Pab Sandstone
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Part of Fort Munro Group
Cretaceous in the time scale →Cited in 14 sources Last reviewed Aug 10, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
- Named by
- Vredenburg (1909)
- Type locality
- West of Wirahab Nai, Pab Range25.5200°N, 67.0053°E
- Thickness
- 240–1,000 m (490 m at the Pab Range type section)
- Lithology
- White, cream or brown, thick-bedded to massive, cross-bedded, medium- to coarse-grained quartzose sandstone with subordinate argillaceous limestone and shale.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A thick, clean Maastrichtian sandstone of the Pab Range — one of the main oil-and-gas reservoir rocks of the Indus Basin.
Major sandstone unit in Sulaiman and Kirthar basins. Represents coastal to shallow marine conditions. Good petroleum reservoir.
Fossils
Contacts
Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. 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
- Basin
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- marginal marine, deltaic
- Coordinates
- 25.5200°N, 67.0053°E
See it in the field
Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
A major quartzose-sandstone hydrocarbon reservoir in the Lower Indus Basin.
Remarks
A widespread Maastrichtian quartzose sandstone resting on the Fort Munro Formation (locally on the Parh Limestone); its clean, cross-bedded sands form a major regional petroleum reservoir and mark the terminal Cretaceous clastic influx into the Indus shelf.
Sources (14)
- 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. (2016). Revised stratigraphy of Indus Basin (Pakistan): Sea level changes. In: Cretaceous Ecosystems and Their Responses to Paleoenvironmental Changes in Asia and the Western Pacific — Fourth International Symposium of IGCP Project 608, Novosibirsk 2016, Abstract Volume, pp. 97-99.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
- Malkani, M.S., Khosa, M.H., Alyani, M.I., Somro, N., Zafar, T., Arif, J. & Aleem, M.Z. (2017). Revised Stratigraphic Setup and Mineral Deposits of Kirthar Basin (Lower Indus Basin), Pakistan. Lasbela University Journal of Science and Technology, VI, 54-84.
- 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.
- Asim, S., Qureshi, S.N., Asif, S.K., Abbasi, S.A., Solangi, S. & Mirza, M.Q. (2014). Structural and Stratigraphical Correlation of Seismic Profiles between Drigri Anticline and Bahawalpur High in Central Indus Basin of Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 5(11), 1231-1240.
- Malkani, M.S., Mahmood, Z., Somro, N. & Shaikh, S.I. (2017). Revised Stratigraphy and Mineral Resources of Kirthar Basin, Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Information Release No. 1010.
- 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.
- Thebo, G.M., Solangi, S.H., Agheem, M.H., Solangi, M.A., Markhand, A.H. & Memon, K.A. (2023). Petrography and Geochemistry of late Cretaceous Pab Sandstone, Laki Range, Southern Indus Basin, Pakistan: implications for Provenance and Paleoclimate. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 56(1), 65-78.
- 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.
Cite this unit
Qudsi, L. (2026). Pab Sandstone. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_pabsandstone,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Pab Sandstone} --- 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/pab-sandstone (accessed September 5, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Vredenburg (1909).
Related units
Referenced in other successions
Overlain by Khadro Formation· Korara Shale· Ranikot Group· Vitakri Formation
Underlain by Bibai Formation· Fort Munro Group
Saved on this device only.