Zerghar Formation
Middle to Late Cretaceous (Albian-Campanian; ~106.85-72.17 Ma)
Cretaceous in the time scale →Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026
- Rank
- formation
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Middle to Late CretaceousMiddle to Late Cretaceous (Albian-Campanian; ~106.85-72.17 Ma)
- Named by
- Ahmad et al. (2000)
- Type locality
- NE of Miran Shah town (close to Isha section)
- Thickness
- Not recorded
- Lithology
- Limestone. It is mainly a limestone with interbedded shale. The limestone varies in color from brown to yellowish grey on fresh surface, and on weathered surface it is dull brown. It is fine grained and thin to thick bedded. On broken surface, the impurities of iron, oxide are visible as cementing material. The limestone is highly fossiliferous and worm burrows are also present. The shale is gree…
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
Limestone. It is mainly a limestone with interbedded shale. The limestone varies in color from brown to yellowish grey on fresh surface, and on weathered surface it is dull brown. It is fine grained and thin to thick bedded. On broken surface, the impurities of iron, oxide are visible as cementing material. The limestone is highly fossiliferous and worm burrows are also present. The shale is greenish grey to rusty brown in color and contains belemnites.
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
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- Not recorded
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
Not recorded
Remarks
Not recorded
Research notes (5)
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 (2)
-
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)
-
Ahmad et al. (2000): the Zerghar Formation (limestone; youngest unit, upper contact not exposed) conformably overlies the Marsikhel Formation. Name introduced herein after Zerghar mountain, ~5-6 km NE of Miran Shah.
Age & correlation (2)
-
CONFIRMED by Ahmad et al. (2000): the Zerghar Formation is one of the three Cretaceous units (with Chashmai Kharsai and Marsi Khel) disconformably overlying the Jurassic Isha Formation, NE of Miran Shah. Corroborates the Middle-Late Cretaceous age. North Waziristan, not Zhob.
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Kazmi & Abbasi (2008): the book describes a 'Zarghar Khel Formation' (Waziristan) of Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous age — differing from this record's Middle–Late Cretaceous (Albian–Campanian) lexicon age and possibly a name/spelling variant. Recorded as a note; the precise lexicon age is retained pending reconciliation.
Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008)
Distribution (1)
-
Province corrected from zhob-muslim-bagh to sulaiman: Ahmad et al. (2000) place this unit in NORTH WAZIRISTAN (Mirali-Miran Shah-Razmak), part of the western Axial/Sulaiman belt - not the Zhob-Muslimbagh area. (A dedicated Waziristan province could be added later.)
Sources (4)
- Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
- Ahmad, S., Ali, F., Rehman, N. & Gul, J. (2000). Lithostratigraphy of the Kurram Group along the Mirali-Miran Shah Road, North Waziristan Agency, NWFP, Pakistan. Geological Bulletin, University of Peshawar, 33, 79-86.
- 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.
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). Zerghar Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_zergharformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Zerghar 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/zerghar-formation (accessed October 29, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Ahmad et al. (2000).
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