Mesozoic • Triassic formation In GSP lexicon

Zait Limestone

Triassic

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Early TriassicTriassic
Named by: Talent et al. (1979)
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: more than 600 m
Lithology: Massive black dolomitic limestone with a 6 m pisolitic ironstone bed.
Synonyms: Not recorded

An Early Triassic black dolomitic limestone in the Mastuj valley, with a marker ironstone bed.

Zait limestone is named by Talent et al. (1979) exposed in the Chitral area and consists of fossiliferous limestone. Tahirkheli (1982) mentioned Triassic age on the base of fossils.

Fossils

Conodonts Isarcicella isarcica Isarcicella staeschei Hindeodus parvus

Contacts

In the Hindukush-Chitral column

ConglomerateSandstoneLimestoneShale / mudFossils recordedUnconformityContact 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.

Distribution & setting

Hindukush-Chitral

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

An Early Triassic dolomitic limestone with a distinctive pisolitic-ironstone bed, exposed on the left bank of the Mastuj valley between Tormal Gol and Zait; it overlies Early Devonian sandstones within the area mapped as the Shogram 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 lists this unit as 'Zait formation'.

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Age & correlation (1)

Perri, Molloy & Talent (2004): a sample from near Torman (Dorman) Gol in the Mastuj valley (central Chitral) yielded earliest-Triassic (Scythian/Induan) conodonts of the Isarcicella isarcica Zone (Is. isarcica, Is. staeschei, Is. lobata, Is. turgida, Hindeodus parvus), confirming that the Zait Limestone (formally named by Talent et al. 1982; >600 m thick, Karakoram Terrane / Northern Sedimentary Belt) includes earliest-Triassic horizons — carbonate tracts here had previously been mapped as Permian or Cretaceous. The Zait Limestone is interpreted as part of the same Late Permian–Triassic 'Ailak–Zait Carbonate Platform' as the Ailak Dolomite, extending the platform at least 110 km farther SW than formerly supposed. The restricted-marine isarcicellid/hindeodid fauna (lacking gondolellids) contrasts with the more open-marine, gondolellid-bearing P–T sections of the Salt Range and Trans-Indus Ranges on the Indian block.

Perri, M.C., Molloy, P.D. & Talent, J.A. (2004)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Perri, M.C., Molloy, P.D. & Talent, J.A. (2004). Earliest Triassic conodonts from Chitral, northernmost Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 110(1), 467-478.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_zaitlimestone,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Zait Limestone} --- 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/zait-limestone (accessed October 29, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Talent et al. (1979).