Mesozoic • Triassic In GSP lexicon

Mianwali Formation

Early Triassic (Induan-Olenekian)

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Early TriassicEarly Triassic (Induan-Olenekian)
Named by: Kummel & Teichert (1966)
Type locality: Mianwali District, Salt Range32.6300°N, 71.5500°E
Thickness: 100-200 m
Lithology: Grey limestone, dolomite, shale with thin-bedded appearance
Synonyms: Ceratite Beds

The oldest Triassic rock unit of the Salt Range, famous for its 'ceratite' ammonite beds that record life recovering after the greatest mass extinction.

Post-extinction marine sequence showing gradual faunal recovery. Contains earliest Triassic index fossils and excellent ammonoid succession. Part of the Musakhel Group.

Fossils

Claraia bivalves Ophiceras ammonoids Conodonts Fish remains Gyronites Ambites Proptychites Koninckites Vavilovites Kingites

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

Shale / mudLimestoneSandstoneFossils 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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this unit, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Salt Range Kohat Basin Potwar Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine, shallow marine
Coordinates: 32.6300°N, 71.5500°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Zaluch Nala — Permian–Triassic boundary section

Salt Range

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The lowest unit of the Triassic (Musa Khel Group) in the Salt Range and Trans-Indus Ranges, resting on the Permian Chhidru Formation and passing up into the Tredian Formation. Its mixed carbonate-clastic succession preserves one of the world's better Early Triassic ammonoid records, documenting the post-extinction recovery of marine faunas.

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.

Name & nomenclature (1)

Attested in Shah (2009), Geological Survey of Pakistan Memoir 22 - the Stratigraphic Committee's compiled lexicon. Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Waterhouse (2010): the basal Kathwai Member of the Mianwali Formation records severe condensation and faunal mixing across the Permian–Triassic boundary — the basal dolostone carries the very-late-Changhsingian conodont Clarkina meishanensis alongside the basal-Triassic Hindeodus parvus (with Isarcicella and Neogondolella carinata higher) and a few reworked Permian brachiopods, indicating deposition in very shallow, repeatedly reworked waters. A middle–upper Kathwai carbon-isotope excursion corresponds to an upper Gangetian (Early Induan) age, with the overlying Ophiceras tibeticum ammonoid Zone above.

Waterhouse, J.B. (2010)

Type locality & location (1)

Geocoded (low confidence) from the published type locality "Mianwali District, Salt Range" via public gazetteer (OpenStreetMap / GEOnet Names Server). Named-place point of ~km accuracy for regional screening, not a surveyed section; author-reviewed in the coordinate-verification pass. Basis: Mianwali area, western Salt Range (district-level).

OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

Constituent units (1)

Divided into three members (Kummel & Teichert 1966; Kummel 1966): the basal Kathwai Member (dolomite/limestone, ~10 ft, disconformable on the Zaluch Group), the Mittiwali Member (ammonite-bearing limestone/sandstone/shale, ~239 ft) and the Narmia Member (limestone/sandstone, ~249 ft) — measured at Spinnagara Nala.

Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Ware et al. (2018) document a rich Griesbachian–Dienerian (Early Triassic, Induan) ammonoid fauna from the Mianwali Formation (Kathwai Member, Lower Ceratite Limestone and Ceratite Marls) at Nammal, Wargal, Amb and Chhidru, defining a succession of regional zones (Ophiceras → Gyronites dubius/plicosus/frequens → Ambites → Koninckites/Vavilovites/Kingites). Key index genera added: Gyronites, Ambites, Proptychites, Koninckites, Vavilovites and Kingites.

Ware, D., Bucher, H., Brühwiler, T., Schneebeli-Hermann, E., Hochuli, P.A., Roohi, G., Ur-Rehman, K. & Yaseen, A. (2018)

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.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973). Stratigraphy of the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan Areas, Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-B (Geological Investigations in Pakistan), 36 p.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Ware, D., Bucher, H., Brühwiler, T., Schneebeli-Hermann, E., Hochuli, P.A., Roohi, G., Ur-Rehman, K. & Yaseen, A. (2018). Griesbachian and Dienerian (Early Triassic) ammonoids from the Salt Range, Pakistan. Fossils and Strata, no. 63. Lethaia Foundation / Wiley.
Waterhouse, J.B. (2010). Lopingian (Late Permian) stratigraphy of the Salt Range, Pakistan and Himalayan region. Geological Journal, 45, 264-284.
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.
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: 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.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_mianwaliformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Mianwali 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/mianwali-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Kummel & Teichert (1966).

Below · older

Chhidru Formation

Permian

Above · younger

Tredian Formation

Triassic

Referenced in other successions

Overlain by Chak Jabbi Limestone