Khyber Limestone
Carboniferous–Permian
Northern Indus Suture
Carboniferous–Permian in the time scale →Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Paleozoic · Carboniferous–PermianCarboniferous–Permian
- Named by
- Stauffer (1968)
- Type locality
- Ali Masjid village, Khyber Pass34.0800°N, 71.2900°E
- Thickness
- 30-36m
- Lithology
- Thick-bedded limestone, marble and massive dolomite with minor shale; limonite-rich arenaceous beds occur in the middle part.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A Carboniferous–Permian limestone-and-dolomite unit of the Khyber Pass, above the Ali Masjid Formation.
The Khyber Limestone of Stauffer (1968) is placed within the Ali Masjid Group of Khan, M.A. (1970), which also comprises the Spin Rag quartzite, Oosi Nala limestone, Kandar phyllite, Nowshera formation, Misri Banda quartzite and Warran Ghundai formation; the Ghundai Sar formation of Khan et al. (1989) is a synonym of this group. Its basal Spin Rag quartzite (30-36 m thick) rests on the Landikotal slate along a thrust fault and is assigned a Middle to Upper Silurian age (Khan, M.A. 1970).
Fossils
Contacts
Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type (wavy = unconformity inferred from a missing period); 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
- Northern Indus Suture
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- marine
- Coordinates
- 34.0800°N, 71.2900°E
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
The youngest Paleozoic unit of the Khyber Agency, conformably overlying the Upper Devonian Ali Masjid Formation; its rich fauna — including fusulinids — indicates a Carboniferous to Permian age.
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.
Name & nomenclature (1)
-
Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22, which describes it as Khyber limestone (Stauffer 1968; type section near Ali Masjid, Khyber Pass). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009)
Age & correlation (3)
-
Baseline age 'Silurian' is incorrect: the Khyber Limestone (Stauffer 1968b) conformably overlies the Upper Devonian Ali Masjid Formation and carries fusulinids, indicating a Carboniferous–Permian age (Kazmi & Jan, 1997). The baseline lithology string ('Spin Rag quartzite…') also appears to be an artifact from a different unit. Age and lithology need review.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
-
Molloy, Talent & Mawson (1997): the (Carboniferous–Permian) Khyber Limestone transgresses over the top of the Ali Masjid Formation — the base of the Khyber Limestone transgression is placed near the top of the sampled Ali Masjid sections (above the mid-Tournaisian Early crenulata Zone). Corroborates the curated Carboniferous–Permian age and the Ali Masjid → Khyber Limestone superposition.
Molloy, P.D., Talent, J.A. & Mawson, R. (1997)
-
Kazmi & Abbasi (2008) COMPETING INTERPRETATION (not applied): following Pogue et al. (1999), the book reassigns the Khyber Limestone to the Late Proterozoic (~750 Ma Sr-isotopic date) and places the whole Khyber sequence in its Precambrian chapter. This conflicts with the classic fusulinid/conodont-based Carboniferous–Permian age (Shah 1977; Kazmi & Jan 1997; the Ali Masjid conodont biostratigraphy of Molloy, Talent & Mawson 1997). The curated Carboniferous–Permian age is retained because it rests on biostratigraphy; the Precambrian Sr-isotope reassignment is recorded as an unresolved alternative.
Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)
Sources (6)
- 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.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
- Molloy, P.D., Talent, J.A. & Mawson, R. (1997). Late Devonian-Tournaisian conodonts from the eastern Khyber region, north-west Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 103(2), 123-148.
- 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: 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.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Khyber Limestone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_khyberlimestone,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Khyber Limestone} --- 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/khyber-limestone (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Stauffer (1968).
Related units
More from Khyber–Nowshera Belt
Same age (Paleozoic · Carboniferous–Permian)
Saved on this device only.