Paleozoic • Silurian–Devonian formation Literature

Daradar Dolomite

Silurian to Devonian (correlation)

NW Indian plate margin · Spinghar (Safed Koh) Range

Cited in 1 source Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Silurian–DevonianSilurian to Devonian (correlation)
Named by: Badshah et al. (2000)
Type locality: Spinghar (Safed Koh) Range, NW Pakistan–SE Afghanistan border region.
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Siliceous, white to greyish-white, hard dolomite (up to ~19 wt% MgO) with dolerite intrusions; talc/soapstone along fractures and intrusive contacts.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Siluro-Devonian siliceous dolomite of the Spinghar (Safed Koh) Range on the NW Indian-plate margin, introduced by Badshah et al. (2000). White to greyish-white and hard, it overlies the Spinghar Crystalline unit, is cut by dolerite intrusions, and carries talc (soapstone) and silver-rich lead-copper mineralisation along fracture zones. It is correlated with Silurian-Devonian rocks of the Khyber Agency.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Khyber–Nowshera Belt column

LimestoneMetamorphicFossils 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

Khyber–Nowshera Belt

Basin: NW Indian plate margin
Region: Spinghar (Safed Koh) Range
Depositional environment: shallow marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Metals & minerals

Hosts talc (soapstone) along fracture zones and mafic-intrusion contacts, and silver-rich lead-copper mineralisation in the western Spinghar (Neemtota).

Remarks

Overlies the Spinghar Crystalline basement and is disconformably(?) overlain by the Spinghar Quartzite; forms south-facing cliffs in the Spinghar nappe (Badshah et al. 2000).

Research notes (1)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Geological significance (1)

One of six lithostratigraphic units defined for the Spinghar / South Waziristan area (with Spinghar Quartzite, Sikaram Series, Makai Limestone, Wana Schist and Kaniguram Slate) in the tectonostratigraphic framework of the NW Indian plate and Kabul block (Badshah et al. 2000).

Badshah, M.S., Gnos, E., Jan, M.Q. & Afridi, M.I. (2000)

Sources (1)

Badshah, M.S., Gnos, E., Jan, M.Q. & Afridi, M.I. (2000). Stratigraphic and tectonic evolution of the northwestern Indian plate and Kabul Block. In: Khan, M.A., Treloar, P.J., Searle, M.P. & Jan, M.Q. (eds) Tectonics of the Nanga Parbat Syntaxis and the Western Himalaya. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 170, 467-476.

Reviewer confidence: low

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: Defined in journal or other literature; not found in a GSP memoir. There is no body currently ratifying unit status, so provenance is shown in place of a formal ruling.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_daradardolomite,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Daradar Dolomite} --- 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/daradar-dolomite (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Badshah et al. (2000).