Cenozoic • Paleogene formation In GSP lexicon

Khojak Formation

Late Eocene to Early Miocene, mainly Oligocene (Priabonian-Chattian; ~35.8-23.0 Ma)

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Late Eocene to Early Miocene (mainly Oligocene)Late Eocene to Early Miocene, mainly Oligocene (Priabonian-Chattian; ~35.8-23.0 Ma)
Named by: Vredenburg (1909)
Type locality: Nauroz, 30 km NE of Kharan (Kalat)
Thickness: 900-1500 m (around the type locality); members up to several thousand m
Lithology: Shale, sandstone and siltstone of mainly turbiditic and deltaic origin (Katawaz remnant ocean); locally carbonaceous with lignite lenses.
Synonyms: Khojak Shale

A thick Oligocene flysch-molasse succession of shale, sandstone and siltstone of turbiditic and deltaic origin, deposited in the Katawaz remnant ocean. Subdivided into the lower Murgha Faqirzai member (shale-dominated, ~1200 m at its type section) and the upper Shaigalu member (sandstone and shale, up to ~6000 m estimated). Widely exposed in the Axial Belt and the Chagai-Raskoh Magmatic Province. Named by Vredenburg (1909); type locality at Nauroz, 30 km NE of Kharan, Kalat.

Fossils

Lepidocyclina dilatata Nummulites fichteli Nummulites intermedius Nummulites vascus Nummulites atacicus Assilina granulosa Dictyoconoides cooki

Contacts

In the Zhob-Muslim Bagh column

SandstoneShale / mudIgneousLimestoneFossils 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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this formation, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Zhob-Muslim Bagh Chagai Hills

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: deltaic, submarine fan, deep marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Coal & lignite

Locally carbonaceous, with lenses of lignite.

Remarks

The Oligocene–Early Miocene flysch/molasse of the Khojak–Pishin (Katawaz) belt, exceeding ~6,300 m in the Chaman area. Named after the Khojak Pass near Chaman and first mapped as the 'Khojak Shale' by Vredenburg (1909); divided into a lower shale-dominant Murgha Faqirzai Member and an upper sandstone-dominant Shaigalu Member (Hunting Survey Corporation 1960), together deposited in a wave-modified, fluvial-dominated delta system.

Research notes (9)

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 as 'Khojak formation'). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Khojak Formation (Eocene to Early Miocene; type Khojak) is >6,300 m of shale, sandstone and siltstone with subordinate limestone/conglomerate — a lower Murgha Faqirzai Member (prodelta turbidites) and an upper Shaigalu Member (deltaic-plain cross-bedded sandstone) — deposited in the Katawaz-Makran Sea delta-deep-sea-fan system fed by the rising Himalaya; conformable on the Nisai Formation and overlain transitionally by the Hinglaj Formation; larger forams (Nummulites atacicus, N. fichteli) and molluscs.

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

Lithology (2)

Independently corroborated (Malkani 2020, Balochistan Basin, independent of the Indian Plate Lexicon; and the strong independent literature Qayyum, Niem & Lawrence on the Katawaz remnant ocean, and Kassi et al. in J. Himalayan Earth Sci.): an Oligocene-Miocene monotonous sandstone-shale turbidite/deltaic sequence ~6000-6300 m thick, with a lower Murgha Faqirzai Member and upper Shaigalu Member, deposited by the Khojak submarine fan. Lifts this record off the indplex-only source; add Qayyum et al. and Kassi et al. as further independent references after PDF confirmation.

Malkani, M.S. (2020)
Qayyum et al. (2001): detrital-modes analysis shows the Paleogene Khojak Formation is a recycled-orogen sandstone (modal Qt60F9L31 — subangular quartz with abundant lithics and minor feldspar, a few samples transitional magmatic-arc), deposited as a delta-submarine-fan complex in the Katawaz remnant ocean and recording early Himalayan orogeny and unroofing.

Qayyum, M., Niem, A.R. & Lawrence, R.D. (2001)

Thickness (1)

Kakar et al. (2016): the Khojak Formation reaches ~6,300 m in the Khojak–Pishin flysch belt — considerably thicker than the ~1,200 m recorded here for other sections. The curated thickness is retained pending a section-specific review; the flysch-belt figure is noted as a regional maximum.

Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016)

Constituent units (3)

Two members per the lexicon: the lower Murgha Faqirzai member (a unit here) and the upper Shaigalu member (not yet a separate unit).

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Kakar et al. (2016) and Yaseen et al. (2019, after Qayyum et al. 1996): in the Khojak–Pishin flysch belt the Khojak Formation comprises two members — a lower Murgha Faqirzai Member (regularly bedded sandstone and shale; distal turbidites in the Makran equivalent) and an upper Shaigalu Member (fluvial- to wave-dominated deltaic sandstone). Age Late Eocene to Early Miocene, mainly Oligocene, from fossils in the middle and upper parts.

Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016)
Kasi et al. (2012): the Khojak Formation comprises two members — the lower Murgha Faqirzai Member and the upper Shaigalu Member; the Shaigalu Member is added here to complete the previously single-member list. The curated type locality (Nauroz, near Kharan) reflects a Makran-area usage; in the Pishin Belt the formation is named after the Khojak Pass near Chaman.

Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012)

Depositional environment (1)

Kakar et al. (2016): a deltaic to submarine-fan (deep-marine turbidite) succession of the Katawaz remnant-ocean basin (Pishin–Katawaz / Khojak–Pishin flysch belt); the sandstones are recycled-orogen detritus derived from the early Himalayan orogen, moderately weathered (CIA ≈ 77).

Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016)

Sources (9)

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Malkani, M.S. (2020). Revised Stratigraphy and Mineral Resources of Balochistan Basin, Pakistan: An Update. Open Journal of Geology, 10, 784-828.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016). Petrography and whole-rock geochemistry of the Oligocene–Miocene Khojak Formation, Khojak-Pishin Belt, Pakistan: implications on provenance and source-area weathering. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 49(2).
Yaseen, W., Khan, A.S., Sohail, K., Farooq, U., Usman, M. & Ghani, M. (2019). Modal composition and provenance of Shaigalu Sandstones, Pishin-Katawaz Basin, northern Balochistan, Pakistan. Bahria University Research Journal of Earth Sciences (BURJES), 4(2), 70-77.
Waliullah, Khan, J.A. & Akhtar, W. Preliminary geology and mineral potential of the Karezat and Barshor quadrangles (toposheets 34 N/6 and 5), district Pishin, Balochistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta (abstract).
Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012). Revised lithostratigraphy of the Pishin Belt, northwestern Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 45(1), 53-65.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_khojakformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Khojak 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/khojak-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Vredenburg (1909).

Below · older

Kharan Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Hinglaj Formation

Neogene

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Dasht Murgha Group