Mesozoic • Triassic In GSP lexicon

Tredian Formation

Middle Triassic (Anisian)

Cited in 8 sources Last reviewed Aug 2, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Middle TriassicMiddle Triassic (Anisian)
Named by: Kummel (1966), after E.R. Gee
Type locality: Tredian, Salt Range32.6600°N, 71.8300°E
Thickness: 50-100 m
Lithology: Red and purple sandstone with green mottling
Synonyms: Kingriali Sandstone

A colourful Middle Triassic sandstone unit deposited by rivers and deltas, sandwiched between two marine limestone/dolomite formations of the Salt Range.

Continental red bed sequence indicating arid to semi-arid conditions. Forms colorful outcrops throughout the Salt Range. Part of the Musakhel Group.

Fossils

Plant fragments Vertebrate bones (rare)

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

LimestoneSandstoneFossils 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

Salt Range Kohat Basin Potwar Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: deltaic, continental, marginal marine
Coordinates: 32.6600°N, 71.8300°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

A sandstone-dominated unit of the Triassic Musa Khel Group between the marine Mianwali and Kingriali carbonates, representing a progradational deltaic to fluvial clastic system; it is a producing reservoir interval in the Kohat-Potwar region.

Research notes (3)

Field-by-field findings drawn from the cited literature. Every statement is traced to a registered source — follow a citation for the full reference.

Thickness (1)

Type-section thickness (Shah, 2009): 38–59 m (Tapan Wahan / Zaluch Nala sections). Recorded from the GSP lexicon (Memoir 22); the existing thickness field is retained.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Type locality & location (1)

Geocoded (low confidence) from the published type locality "Tredian, Salt Range" via public gazetteer (OpenStreetMap / GEOnet Names Server). Named-place point of ~km accuracy for regional screening, not a surveyed section; author-reviewed in the coordinate-verification pass. Basis: Tredian, western Salt Range.

OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

Constituent units (1)

Divided into the lower Landa Member (sandstone/siltstone/shale with plant fossils, ~115 ft) and the upper Khatkiara Sandstone Member (sandstone, ~150 ft, disconformable base); measured at Spinnagara Nala, south of Paniala.

Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973)

Sources (8)

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.
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.
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.
Gee, E.R. (edited by Gee, D.G.) (1989). Overview of the geology and structure of the Salt Range, with observations on related areas of northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 95-112.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_tredianformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Tredian 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/tredian-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Kummel (1966), after E.R. Gee.

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