Mesozoic • Cretaceous formation In GSP lexicon

Moro Formation

Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) (Maastrichtian; ~70.02-67.88 Ma)

Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (MaastrichtianLate Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) (Maastrichtian; ~70.02-67.88 Ma)
Named by: Hunting Survey Corporation (1960)
Type locality: Moro River section in Kirthar Range, between Johan and Bibi Nani
Thickness: ~110–140 m
Lithology: Pelagic marl. It consists of grey, medium to thick bedded, grey to dark grey marl, dark grey to grey green calcareous shale and minor sandstone and volcanic conglomerate of mottled appearance (only in the lower part). Limestone is the dominant lithology in the Sulaiman Province where it contains chert lenses, while marl is dominant in Sanjawi area (Sulaiman Province) and the Axial Belt. In the Ki…
Synonyms: Not recorded

Pelagic marl. It consists of grey, medium to thick bedded, grey to dark grey marl, dark grey to grey green calcareous shale and minor sandstone and volcanic conglomerate of mottled appearance (only in the lower part). Limestone is the dominant lithology in the Sulaiman Province where it contains chert lenses, while marl is dominant in Sanjawi area (Sulaiman Province) and the Axial Belt. In the Kirthar Province, shale constitutes the main rock type. The formation is recognized in the Sulaiman and Kirthar provinces and the Axial Belt. It conformably overlies Pab Sandstone Fm; where Pab is not d…

Fossils

Orbitoides Orbitella bivalves brachiopods gastropods

Contacts

In the Sindh Province column

LimestoneMarlIgneousFossils recordedContact not recordedUnconformity

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type (wavy = unconformity inferred from a missing period); 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

Sindh Province Zhob-Muslim Bagh

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: shallow marine, open shelf
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Maastrichtian fossiliferous limestone-and-shale unit of the Kirthar–Sulaiman belt, the local uppermost-Cretaceous marine record. It rests disconformably (oxidised erosional contact, basal conglomerate) on the Parh Limestone or Fort Munro Formation and is conformably overlain by the Pab Formation in the Spera Ragha–Chinjun area.

Research notes (4)

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 of Pakistan's compiled lexicon (listed in the memoir's contents). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Moro Formation (Maastrichtian; Kirthar-Sulaiman region) is a lower limestone (locally with volcanic conglomerate), a middle marly-shaly unit and an upper limestone — a lateral facies of the Pab Sandstone, 'essentially the same as the Bibai Formation of Kazmi (1955)', resting conformably/gradationally on the Pab (or Fort Munro/Parh) and overlain by the Dungan Formation; foraminifera include Omphalocyclus macropora and Orbitoides.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)

Lithology (1)

Independently corroborated (Malkani 2019, Cretaceous Stratigraphy of Pakistan, OJG — independent of the Indian Plate Lexicon; and a Rakhi Nala provenance study): Upper Cretaceous, ~110-140 m of mainly fine- to coarse-grained sandstone with minor siltstone/mudstone/limestone (iron-cemented sandstone at top), type/reference section Rakhi Nala, eastern Sulaiman Range; deltaic-to-marine. Lifts this record off the indplex-only source. Literature-search-derived.

Malkani, M.S. (2019)

Thickness (1)

Thickness surfaced from the lithology note: the Moro Formation is ~110–140 m of mainly sandstone with minor siltstone/mudstone/limestone at Rakhi Nala (Malkani 2019, Cretaceous Stratigraphy of Pakistan — independent of the Indian Plate Lexicon). thicknessM is the range midpoint.

Malkani, M.S. (2019)

Sources (6)

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Malkani, M.S. (2019). Cretaceous Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology, 9, 671-673.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Umar, M., Kassi, A.M., Jamil, M., Kasi, A.K. & Khan, A.S. (2024). Cretaceous stratigraphic framework and sedimentary architecture, Pakistan: signatures of rift-drift tectonics and submarine volcanism along the western continental margin of the Indian Plate. In: Hart, M.B. et al. (eds) Cretaceous Project 200 Volume 2: Regional Studies. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 545.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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). Moro Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_moroformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Moro 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/moro-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Hunting Survey Corporation (1960).

Below · older

Parh Limestone

Cretaceous

Above · younger

Khadro Formation

Paleogene

Referenced in other successions

Underlain by Pab Sandstone