Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Laki Formation

Early Eocene

Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early EoceneEarly Eocene
Named by: Noetling (1903)
Type locality: Near Meting and Mari Nai, northern Lakhi Range25.7300°N, 67.9400°E
Thickness: 200-400 m
Lithology: Cream to grey limestone with subordinate marl, calcareous shale, sandstone and lateritic clay.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A widespread Early Eocene limestone of Sindh and the Kirthar Range, packed with marine fossils.

Named after Lakhi Hills. Shallow marine limestone rich in larger foraminifera. Important petroleum reservoir.

Fossils

Foraminifera Gastropods Bivalves Echinoids Algae

Contacts

In the Kirthar Range column

SandstoneLimestoneFossils 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

Kirthar Range Sindh Province

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: shallow marine
Coordinates: 25.7300°N, 67.9400°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Reservoir Cement & lime

Petroleum reservoir, cement raw material

Remarks

A widespread Early Eocene shallow-marine limestone (Laki/Meting Limestone) of the Kirthar and southern Sulaiman ranges, resting unconformably on the Ranikot Group.

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 (2)

Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) subsume the Laki Formation (Shah 1977; Wakefield & Monteil 2002) into their Ghazij Formation, dated to shallow benthonic Zones SBZ8-SBZ13 and planktonic Zones P7-P10 (late Ypresian to early Lutetian). Consistent with the curated Early Eocene age; nomenclatural equivalence noted (not a duplicate of ghazij-group).

Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009)
Brohi et al. (2012): in the Laki Range (Jamshoro) the Early–Middle Eocene Laki Formation (with its Sohnari and Meting limestone members) unconformably overlies the Paleocene Lakhra Formation; studied here for dimension/cut-stone potential. Corroborates the Early–Middle Eocene age.

Brohi, I.A., Solangi, S.H., Bablani, S.A., Agheem, M.H., Sahito, A.G. & Brohi, A.U. (2012)

Thickness (1)

Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): ~240 m at Bara Nai and type locality; >600 m at Tatti; 468 m subsurface at Sui. Type locality: Mari Nai (type locality). Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Economic significance (1)

Malik (1989): the Early Eocene Laki Formation hosts the Meting-Jhimpir lignite field of the Lower Indus Basin - a basal lateritic 'Sonhari Member' (lateritic clay/shale with arenaceous limestone, lignite and ferruginous sandstone) carrying one workable seam ~1 m thick (~40 Mt); a high-moisture (12-23%) lignitic coal.

Malik, I.A. (1989)

Geological significance (1)

Brohi et al. (2009): at the Surjan Anticline the Lower Eocene Laki Formation is the oldest exposed unit of the measured Khorwari section and is overlain by the Middle Eocene 'Tiyon Formation' — a Kirthar-equivalent Middle-Eocene unit that is NOT yet in this dataset (flag: consider adding/reconciling with the Kirthar Formation in Sindh usage).

Brohi, I.A., Bablani, S.A. & Solangi, S.H. (2009)

Sources (10)

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.
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.
Brohi, I.A., Solangi, S.H., Bablani, S.A., Agheem, M.H., Sahito, A.G. & Brohi, A.U. (2012). Geological and Stratigraphical Studies of Dimension and Cut Stone Deposits Around Khanu Brohi and Khadhar Areas, District Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 44(4), 623-628.
Brohi, I.A., Bablani, S.A. & Solangi, S.H. (2009). Geology and Economic Significance of Tertiary Rocks, Khorwari Section, Surjan Anticline, Thano Bula Khan, Sindh. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 41(1), 95-106.
Malik, I.A. (1989). Geodynamics and Coal Deposits of Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 12-43.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_lakiformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Laki 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/laki-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Noetling (1903).

Below · older

Lakhra Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Kirthar Formation