Mesozoic • Cretaceous In GSP lexicon

Mughal Kot Formation

Late Cretaceous (Campanian)

Part of Mona Jhal Group, Fort Munro Group

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Campanian–Maastrichtian)Late Cretaceous (Campanian)
Named by: Williams (1959)
Type locality: Mughal Kot, Sulaiman Range31.8669°N, 69.7214°E
Thickness: 200-500 m
Lithology: Grey calcareous shale and mudstone with intercalations of arkosic sandstone and grey argillaceous limestone; sandier in the Sulaiman area, shalier in the Kirthar area.
Synonyms: Moghal Kot

A Late Cretaceous marine shale-and-sandstone sitting between the Parh and Fort Munro limestones.

Marine clastic sequence deposited during Late Cretaceous regression. Contains significant volcanic component in western sections (Bibai volcanics).

Fossils

Ammonites Foraminifera Bivalves

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

LimestoneShale / mudSandstoneFossils 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

Sulaiman Fold Belt

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: 31.8669°N, 69.7214°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Metals & minerals

Petroleum seeps (Mughal Kot); prospective for uranium; a building-sandstone source.

Remarks

A Late Cretaceous shale-sandstone-limestone unit of the Sulaiman and Kirthar belts, lying between the Parh Limestone below and the Fort Munro Limestone above.

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's compiled lexicon. Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Thickness (1)

Umar et al. (2024): the Mughal Kot Formation is up to ~1000 m at its type locality but thins markedly (600 m Siazgai, 360 m Dabbo Creek, ~200 m Urghargai–Mazu Ghar) and pinches out towards Kach, being absent at Murree Brewery and Duki — tectonically induced bathymetric change through the Coniacian–Santonian. Distal sections (Pab Range, Urghargai) are turbiditic (Bouma Tabc/Tde, sole marks; WNW palaeoflow). Campanian–Maastrichtian on benthic/planktonic foraminifera.

Umar, M., Kassi, A.M., Jamil, M., Kasi, A.K. & Khan, A.S. (2024)

Geological significance (2)

Malkani et al. (2022): in North and South Waziristan the Late-Cretaceous Mughal Kot-equivalent is named the Shinkai Post Formation — red and green shale with lithographic limestone and marl. Recorded as a Waziristan local-name equivalent (Malkani corpus); not adopted as a separate unit here.

Malkani, M.S., Ilyas, M., Yasin, R., Abbas, A., Samiullah, K., Raza, T., Hassan, S.S.E., Fazal, R.M., Noor, A. & Malik, A. (2022)
Hemphill & Kidwai (1973, USGS PP 716-B): the Late Cretaceous (mainly Maastrichtian) Mughal Kot Formation (type section 1-3 mi west of Mughal Kot Post, Williams 1959) is ~3,722 ft of calcareous argillaceous sandstone and claystone with oil seeps on joints, over shaly limestone with a basal conglomerate of Parh clasts; corals, orbitoids, mollusks and echinoids throughout (Keizer). Its top ~160 ft may be the Fort Munro Limestone Member.

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

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.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Malkani, M.S. (2010). Updated Stratigraphy and Mineral Potential of Sulaiman Basin, Pakistan. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 42(2), 39-66.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Malkani, M.S., Ilyas, M., Yasin, R., Abbas, A., Samiullah, K., Raza, T., Hassan, S.S.E., Fazal, R.M., Noor, A. & Malik, A. (2022). Geology of Northern Sulaiman Foldbelt, Shirani and Waziristan Regions (South Punjab, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa): New Tomistominae (Miocene False Gharial) from Sakhi Sarwar Area of Dera Ghazi Khan (South Punjab), Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology, 12(6), 521-564.
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.
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.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_mughalkotformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Mughal Kot 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/mughal-kot-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Williams (1959).

Below · older

Parh Limestone

Cretaceous

Above · younger

Fort Munro Formation