Shinawari Formation
Middle Jurassic (Aalenian-Bajocian)
Part of Surghar Group
Jurassic in the time scale →Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Jurassic · Middle JurassicMiddle Jurassic (Aalenian-Bajocian)
- Named by
- Fatmi (1977)
- Type locality
- Shinawari area, western Samana Range, Kohat District
- Thickness
- 20-50 m
- Lithology
- Marine shale with sandstone
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
A thin Jurassic marine shale-and-limestone unit marking the return of the sea over the coastal Datta beds, just below the massive Samana Suk limestone.
Marine shale sequence representing transgression after Datta continental conditions. Transitional between Datta and Samana Suk. Part of the Surghar Group.
Fossils
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
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- marine, lagoon, marginal marine
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Basal beds and part of the Shinawari are believed to be fair source rocks of the Jurassic in the Upper Indus Basin.
Remarks
A thin marine shale-limestone-sandstone unit of the Surghar Group recording the transgression that followed the largely continental Datta Formation; it forms the transition upward into the thick Samana Suk carbonate platform.
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 (2)
-
Jamil et al. (2024): Early–Middle Jurassic; the base of the overlying Samana Suk Formation lies conformably upon it.
-
Ahmed, Mertmann & Manutsoglu (1997), Surghar Range: the Shinawari Formation is shallow-marine to intertidal, deposited (with the Samana Suk) from the Toarcian to the middle Callovian; its basal part carries the ammonite Bouleiceras cf. nitecens (Fatmi et al. 1990), and it belongs to the Baroch Group.
Ahmed, S., Mertmann, D. & Manutsoglu, E. (1997)
Economic significance (2)
-
Asim et al. (2014): in the Central Indus Basin (Drigri Anticline–Bahawalpur High) the shales of the Shinawari Formation act as a hydrocarbon SOURCE rock on the Punjab Platform and in the Sulaiman Depression (sufficiently mature to generate large gas volumes); the Shinawari sandstones are also cited among the proven Mesozoic RESERVOIR rocks.
Asim, S., Qureshi, S.N., Asif, S.K., Abbasi, S.A., Solangi, S. & Mirza, M.Q. (2014)
-
Craig et al. (2018): the Middle Jurassic Shinawari Formation carries gas-prone kerogen and has poor conventional reservoir characteristics (Zaidi et al. 2013), though it is listed among the main Kohat Plateau reservoir units alongside the Datta and Samana Suk formations.
Sources (10)
- 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. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
- Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
- Kadri, I.B. (1995). Petroleum Geology of Pakistan. Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Karachi.
- Jamil, M., Ullah, I., Rahim, H.U., Khan, I., Abbas, W., Rehman, M.U., Rashid, A., Umar, M., Ali, A. & Siddiqui, N.A. (2024). Tracking Depositional Architecture and Diagenetic Evolution in the Jurassic Carbonates, Trans Indus Ranges, NW Himalayas. Minerals, 14, 1170.
- 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.
- Ahmed, S., Mertmann, D. & Manutsoglu, E. (1997). Jurassic shelf sedimentation and sequence stratigraphy of the Surghar Range, Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 15, 15-22.
- 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.
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). Shinawari Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_shinawariformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Shinawari 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/shinawari-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Fatmi (1977).
Related units
More from Salt Range
Same age (Mesozoic · Jurassic)
Saved on this device only.