Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Drug Formation

Early Eocene (Ypresian)

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early EoceneEarly Eocene (Ypresian)
Named by: Shah (1987)
Type locality: Drug Tangi, 3 km northeast of Drug village30.8208°N, 70.2083°E
Thickness: 40–340 m
Lithology: Largely orange, pale-olive to greenish-grey limestone interbedded with subordinate shale.
Synonyms: Not recorded

An Early Eocene limestone of the Ghazij Group, lying between the Shaheed Ghat shale and the Toi sandstone.

Part of Kahan Group. Marine limestone sequence representing Middle Eocene transgression. Contains walking whale fossils.

Fossils

Walking whales (Ambulocetus)Basilosaurids Larger foraminifera

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

SandstoneShale / 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: marine
Coordinates: 30.8208°N, 70.2083°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Other

Paleontological heritage - whale evolution

Remarks

An Early Eocene limestone within the Ghazij Group of the Sulaiman Range, between the Shaheed Ghat and Toi formations.

Research notes (2)

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)

Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22 - the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan's compiled lexicon (listed in the memoir's contents). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Kazmi & Abbasi (2008) CORRECTION: the Drug Formation is early Eocene — one of the formations of the (early Eocene) Ghazij Group — not Middle Eocene as previously recorded (unsourced). Age corrected.

Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)

Sources (5)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.

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.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_drugformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Drug 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/drug-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Shah (1987).

Below · older

Shaheed Ghat Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Toi Formation