Hangu Formation
Latest Cretaceous to Early Paleocene
Paleogene in the time scale →Cited in 13 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early PaleoceneLatest Cretaceous to Early Paleocene
- Named by
- Davies (1930)
- Type locality
- South of Fort Lockhart, Samana Range33.5500°N, 70.9200°E
- Thickness
- 15–150 m
- Lithology
- Sandstone, grey shale, coal, laterite
- Synonyms
- Dhak Pass Beds
A Paleocene coal-bearing sandstone laid on a deeply eroded surface — the first deposits after the region rose above the sea at the end of the Cretaceous.
Named after section south of Fort Lockhart. Contains coal seams. Patala Formation is considered lateral equivalent/synonym. Correlated with Vitakri coal of Sulaiman. Part of the Hangu Group.
Fossils
Contacts
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
- Basin
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- terrestrial, marginal marine
- Coordinates
- 33.5500°N, 70.9200°E
See it in the field
Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Hosts the economically important Makarwal coal seams in its lower part; laterite–bauxite also occurs at its basal unconformity (Chhoi–Akhori).
Remarks
The basal terrestrial sandstone of the Paleocene Makarwal Group, deposited on the deeply eroded, unconformable surface of Cretaceous-to-Cambrian rocks; it marks the return of deposition after the end-Cretaceous emergence of the Indus foreland and is conformably overlain by the marine Lockhart Limestone.
Research notes (7)
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)
-
Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) treat the Hangu Formation as the basal Cenozoic (Early Paleocene) unit of the Greater Indus Basin. It is unfossiliferous in the Kohat area, Kala Chitta and Hazara ranges, where its chronostratigraphic position rests on regional context; only upper parts in the Salt Range yield age-diagnostic foraminifera, with a biota identical to the overlying basal Lockhart Formation. Curated age (Latest Cretaceous to Early Paleocene) retained.
Lithology (1)
-
Munir et al. (2006): a lower residual facies (laterite, pisolitic bauxite, flint clay, brecciated quartzite) rests unconformably on the Kawagarh Formation in Hazara or on the Cambrian Abbottabad Formation in Azad Kashmir, overlain by lagoonal-to-estuarine sandstone, carbonaceous shale and thin coal (1–26 m); the unit spans the Cretaceous–Tertiary (K–T) boundary interval.
Munir, M.H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2006)
Thickness (1)
-
Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): average ~50 m. Type locality: Fort Lockhart (type section); principal reference at Dhak Pass, Salt Range. Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009)
Depositional environment (1)
-
Munir, Baig & Mirza (2005-06): in Hazara/Azad Kashmir the Paleocene Hangu Formation rests unconformably on the Kawagarh Formation and records partially transgressive, restricted shallow-marine to lagoonal (carbonaceous-shale) deposition, carrying a mixed Maastrichtian-Danian fauna.
Economic significance (2)
-
Malik (1989): the Early Paleocene Hangu Formation hosts the Makerwal coalfield of the Surghar Range (Trans-Indus) - one fairly consistent seam ~2-3 m thick over ~50 km of strike (~20 Mt; 9,000-12,206 BTU/lb), deposited under lagoonal conditions and unusually rich in inertinite (fusinite/semi-fusinite) for a Tertiary coal.
-
Craig et al. (2018): the Palaeocene Hangu Formation (basal transgressive sandstone over the eroded top of the Cretaceous Lumshiwal) is a main reservoir in the Kohat Basin (with the Lockhart Limestone); the correlative Dhak Pass Formation is identified as a potential reservoir in the central Potwar Basin (Wandrey et al. 2004).
Geological significance (1)
-
Butt (1989): the basal-Paleocene (Danian) Hangu Formation is a shallow-shelf clastic (sandstone) unit deposited normally only in the Samana Range (type locality near Hangu town); in the Kala Chitta and Hazara ranges it was not deposited, residual laterite forming there instead - a paleogeographic contrast at the Cretaceous-Tertiary transition.
Sources (13)
- 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.
- OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
- Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
- Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009). Revised stratigraphy of the lower Cenozoic succession of the Greater Indus Basin in Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 28(1): 7-23.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
- Ali, S.K. et al. (2026). Paleocene stratigraphic framework and sedimentary architecture in the Sub-Himalayan Fold and Thrust Belt. Journal of Sedimentary Environments, 11, 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.
- Gee, E.R. (edited by Gee, D.G.) (1989). Overview of the geology and structure of the Salt Range, with observations on related areas of northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 95-112.
- Butt, A.A. (1989). An Overview of the Hazara Arc Stratigraphy, Northern Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 1-11.
- Malik, I.A. (1989). Geodynamics and Coal Deposits of Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 12-43.
- Munir, M.-H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2005-2006). Upper Cretaceous of Hazara and Paleogene Biostratigraphy of Azad Kashmir, North West Himalayas, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 40-41, 69-87.
- 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.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Hangu Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_hanguformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Hangu 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/hangu-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Davies (1930).
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Referenced in other successions
Underlain by Kawagarh Formation
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