Paleozoic • Cambrian In GSP lexicon

Jutana Formation

late Early to early Middle Cambrian

Cited in 9 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Cambrian · Series 2-Miaolingianlate Early to early Middle Cambrian
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Jutana village, Salt Range32.7000°N, 72.8700°E
Thickness: 100-150 m
Lithology: Dolomite, dolomitic limestone, shale
Synonyms: Magnesian Sandstone

A Cambrian dolomite and dolomitic-limestone unit that forms resistant ridges in the Salt Range; it was deposited on a shallow carbonate platform.

Named after Jutana village in eastern Salt Range. Carbonate platform deposits with trilobites and brachiopods. Forms resistant ridges. Part of the Khewra Group.

Fossils

Trilobites (Redlichia noetlingi)Brachiopods (Lingulella fuchsia, Botsfordia granulata)Gastropods

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

SandstoneLimestoneShale / mudGypsum / evaporiteFossils 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 Kohat Basin Potwar Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: shallow marine, carbonate platform
Coordinates: 32.7000°N, 72.8700°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Cambrian carbonate-platform unit that records multiple phases of dolomitization (from early near-surface to later burial dolomites), documented through field, petrographic and stable-isotope studies.

Research notes (5)

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)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Jutana Formation (late Early to early Middle Cambrian; type near Jutana village) is 75–90 m (45 m Khisor Range) of cliff-forming sandy dolomite and dolomitic sandstone, conformable on the Kussak and overlain by the Baghanwala (or the Khisor Formation in the southern Khisor Range); yields brachiopods, gastropods, trilobites (Redlichia noetlingi) and Cruziana.

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

Lithology (1)

Comprises a lower oolitic-pisolitic dolostone unit (with herringbone and hummocky cross-bedding) and an upper massive dolostone unit, separated by shale; petrography and O/C/Mg isotopes record three dolomitization phases — early-Cambrian mixing-zone, late-Permian burial, and post-Eocene fracture-related (Khan & Shah 2019).

Khan, S. & Shah, M.M. (2019)

Type locality & location (1)

Geocoded (medium confidence) from the published type locality "Jutana village, Salt Range" via public gazetteer (OpenStreetMap / GEOnet Names Server). Named-place point of ~km accuracy for regional screening, not a surveyed section; author-reviewed in the coordinate-verification pass. Basis: Jutana village, Salt Range.

OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

Constituent units (1)

Gee (1989): the Jutana Formation (former 'Magnesian Sandstone') is one of the four Cambrian formations of the Jhelum Group (Khewra, Kussak, Jutana, Baghanwala) overlying the Eocambrian Salt Range Formation.

Gee, E.R. (edited by Gee, D.G.) (1989)

Economic significance (1)

Craig et al. (2018): the Lower Cambrian Jutana Formation (sandy carbonates and near-shore sandstones with fair-good reservoir properties) is a producing reservoir in the Kal and Rajian fields, and has produced oil in the Dhurnal Field.

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 (9)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Shah, S.M.I. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
Khan, S. & Shah, M.M. (2019). Multiphase dolomitization in the Jutana Formation (Cambrian), Salt Range (Pakistan): Evidences from field observations, microscopic studies and isotopic analysis. Geologica Acta, 17(2), 1-18.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
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.
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.
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.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

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). Jutana Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_jutanaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Jutana 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/jutana-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

Below · older

Kussak Formation

Cambrian

Above · younger

Baghanwala Formation