Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Domanda Formation

Middle Eocene

Part of Early-Middle Eocene Kahan Group, Kahan Group, Kirthar Group

Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Middle EoceneMiddle Eocene
Named by: Hemphill et al. (1973)
Type locality: West of Domanda
Thickness: 130–330 m
Lithology: Dark-brown to greenish-grey claystone with limestone intercalations and subordinate calcareous sandstone in the upper part.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Middle Eocene clay-rich unit of the Kirthar Group, between the Habib Rahi and Pirkoh limestones.

Named after Domanda area. Marine shale sequence representing deeper water conditions. Part of the Kahan Group.

Fossils

Nummulites beaumonti Nummulites subbeaumonti Alveolina elliptica Dictyoconoides cooki

Contacts

In the Kohat Basin column

Gypsum / evaporiteLimestoneShale / mudMarlFossils 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

Kohat Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Coal & lignite Salt & evaporites Metals & minerals

Hosts Late Eocene coal (Rakhni, Nisau, Mahoi, Zain and Rakhi Munh areas) and a laterally extensive gypsum bed; celestite occurs just below the Domanda gypsum in the southern Sulaiman Foldbelt.

Remarks

A Middle Eocene claystone-and-limestone unit of the Kirthar Group, between the Habib Rahi and Pirkoh limestones.

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.

Age & correlation (1)

Jones (1997), Domanda Shale (Kirthar Formation member): 'mid' Middle Eocene, from the larger benthonic alveolinid Alveolina elliptica (Lutetian Basal–Moyen(?) of Schaub 1981; NP15–NP16/17).

Jones, R.W. (1997)

Thickness (1)

Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): 130 m near Domanda; 220 m N of Nili Kach; 150 m NW of Jandola; 180–330 m Safed Koh; 300 m Drug/Mughal Kot. Type locality: near Domanda, Sulaiman Province. Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Depositional environment (1)

Jones (1997): a low-energy back-bank lagoon characterised by Miliolida (with soritids and alveolinids), deposited during the regressive third-order sequence TA3.4 of Haq et al. (1987); photosymbiont-controlled depth ~30–50 m.

Jones, R.W. (1997)

Geological significance (1)

Hemphill & Kidwai (1973, USGS PP 716-B) NAMED the Domanda Shale Member of the Kirthar Formation (replacing 'lower chocolate clays' of Eames 1952), type section just west of Domanda Post on the Fort Sandeman-D.I. Khan road. Middle Eocene; dark-brown to greenish-grey foraminiferal claystone with upper gastropod/lamellibranch sandstones and (southward) gypsiferous marls; ~1,020 ft north of Domanda, wedging out along the Spina Ghora ridge.

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

Sources (8)

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.
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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Jones, R.W. (1997). Aspects of the Cenozoic stratigraphy of the Northern Sulaiman Ranges, Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 16(1), 51-58.
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.
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: 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). Domanda Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_domandaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Domanda 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/domanda-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

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

Below · older

Habib Rahi Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Pirkoh Formation