Mesozoic • Triassic formation In GSP lexicon

Nikanai Ghar Formation

Triassic

Northern Indus Suture · Malakand

Part of Alpurai Group

Triassic in the time scale →

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Under review
Age: Mesozoic · TriassicTriassic
Named by: DiPietro (1990)
Type locality: Stream valleys on the south side of Jafar Sar, south-central Lower Swat.
Thickness: at least ~1200 m
Lithology: Marble (the Nikanai Ghar Marble).
Synonyms: Nikanai Ghar Formation; Nikanai Ghar Marble; Nakanai Ghar Formation

The Triassic Nikanai Ghar Marble capping the Alpurai Group.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Swat–Malakand column

MetamorphicMixedFossils 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

Swat–Malakand

Basin: Northern Indus Suture
Region: Malakand
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

The marble at the top of the Alpurai Group, a Triassic component of the Mesozoic cover of the Swat Nappe; it overlies the Saidu Formation.

Research notes (7)

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, which describes it as Nikanai (Ghar) Formation (Ahmad et al. 1987; type section in the Nikanai Ghar Mountain, southern Swat). Adds the definitional GSP/SCP lexicon citation.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Pogue, Harris & Hussain (1992): the Nikanai Ghar Formation (~1,050 m of white-to-grey marble weathering to distinctive white cliffs) overlies the Carnian Kashala Formation and is assigned a Late Triassic and Jurassic(?) age - but the Jurassic part rests only on a single questionable palaeoniscoid fish tooth and is explicitly tentative.

Pogue, K.R., Harris, A.G. & Hussain, A. (1992)

Lithology (1)

DiPietro et al. (1993): thick-bedded dark grey to white marble and dolomitic marble (at least 1200 m in the south), distinguished from the Kashala Formation by the near-absence of micaceous rock; the lower contact with the Kashala Formation is gradational.

DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)

Thickness (1)

Thickness surfaced from the lithology note: the Nakanai Ghar Formation is at least 1200 m of thick-bedded marble and dolomitic marble in the south (DiPietro et al. 1993).

DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993)

Economic significance (1)

Afrasiab et al. (2024): physico-mechanical testing (UCS, UTS, specific gravity, shear strength, porosity, water absorption) evaluates the Nikanai Ghar marble at Swabi as a building/dimension stone; strength varies with texture, the fine-grained variety having the highest unconfined compressive strength (~21.8 MPa). Records an economic (dimension-stone) use for the unit.

Afrasiab, Nazir-ur-Rehman, Shah, A.H., Rehman, A., Anees, S.A., Rehan, S., Mehmood, K. & Zaman, I. (2024)

Geological significance (2)

Afrasiab et al. (2024): petrography of the Nikanai Ghar Formation marble ('Bando Obo marble') near Swabi Town (Swabi-Mardan Road, ~32 deg 36' N) confirms a calcite-dominated marble, divided by texture into fine-, medium- and coarse-grained (equi-granular to sub-equi-granular) varieties. A Lower-Swat/Swabi exposure additional to the curated Jafar Sar type area.

Afrasiab, Nazir-ur-Rehman, Shah, A.H., Rehman, A., Anees, S.A., Rehan, S., Mehmood, K. & Zaman, I. (2024)
Hussain, DiPietro & Pogue (1998): the Nikanai Ghar Formation (white-to-grey thick-bedded marble and dolomitic marble with thin calcareous-schist beds) forms the upper third of the former Lower Swat-Buner Schistose Group at Nikanai Ghar mountain, southern Swat; it overlies the Carnian Kashala Formation and is tentatively Late Triassic and Jurassic(?) on palaeoniscoid fish teeth.

Hussain, A., DiPietro, J.A. & Pogue, K.R. (1998)

Sources (8)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
DiPietro, J.A., Pogue, K.R., Lawrence, R.D., Baig, M.S., Hussain, A. & Ahmad, I. (1993). Stratigraphy south of the Main Mantle Thrust, Lower Swat, Pakistan. In: Treloar, P.J. & Searle, M.P. (eds), Himalayan Tectonics. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 74, 207-220.
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.
Afrasiab, Nazir-ur-Rehman, Shah, A.H., Rehman, A., Anees, S.A., Rehan, S., Mehmood, K. & Zaman, I. (2024). Petrographic Analysis and physico-mechanical Properties of Nikanai Ghar Formation, Swabi, North-western Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 57(2), 94-113.
Pogue, K.R., Harris, A.G. & Hussain, A. (1992). Paleozoic and Mesozoic stratigraphy of the Peshawar basin, Pakistan: Correlations and implications. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 104(8), 915-927.
Hussain, A., DiPietro, J.A. & Pogue, K.R. (1998). Stratigraphy and structure of the Peshawar basin, Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 18, 25-35.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_nakanaigharformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Nikanai Ghar 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/nakanai-ghar-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: DiPietro (1990).

Below · older

Saidu Formation

Triassic–Jurassic