Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Ranikot Group

Paleocene

Cited in 7 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · PaleocenePaleocene
Named by: Blanford (1876); Vredenburg (1909)
Type locality: Ranikot, Sindh (approx. 25°54'N, 67°54'E)25.9000°N, 67.9000°E
Thickness: 300-600 m
Lithology: Sandstone, shale and limestone with coal, carbonaceous beds and basaltic lava flows.
Synonyms: Ranikot Formation

The Paleocene Ranikot Group of Sindh — the Khadro, Bara and Lakhra formations — spanning early-Paleocene lava flows, the Sindh coal beds and shallow-marine limestone.

Major Paleocene sequence in lower Indus basin. Includes marine, deltaic, and continental facies. Important for petroleum exploration.

Fossils

Larger foraminifera Gastropods Plant fossils in upper part

Contacts

In the Kirthar Range column

SandstoneLimestoneFossils 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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this unit, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Kirthar Range Sindh Province Sulaiman Fold Belt

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine, paralic
Coordinates: 25.9000°N, 67.9000°E

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See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Ranikot Fort & Ranikot Group type area

Sindh Province

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Coal & lignite

Includes the coal-bearing Bara Formation — the principal Sindh (Lower Indus) coalfields.

Remarks

The Paleocene marine-to-paralic succession of the Kirthar/Sindh region, comprising in ascending order the Khadro, Bara and Lakhra formations; records the Early Paleocene transgression with Deccan-related volcanism (Khadro) and the main Sindh coal horizon (Bara).

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 (2)

Merged the redundant "Ranikot Formation" (ranikot-formation) into this record; old name kept as a synonym.

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017)
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)

Constituent units (1)

Three-fold Ranikot Group (Khadro-Bara-Lakhra) per the Cenozoic-of-Pakistan correlation chart; the Dunghan Formation is its Sulaiman-region equivalent.

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.

Economic significance (1)

Asim et al. (2014): the Paleocene Ranikot (shale) provides the top SEAL over the Late Cretaceous Pab Sandstone reservoir in the Drigri/Kotrum anticlines of the Central Indus Basin.

Asim, S., Qureshi, S.N., Asif, S.K., Abbasi, S.A., Solangi, S. & Mirza, M.Q. (2014)

Sources (7)

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.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_ranikotgroup,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Ranikot Group} --- 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/ranikot-group (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Blanford (1876); Vredenburg (1909).

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