Shahkot Formation
Precambrian
Northern Indus Suture
Precambrian in the time scale →Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 18, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Precambrian · PrecambrianPrecambrian
- Named by
- Tahirkheli (1970)
- Type locality
- Gandghar and Attock-Cherat Ranges
- Thickness
- about 300 m
- Lithology
- Limestone, argillite and shale, with a basal cherty limestone and thin discontinuous algal limestone in the upper part.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A Late Precambrian limestone-and-shale unit of the Attock-Cherat hills, above the Manki slates.
Shahkot formation consists of limestone and phyllite of Lower Paleozoic age (Tahirkheli, 1970). Hussain et al. (1989) declared as Precambrian.
Fossils
Not recorded
Contacts
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
- Basin
- Northern Indus Suture
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- marine
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
A Late Precambrian limestone-argillite-shale unit of the Attock-Cherat and Gandghar Ranges, conformable with the underlying Manki Formation and the overlying Uch Khattak Formation.
Research notes (2)
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 - 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)
Stratigraphic contacts (1)
-
Lower contact completed: the Shahkot Formation conformably (gradationally) overlies the Manki Formation; ~300 m thick, with a ~100 m fine- to medium-grained cherty basal limestone (white chert patches) passing up into laminated argillite/shale with a thin algal-limestone bed near the top.
Hylland, M.D., Riaz, M. & Ahmad, S. (1988)
Sources (4)
- 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.
- Hylland, M.D., Riaz, M. & Ahmad, S. (1988). Geology of the Southern Gandghar Range, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar, Vol. 21, pp. 1-14.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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). Shahkot Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_shahkotformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Shahkot 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/shahkot-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Tahirkheli (1970).
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