Lockhart Limestone
Middle to Late Paleocene
Paleogene in the time scale →Cited in 13 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Cenozoic · Paleogene · PaleoceneMiddle to Late Paleocene
- Named by
- Davies (1930)
- Type locality
- Near Fort Lockhart, Samana Range
- Thickness
- 30–240 m
- Lithology
- Dark grey nodular (rubbly) limestone
- Synonyms
- Khairabad Limestone
A grey Paleocene sea-floor limestone full of larger foraminifera, recording a marine flooding of the region above the Hangu sandstone.
Named after Fort Lockhart in Samana Range. Distinctive nodular limestone rich in larger foraminifera including type genus Lockhartia. Part of the Hangu Group.
Fossils
Contacts
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
- Basin
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- shallow marine
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Quarried as cement rock in the shingled-thrust zone north of the Potwar Plateau; the formation also carries some coal seams, bauxite and clays.
Remarks
A widespread Paleocene shallow-marine limestone — the middle, fully marine unit of the Makarwal Group; its larger-foraminiferal assemblage records the Paleocene marine transgression across the Kohat–Potwar–Hazara platform.
Research notes (8)
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)
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Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) assign the Lockhart Formation to shallow benthonic Zones SBZ3-SBZ4 (Thanetian, Late Paleocene), correlated with calcareous nannofossil Zones NP6-NP8 and planktonic foraminiferal Zones through the Kohat area. Key larger benthonic foraminifera: Miscellanea miscella, Ranikothalia sindensis, Lockhartia conditi, Lockhartia haimei and Operculina jiwani (Kotal Pass, Kohat). Represents widespread carbonate-platform deposition. Consistent with the curated Middle-Late Paleocene age.
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Munawar et al. (2022): larger benthic foraminifera Lockhartia haimei and L. conditi in the Pail-area Lockhart Limestone indicate a Late (Upper) Paleocene age, consistent with the curated age.
Munawar, M.J., Ahsan, N., Anjum, M.N., Sameeni, S.J., Rehman, S.U. & Zahid, A. (2022)
Lithology (1)
-
Munir et al. (2006): massive nodular dark-grey fetid limestone with flaser bedding and marly partings; microfauna Lockhartia haimei/tipperi/conditi, Miscellanea miscella, Daviesina langhami, Ranikothalia sindensis, Actinosiphon tibetica and Operculina salsa indicate a Late Paleocene warm shallow (inner-neritic) carbonate platform.
Munir, M.H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2006)
Thickness (1)
-
Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): ~66 m. Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009)
Fossils & biostratigraphy (2)
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Sameeni (1989): the Upper Paleocene Lockhart Limestone (Hazara, Kala Chitta Range and Salt Range / Nammal Gorge) carries the benthonic foraminifer Eoannularia eocenica (its range in northern Pakistan is Upper Paleocene to Middle Eocene) together with Lockhartia haimei, Miscellanea miscella and Ranikothalia sindensis - a diagnostic Upper Paleocene assemblage.
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Munir, Baig & Mirza (2005-06): in Azad Kashmir the Paleocene-Early Eocene Lockhart Limestone carries larger benthic foraminifera (Lockhartia, Operculina, Miscellanea, Ranikothalia, Assilina, Nummulites, Alveolina) together with smaller benthics (Clavulina, Quinqueloculina, Spiroloculina) in a shallow-marine limestone.
Depositional environment (1)
-
Munawar, Ahsan, Anjum, Sameeni, Rehman & Zahid (2022), Pail area (Central Salt Range): three Dunham microfacies in the Lockhart Limestone - Nummulitidae mudstone, wackestone and packstone; abundant benthic and scarce planktonic foraminifera indicate a shallow, inner-neritic, open-marine environment.
Munawar, M.J., Ahsan, N., Anjum, M.N., Sameeni, S.J., Rehman, S.U. & Zahid, A. (2022)
Economic significance (1)
-
Craig et al. (2018): the Palaeocene Lockhart Limestone is a main fractured-carbonate reservoir in the Kohat Basin (with the Hangu Formation); the 2016 Makori-Deep-1 well (TD 5,067 m) flowed 2,202 BOPD plus 5.4 MMSCFD gas from the Lockhart, rising to 3,790 bbls oil plus 10.9 MMSCFD after acid stimulation. In the Dhurnal Field, where the overlying Patala has low TOC, the Lockhart (average TOC ~1.4 wt.%; Jaswal et al. 1997) is the effective source rock.
Sources (12)
- 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.
- 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.
- Ali, S.K. et al. (2026). Paleocene stratigraphic framework and sedimentary architecture in the Sub-Himalayan Fold and Thrust Belt. Journal of Sedimentary Environments, 11, 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.
- 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.
- Sameeni, S.J. (1989). A Note on the Stratigraphic Distribution of Eoannularia eocenica Cole & Bermudez. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 77-79.
- Munir, M.-H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2005-2006). Upper Cretaceous of Hazara and Paleogene Biostratigraphy of Azad Kashmir, North West Himalayas, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 40-41, 69-87.
- 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.
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.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Lockhart Limestone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_lockhartlimestone,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Lockhart 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/lockhart-limestone (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Davies (1930).
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