Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation GSP memoir

Mekhtar Formation (or Mekhtar Sandstone)

Cretaceous

Kirthar Basin · Western Kirthar (Balochistan)

Cited in 2 sources Last reviewed Jul 17, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late CretaceousCretaceous
Named by: Not recorded
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: about 100m
Lithology: Sandstone with subordinate shale (Mekhtar Sandstone).
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Cretaceous sandstone of the Loralai-Mekhtar area.

Mekhtar Formation (or Mekhtar Sandstone) Mekhtar Formation (or Mekhtar Sandstone or it is commonly called as lower Goru sandstone) is upgraded by Malkani and Mahmood (2016b) as formation (from previous Mekhtar member) due to its wide occurrence and lateral extension in the Eastern Sulaiman and also Eastern Kirthar basins (subsurface). It is not exposed in the Kirthar basin but found in subsurface, however it is exposed in Mekhtar and Murgha Kibzai areas of Sulaiman basin. Malkani (2010a) established three members of Sembar formation. But here the Middle Sandstone and upper shale and marl are considered as Mekhtar Formation. Its type locality is near the Mekhtar town just south of Mekhtar on Chamalang Mekhtar road (39F/7). At type locality it is round about 100m thick lensoid shape. This sandstone is oil producing/reservoir rocks in Kirthar basin commonly called Lower Goru Sandstone. Actually it is a Mekhtar Formation. It mostly consists of sandstone (Pab like) with some shale and marl. The lower contact with Sembar is gradational and sharp marked on Sandstone facies variation from Shale facies of Sembar. The upper contact with Goru Formation is also sharp. According to law of superposition its age can be considered as Early Cretaceous.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Kirthar Range column

SandstoneShale / mudLimestoneFossils 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

Basin: Kirthar Basin
Region: Western Kirthar (Balochistan)
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Cretaceous sandstone unit of the Loralai–Mekhtar area of the eastern Balochistan fold belt.

Research notes (1)

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)

Malkani (2019) equates the Mekhtar Sandstone with the lower Goru sandstone (quartzose sandstone) within the Lower Cretaceous Parh Group of the Sulaiman-Kirthar basins.

Malkani, M.S. (2019)

Sources (2)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Malkani, M.S. (2019). Cretaceous Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology, 9, 671-673.

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.

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Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Mekhtar Formation (or Mekhtar Sandstone). In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_mekhtarformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Mekhtar Formation (or Mekhtar 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/mekhtar-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

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