Cenozoic • Paleogene In GSP lexicon

Sakesar Formation

Early Eocene (Ypresian)

Salt Range and Surghar Range (Upper Indus Basin)

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · EoceneEarly Eocene (Ypresian)
Named by: Gee in Fermor (1935); age-diagnostic larger foraminifera established by Davies and Pinfold (1937)
Type locality: Sakesar Peak, Salt Range32.5300°N, 71.9300°E
Thickness: ~30 to 150 m across the Salt Range (locally as thin as ~18 m at Nammal Gorge); up to ~220 m at Chichali Pass and over 300 m in parts of the Surghar Range
Lithology: Light grey to off-white, thin- to thick-bedded, nodular to massive limestone with subordinate marl and shale, and chert nodules common in the upper part.
Synonyms: Margala Hill Limestone (lateral facies equivalent; treated as a synonym in GSP Memoir Vol. 24)

A thick Early Eocene sea-floor limestone packed with coin-shaped Nummulites, forming the prominent Sakesar Peak; in places it grades into gypsum and hosts the strontium mineral celestite.

Named after Sakesar Peak in the western Salt Range (Gee in Fermor, 1935), the Sakesar Limestone is a Lower Eocene (Ypresian) shallow-marine carbonate of nodular to massive limestone with subordinate marl, shale and chert. It rests conformably on the Nammal Formation and passes up conformably into the Chorgali Formation, together forming the Early Eocene carbonate succession of the Salt Range. Microfacies range from bioclastic mudstone through Lockhartia-nummulitic and Assilina-Alveolina packstones to nummulitic and Alveolina grainstones, indicating an inner-to-middle carbonate ramp. Thickness varies strongly along strike. The Margala Hill Limestone of the Potwar and Hazara areas is its lateral facies equivalent (and is treated as a synonym in GSP Memoir Vol. 24). Part of the Nammal Group.

Fossils

Nummulites mamillatus Nummulites atacicus Assilina spinosa Assilina granulosa Assilina laminosa Alveolina Lockhartia tipperi Lockhartia conditi Discocyclina Gastropods Echinoids

Contacts

Lower contact — conformable; upper contact — conformable.

In the Salt Range column

Shale / mudLimestoneFossils recordedContact not recordedConformable

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

Salt Range Kohat Basin Potwar Basin Hazara Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Salt Range and Surghar Range (Upper Indus Basin)
Depositional environment: Shallow marine, Subtidal, Inner to middle carbonate ramp
Coordinates: 32.5300°N, 71.9300°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

See it in the field

Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Nammal Gorge & Lake

Salt Range

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Reservoir Salt & evaporites Cement & lime Building stone

Cement raw material and construction aggregate; fractured carbonate reservoir and outcrop analogue in the Potwar-Salt Range petroleum system.

Remarks

One of the principal Early Eocene shallow-marine carbonate platforms of the Upper Indus Basin; forms the highest Salt Range topography and is an excellent larger-foraminifera (Nummulites-Assilina-Alveolina) locality recording the terminal Tethyan marine phase.

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.

Age & correlation (1)

Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) regard the Sakesar Formation (limestone and marl) as the marine correlative of the Kuldana Formation in the western Salt Range and Surghar Range; it conformably overlies the Nammal Formation and marks the end of marine deposition there, being overlain unconformably by Miocene molasse. Supports the curated Early Eocene (Ypresian) age with an Early-Middle Eocene marine top.

Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009)

Type locality & location (1)

Reviewer-confirmed Shah (2009) type locality, Sakesar Peak, Salt Range (32 deg 31' N, 71 deg 56' E) = 32.5167, 71.9333.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Fossils & biostratigraphy (1)

Sameeni & Butt (1997), lower Eocene Sakesar Limestone at Nammal Gorge (western Salt Range; ~80 ft studied; type locality Mount Sakesar, Gee 1935; typically nodular off-white with frequent chert nodules): larger foraminifera include Alveolina globula, A. pasticillata, A. ellipsoidalis, Nummulites mamillatus, N. atacicus, Assilina spinosa, A. laminosa, A. granulosa, Ranikothalia sindensis, Discocyclina dispansa, D. ranikotensis, Lockhartia tipperi and L. conditi. Corroborates the Early Eocene age and expands the recorded fauna.

Sameeni, S.J. & Butt, A.A. (1997)

Economic significance (1)

Craig et al. (2018): the Lower Eocene Sakesar Limestone is a producing reservoir - Pakistan's first commercial oil discovery, at Khaur in 1914, produced from Sakesar and Murree reservoirs. Its uppermost ~100 m also carries abundant Type III gas-prone organic matter with TOC up to 13 wt.% (unusually high for an outer-shelf carbonate), Tmax 440-448 deg C (mature, onset of generation, mainly gas); the ultimate source of many Potwar oil seeps is assumed to be Sakesar organic-rich shales and/or Patala coals/carbonaceous shales. The lower Sakesar is immature relative to the Patala in the Meyal area (Ali et al. 2017).

Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018)

Sources (13)

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.
Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009). Revised stratigraphy of the lower Cenozoic succession of the Greater Indus Basin in Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 28(1): 7-23.
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.
Sameeni, S.J. & Butt, A.A. (1997). Foraminifera from the lower Eocene Sakesar Limestone at Nammal, western Salt Range, northern Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 15, 9-14.
Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018). Petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential of the North-West Himalaya of India and Pakistan. Earth-Science Reviews, 187, 109-185.
Davies, L. M. & Pinfold, E. S. (1937). The Eocene beds of the Punjab Salt Range. Mem. Geol. Surv. India, Palaeontologia Indica, 24(1).
Sedimentary facies and depositional environment of the Lower Eocene shallow-shelf carbonate, the Sakesar Limestone, Salt Range, Pakistan (Ypresian; 30-35 m; nine microfacies).
Microfacies analysis and reservoir potential of Sakesar Limestone, Nammal Gorge, Western Salt Range, Upper Indus Basin. Pakistan Journal of Geology, 1(1).
Resource assessment of Sakesar limestone as aggregate from the Salt Range based on geotechnical properties. International Journal of Hydrology (MedCrave). Thickness 70-150 m Salt Range, 220 m Chichali Pass, >300 m Surghar Range.
Effect of diagenetic processes and depositional facies on reservoir quality of the Eocene Sakesar Limestone, Central Salt Range. Journal of Earth Science (Springer).

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.

Spotted an error? Suggest a sourced correction →

Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Sakesar Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_sakesarformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Sakesar 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/sakesar-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Gee in Fermor (1935); age-diagnostic larger foraminifera established by Davies and Pinfold (1937).

Your notes

Saved on this device only.