Cenozoic • Paleogene formation GSP memoir

Murgha Faqirzai Formation

Paleocene–Eocene

Balochistan Basin · Kakar-Khurasan Basin

Part of Shagala Group, Khojak Formation

Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Paleocene–Early EocenePaleocene–Eocene
Named by: HSC (1961)
Type locality: Murgha Faqirzai village, north of Muslimbagh31.0542°N, 67.7789°E
Thickness: 400-1200m
Lithology: Shale with minor sandstone and shelly limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Paleocene–Eocene flysch shale of northern Balochistan, equivalent to the Makran Hoshab shale.

Murgha Faqirzai Formation is named after the village of Murgha Faqirzai about 25 km north of Muslimbagh (34M/16; HSC, 1961). It is mapped by HSC (1961) in the northern and southern Balochistan Basin and also in Indus Suture. It comprises shale with minor sandstone and shelly limestone. The shale is pale greenish grey and calcareous. Pencil cleavage is the typical feature of this shale observed in the metamorphosed area. The sandstone is green to grey, calcareous and ripple marked. Thin shelly limestone beds are found in the base and top for fossil collection source. The source of this formation is mostly Hinterland and partially Indus Suture. The tentative thickness ranges from 400-1200m. The lower contact with the Nisai formation and upper contact with Shagala formation seems to transitional and conformable. HSC (1961) reported Paleocene-Eocene assemblage like lower part of Siahan shale represents Discocyclina cf. D. ranikoti, Nummulites globules, N. irregularis and middle Eocene assemblage (lowewr part of Nauroz formation includes Nummulites atacicus, Assilina granulose and Dictyoconoides cooki . According to fossils and stratigraphic position, its age is supposed to be Late Paleocene-Early Eocene.

Fossils

Dictyoconoides cooki

Contacts

In the Zhob-Muslim Bagh 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

Zhob-Muslim Bagh

Basin: Balochistan Basin
Region: Kakar-Khurasan Basin
Depositional environment: marine, deep marine
Coordinates: 31.0542°N, 67.7789°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A Paleocene–Eocene flysch shale of the Kakar-Khurasan basin and Indus Suture; the northern equivalent of the Makran Hoshab/Siahan shales, recording early flysch deposition in the back-arc.

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.

Age & correlation (1)

Competing interpretation — Kakar et al. (2016) and Yaseen et al. (2019), following Qayyum et al. (1996), treat the Murgha Faqirzai as the LOWER MEMBER of the Oligocene–Early Miocene Khojak Formation (regularly bedded sandstone and shale; distal turbidites in the Makran equivalent), rather than a separate Paleocene–Eocene formation. The curated formation rank and age are retained; the member usage within the Khojak Formation is recorded as an alternative.

Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016)

Thickness (1)

Kasi et al. (2012): the Murgha Faqirzai Member (lower, shale-dominant member of the Khojak Formation), named after Murgha Faqirzai village of Qila Saifullah District, has its reference section at the Rud Faqirzai section where it is ~2,000 m thick (Hunting Survey Corporation 1960); Ashraf et al. (2010) record ~1,200 m in the Murgha Faqirzai stream section. It rests conformably and transitionally on the Nisai Formation and passes up transitionally into the Shaigalu Member.

Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Ashraf et al. (2010) and Hunting Survey Corporation (1960): the member yields Oligocene foraminifera (Nummulites fichteli — a diagnostic Oligocene index — with N. intermedius and Lepidocyclina dilatata) plus molluscs and echinoids, while Nummulites perforatus in the lower beds indicates an Eocene age for the base; greenish-grey calcareous/arenaceous shale with turbidite and prodelta sandstone.

Ashraf, M., Nizami, A.R. & Butt, A.A. (2010)

Geological significance (2)

Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book treats this as the lower 'Murgha Faqirzai Member' of the Khojak Formation — grey-green-brown calcareous/arenaceous shale with turbidites, prodelta laminated mudstones and hummocky sandstones — not a stand-alone formation; charts label it Oligocene.

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997)
Kazmi & Abbasi (2008) CORROBORATES the rank flag: following Qayyum et al. (1996, 1997) the book subdivides the Khojak Formation into a lower Murgha Faqirzai Member (shale; 1,941 m at Rud Faqirzai) and an upper Shaigalu Member (sandstone) — so Murgha Faqirzai is a MEMBER of the Khojak Formation, not a stand-alone formation.

Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)

Sources (8)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
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.
Kakar, D.M., Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Friis, H., Mohibullah, M. & Khan, S. (2016). Petrography and whole-rock geochemistry of the Oligocene–Miocene Khojak Formation, Khojak-Pishin Belt, Pakistan: implications on provenance and source-area weathering. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 49(2).
Yaseen, W., Khan, A.S., Sohail, K., Farooq, U., Usman, M. & Ghani, M. (2019). Modal composition and provenance of Shaigalu Sandstones, Pishin-Katawaz Basin, northern Balochistan, Pakistan. Bahria University Research Journal of Earth Sciences (BURJES), 4(2), 70-77.
Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012). Revised lithostratigraphy of the Pishin Belt, northwestern Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 45(1), 53-65.
Ashraf, M., Nizami, A.R. & Butt, A.A. (2010). Petrographic and biostratigraphic studies on sedimentary sequences of Multanai area, Pishin Basin, Balochistan, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 45, 25-36.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_murghafaqirzaiformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Murgha Faqirzai 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/murgha-faqirzai-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: HSC (1961).

Below · older

Nisai Limestone

Paleogene

Above · younger

Mina Formation