Marpo Sandstone
Jurassic
Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith
Jurassic in the time scale →Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Jul 16, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Jurassic · Middle JurassicJurassic
- Named by
- Gaetani et al. (1990b)
- Type locality
- Aghil Pass region and Shaksgam valley, eastern Karakoram36.1500°N, 76.5500°E
- Thickness
- 20–100 m
- Lithology
- 20–100 m of red sandstone and siltstone; the base has ostracod-bearing grey marl interbedded with red siltstone and overlain by polymict conglomerate, passing up into red shaly sandstone.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A Middle Jurassic red sandstone unit of the Aghil Pass and Shaksgam area, above the Tekri Formation.
Marpo sandstone is named by Gaetani et al. (1990b) and consists of 20-100m sandstone and siltstones and exposed in the Aghil pass and Shaksgam valley and age is middle Jurassic.
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. 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
- Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
- Region
- Central Karakoram Batholith
- Depositional environment
- fluvial, marginal marine
- Coordinates
- 36.1500°N, 76.5500°E
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
A Middle Jurassic red-bed sandstone unit overlying the Tekri Formation in the Aghil Pass and Shaksgam region.
Sources (3)
- 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.
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: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Marpo Sandstone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_marposandstone,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Marpo Sandstone} --- 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/marpo-sandstone (accessed September 5, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gaetani et al. (1990b).
Related units
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