Cenozoic • Paleogene formation In GSP lexicon

Margala Hill Limestone

Early Eocene (Ypresian)

Kohat-Potwar Basin · Hazara and Kala Chitta ranges; Margalla Hills (Islamabad); Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · EoceneEarly Eocene (Ypresian)
Named by: Latif (1970); formalised in Shah (1977), Stratigraphy of Pakistan (GSP Memoir 12)
Type locality: Margalla Hills near Islamabad; described from southeastern Hazara and the Kala Chitta Range33.7300°N, 73.0500°E
Thickness: ~73 m (Battlian, Muzaffarabad) to ~136 m (Kohala-Bala, Haripur); locally thinner
Lithology: Grey to dark grey (weathering pale grey), nodular, medium- to thick-bedded and massive limestone with subordinate marl and shale.
Synonyms: Margalla Hill Limestone (alternative spelling); Sakesar Limestone (lateral facies equivalent; treated as a synonym in GSP Memoir Vol. 24)

The Margala Hill Limestone (also spelled Margalla Hill Limestone) is an Early Eocene (Ypresian) shallow-marine carbonate named after the Margalla Hills near Islamabad and described from southeastern Hazara and the Kala Chitta Range by Latif (1970); it was formalised in Shah (1977). It consists of grey to dark grey, nodular, medium- to thick-bedded and massive limestone with subordinate marl and shale, resting transitionally on the Patala Formation and passing up conformably into the Chorgali Formation. Reported thickness ranges from about 73 m (Battlian, Muzaffarabad) to about 136 m (Kohala-Bala, Haripur). Its larger benthic foraminifera (Nummulites, Assilina, Lockhartia, Operculina, Alveolina and miliolids) with dasycladalean algae, bivalves and echinoids indicate deposition on a gentle homoclinal carbonate ramp and support an age spanning shallow-benthic zones SBZ 8-11. Note on nomenclature: the Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan tradition (Shah 1977, 2009; Latif 1970) treats it as a valid, distinct formation and the lateral facies equivalent of the Sakesar Limestone, whereas GSP Memoir Vol. 24 (Malkani and Mahmood, 2017) treats it as a synonym of the Sakesar Formation. Part of the Chharat Group.

Fossils

Nummulites mamillatus Nummulites atacicus Assilina spinosa Assilina laminosa Assilina granulosa Assilina exponens Lockhartia tipperi Lockhartia conditi Alveolina Operculina Miliolids Gastropods Echinoids

Contacts

Lower contact — conformable; upper contact — conformable.

In the Hazara Basin column

Shale / mudLimestoneMixedFossils recordedContact not recordedConformable

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 Potwar Basin Kohat Basin Azad Kashmir

Basin: Kohat-Potwar Basin
Region: Hazara and Kala Chitta ranges; Margalla Hills (Islamabad); Hazara-Kashmir Syntaxis
Depositional environment: Shallow marine carbonate ramp, Homoclinal ramp (proximal outer to inner ramp), Mid-ramp to lagoonal
Coordinates: 33.7300°N, 73.0500°E

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See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Margalla Hills nummulitic limestone

Hazara Basin

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Reservoir Cement & lime Building stone

Fractured carbonate hydrocarbon reservoir and outcrop analogue in the Kala Chitta-Margalla-Hazara petroleum province; also one of the principal cement-rock (limestone) sources of the Potwar Plateau area, quarried in large quantity where close to markets or rail lines (Drewes and others, 2007); used locally as building and aggregate stone.

Remarks

The Hazara and Kala Chitta representative of the Early Eocene Tethyan carbonate shelf, laterally equivalent to the Sakesar Limestone; its larger foraminifera define shallow-benthic zones SBZ 8-11 and it caps the marine Paleogene of the northern Greater Indus Basin before molasse sedimentation.

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.

Age & correlation (4)

Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) assign the Margala Hill Formation to shallow benthonic Zones SBZ8-SBZ11 (early-middle Ypresian, Early Eocene) on larger benthonic foraminifera (Latif 1970, 1976; Akhtar & Butt 1999, 2001). It overlies the Patala Formation unconformably (hiatus equivalent to upper Zone P5-P6a) in the Kala Chitta and Hazara ranges. Consistent with the curated Early Eocene (Ypresian) age.

Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009)
Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Margalla Hill Limestone (Early Eocene; type locality Burjianwala) is 80–120 m of grey medium-bedded to massive nodular limestone with subordinate marl and shale, conformably overlying the Patala Formation and succeeded by the Chor Gali Formation; rich larger-foram fauna (Assilina granulosa/spinosa, Discocyclina, Lockhartia, Nummulites atacicus).

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Munir et al. (2006): Early Eocene (Ypresian) thick-bedded to massive nodular fetid limestone rich in larger foraminifera — Nummulites atacicus, N. mamillatus, Assilina granulosa/spinosa/laminosa/subspinosa and Rotalia trochidiformis; its base marks the Paleocene–Eocene boundary (first appearance of N. atacicus and N. mamillatus; extinction of Miscellanea miscella and Lockhartia haimei).

Munir, M.H., Baig, M.S. & Mirza, K. (2006)
Khaskheli et al. (2022): a Nummulites globulus/N. atacicus assemblage biozone (defined on first and last occurrences) in the Kala Chitta Margalla Hill Limestone is correlated to Shallow Benthic Zone SBZ-8 of Serra-Kiel et al. (1998) - early Eocene (Ilerdian) - consistent with the curated Ypresian age.

Khaskheli, M.R., Khan, H.N. & Ghafari, A. (2022)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (3)

Surfaced into fossils[] (field was previously empty): rich larger-foram fauna — Assilina granulosa/spinosa, Discocyclina, Lockhartia, Nummulites atacicus (Kazmi & Jan 1997); Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) assign shallow benthic zones SBZ8–SBZ11 (early–middle Ypresian) on these larger benthonic foraminifera.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Munir, Baig & Mirza (2005-06): the basal Margala Hill Limestone of Azad Kashmir carries earliest-Eocene Nummulites atacicus and N. mammillatus marking the top of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary interval, within the Paleocene-Early Eocene shallow-marine larger-benthic-foraminiferal succession (Lockhart-Patala-Margala Hill-Chorgali).

Munir, M.-H., Baig, M.S
Khaskheli, Khan & Ghafari (2022): a ~52 m Margalla Hill Limestone section in the core of the Kahi Synclinorium (eastern Kala Chitta Range, Nizampur) yielded 16 larger-benthic-foraminiferal species - Nummulites globulus, N. atacicus, Miscellanea miscella, M. julietta, Assilina spinosa, A. subspinosa, A. laminosa, Lockhartia conditi, L. haimei, L. conica, Ranikothalia sahni, R. sindensis, Discocyclina sp., Rotalia trochidiformis, Kathina selveri and Operculina patalensis.

Khaskheli, M.R., Khan, H.N. & Ghafari, A. (2022)

Depositional environment (1)

Khaskheli et al. (2022): in the Kahi section the Margalla Hill Limestone is ~52 m of reddish-yellow to grey nodular limestone, thin- to thick-bedded, with greenish-grey and reddish-brown shale and marl interbeds in the lower part and highly fossiliferous tempestite beds in the middle and upper part; its lower contact is transitional/conformable with the late Paleocene Patala Formation and the upper contact is not preserved there.

Khaskheli, M.R., Khan, H.N. & Ghafari, A. (2022)

Economic significance (1)

Craig et al. (2018): the Eocene Margalla Hill Limestone is listed among the Potwar producing reservoir formations (with the Bhadrar and Chorgali); in the Margalla Hill interval oil and gas has been produced from eight fields across the Potwar area. Craig et al. treat the Sakesar and Margalla Hill limestones as lateral/nomenclatural equivalents of the early Eocene outer-shelf carbonate.

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)

Sources (13)

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.
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.
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.
Latif, M. A. (1970). Explanatory notes on the geology of south-eastern Hazara, and Micropalaeontology of the Galis Group of Hazara. Jahrbuch der Geologischen Bundesanstalt, Sonderband 15.
Shah, S. M. I. (ed.) (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Vol. 12.
Biostratigraphy of Early Eocene Margala Hill Limestone in the Muzaffarabad area (Kashmir Basin, AJK). Pakistan Journal of Geology, 1(2), 16-20. Battlian section ~73 m; Patala and Chorgali contacts.
Sedimentological and diagenetic analysis of Early Eocene Margalla Hill Limestone, Shahdara area, Islamabad: implications for reservoir potential. Carbonates and Evaporites. Homoclinal ramp; five microfacies.
Depositional and diagenetic modeling of the Margala Hill Limestone, Hazara area: reservoir characterization using outcrop analogues. Margala Hill carbonates are the lateral facies equivalent of the Sakesar Limestone; mid-ramp.
Malkani, M. S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Memoir of the Geological Survey of Pakistan, Vol. 24.

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). Margala Hill Limestone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_margalahilllimestone,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Margala Hill 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/margala-hill-limestone (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Latif (1970); formalised in Shah (1977), Stratigraphy of Pakistan (GSP Memoir 12).

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