Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Kuldana Formation

Early to Middle Eocene (late Ypresian-Lutetian; shallow benthonic Zone SBZ13 or older)

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early–Middle EoceneEarly to Middle Eocene (late Ypresian-Lutetian; shallow benthonic Zone SBZ13 or older)
Named by: Wynne (1874)
Type locality: Kuldana33.9200°N, 73.3900°E
Thickness: up to ~300 m
Lithology: Shale, marl, sandstone, limestone, conglomerate, dolomite
Synonyms: Not recorded

Famous worldwide for Pakicetus, the oldest known whale — a fossil capturing whales' evolution from land animals.

Named after Kuldana village north of Murree. Shows alternating marine and continental environments. Contains early whale fossils. Part of the Kuldana Group.

Fossils

Pakicetus Gandakasia Ichthyolestes

Contacts

In the Hazara Basin column

LimestoneShale / mudFossils recordedConformableContact 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

Hazara Basin Kohat Basin Potwar Basin Salt Range

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marginal marine, continental
Coordinates: 33.9200°N, 73.3900°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Salt & evaporites

A local source of gypsum on the Potwar Plateau, mainly satisfying nearby agricultural needs rather than yielding the large, pure bodies of the Salt Range Formation.

Remarks

Internationally significant for its vertebrate fauna: the Kuldana Formation yields Pakicetus — regarded as the oldest and most primitive known cetacean (whale) — together with Gandakasia and Ichthyolestes, key fossils documenting the land-to-sea transition of early whales.

Research notes (6)

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's compiled lexicon. Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (3)

RESOLVED: the earlier 'Miocene' label was an error. The Kuldana Formation is Early–Middle Eocene (Ypresian–Lutetian), confirmed by GSP Malkani (2017), the Indian Plate Lexicon, and its Pakicetus/Ambulocetus whale fauna.

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Current record lists Miocene, but Kazmi & Jan (1997) place the Kuldana Formation in the Paleogene, and its Pakicetus-bearing fauna is Early–Middle Eocene. Age needs review.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Superseded the vague curated value 'Eocene' with Early to Middle Eocene (late Ypresian-Lutetian). Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) assign the Kuldana Formation to shallow benthonic Zone SBZ13 or older, on larger benthonic foraminifera (Latif 1970, 1976) and mammal faunas (Raza 2001a; Gingerich 2003). It is a continental red-bed / shale succession stratigraphically coeval with the upper Subathu Formation / Kalakot Zone of India. Prior epoch field (Early-Middle Eocene) was already consistent.

Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009)

Depositional environment (1)

Munir et al. (2006): Middle Eocene (Lutetian) variegated shales, gypsiferous clays, calcareous paleosols, oyster lumachelles and cross-bedded sandstone; Assilina dandotica/granulosa, Nummulites atacicus/mamillatus, oyster beds and terrestrial/aquatic mammal remains indicate brackish bays, coastal lagoons and floodplains recording the final closure of the Neotethys, overlain diachronously by Murree molasse.

Munir, M.H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2006)

Geological significance (1)

Butt (1989): the Middle Eocene Kuldana Formation is a red-bed facies of shallow-water origin whose distribution records a Middle Eocene southward shift of the Hazara trough toward the Potwar Basin; type locality Kuldana near Murree, with a good section at Daryagali.

Butt, A.A. (1989)

Sources (9)

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.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Drewes, H., Ahmad, Z. & Khan, R. (2007). Resource Evaluation of Selected Minerals and Industrial Commodities of the Potwar Plateau Area, Northern Pakistan. Chapter H of Regional Studies of the Potwar Plateau Area, Northern Pakistan (P.D. Warwick & B.R. Wardlaw, eds.), U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 2078-H, 22 p.
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.
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.
Butt, A.A. (1989). An Overview of the Hazara Arc Stratigraphy, Northern Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 1-11.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_kuldanaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Kuldana 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/kuldana-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Wynne (1874).

Below · older

Chorgali Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Murree Formation

Neogene

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Kohat Formation