P., Butt, A.A. & Sharif, S. (2012)
Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Dandot Formation (Early Permian; type Dandot village) is 45–50 m of greenish-grey splintery shale/siltstone with sandstone, conformable (gradational) on the Tobra and overlain by the Warchha Sandstone; marine in the east shallowing westward, with brachiopods (Discina, Chonetes), bivalves (Eurydesma) and Conularia.

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

Thickness (2)

Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): max ~50 m in Makrach Valley; well developed eastern Salt Range, thins westward; absent western Salt Range & Khisor Range. Type locality: near Dandot Village, eastern Salt Range. Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)
Ghazi et al. (2012), full text: 50 m thick at the type locality in the Dandot area, eastern Salt Range (Fatmi 1973; Shah 1977). Updates the earlier 35 m mid-range estimate to the cited type-locality value.

Ghazi, S., Mountney, N.P., Butt, A.A. & Sharif, S. (2012)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Ghazi et al. (2012): documented Dandot fauna — Eurydesma, Conularia, Discina, Martiniopsis, Chonetes, Neochonetes (Waagen 1883; Reed 1944; Waterhouse 1970; Fatmi 1973). Replaces the generic 'Brachiopods/Bryozoans' placeholder.

Ghazi, S., Mountney, N.P., Butt, A.A. & Sharif, S. (2012)

Economic significance (1)

Craig et al. (2018): black shales of the Lower Permian Dandot Formation are listed (with the Sardhai and Chhidru formations) among the potential Permian source rocks of the Upper Indus Basin (Quadri & Quadri 1996; Wandrey et al. 2004).

Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018)

Sources (10)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
Ghazi, S., Mountney, N.P., Butt, A.A. & Sharif, S. (2012). Stratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental framework of the Early Permian sequence in the Salt Range, Pakistan. Journal of Earth System Science, 121(5), 1239-1255.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Kadri, I.B. (1995). Petroleum Geology of Pakistan. Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Karachi.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018). Petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential of the North-West Himalaya of India and Pakistan. Earth-Science Reviews, 187, 109-185.

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.

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Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_dandotformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Dandot 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/dandot-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Noetling (1901).

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