Source provenance

Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012). Revised lithostratigraphy of the Pishin Belt, northwestern Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 45(1), 53-65.

Cited by 11 units (11 published) · 37 field-level citations · 10 revision notes.

Defining revised lithostratigraphy of the Pishin Belt into six thrust-bounded tectono-stratigraphic zones: Muslim Bagh-Zhob Ophiolite (Zone I); Eocene Nisai Fm + Oligocene-Early Miocene Khojak Fm with Murgha Faqirzai and Shaigalu members (Zone II); the newly proposed Early-Middle Miocene Dasht Murgha Group with its lower Khuzhobai, middle Bahlol Nika and upper Sra Khula formations (Zone III); the Late Miocene-Pliocene Malthanai Formation, renamed from the Multana Formation of HSC 1960 (Zone IV); the Pleistocene Bostan Formation (Zone V); and Holocene Zhob valley deposits (Zone VI). Gives type/reference sections, thicknesses and reference-section coordinates for each unit.

This page is the reverse of each unit's per-field citations — it shows exactly what this reference supports, making the dataset's “no source, no fact” rule browsable both ways.

Units citing this source

• Cenozoic Bahlol Nika Formation Neogene
  AgeLithologyThicknessType localityThickness (m)
  • Member units: Kasi et al. (2012): middle formation of the Dasht Murgha Group; both its lower contact with the Khuzhobai Formation and its upper contact with the Sra Khula Formation are transitional and conformable.
• Cenozoic Bostan Formation Quaternary
  • Geological significance: Kasi et al. (2012): in the Pishin Belt the name Bostan Formation (Hunting Survey Corporation 1960) denotes a Pleistocene red-bed molasse — red shale/siltstone with conglomerate and sandstone — forming Zone V, thrust over the Malthanai Formation and in turn overthrust by the Holocene Zhob valley deposits. This Pishin-Belt usage should be reconciled with the curated Makran (Siahan Range) attribution of the record.
• Cenozoic Dasht Murgha Group Neogene
  Introduced byType localityThicknessThickness (m)Member unitsGeological significance
  • Member units: Kasi et al. (2012) formally proposed the Dasht Murgha Group and its three constituent formations, now recorded here as separate units: the lower Khuzhobai Formation (~150 m), the middle Bahlol Nika Formation (~1,200 m) and the upper Sra Khula Formation (~700 m), each with a designated reference section in the Dasht Murgha area north of Qila Saifullah.
• Cenozoic Khojak Formation Paleogene
  Member unitsSynonymsGeological significance
  • Member units: Kasi et al. (2012): the Khojak Formation comprises two members — the lower Murgha Faqirzai Member and the upper Shaigalu Member; the Shaigalu Member is added here to complete the previously single-member list. The curated type locality (Nauroz, near Kharan) reflects a Makran-area usage; in the Pishin Belt the formation is named after the Khojak Pass near Chaman.
• Cenozoic Khuzhobai Formation Neogene
  AgeLithologyThicknessType localityThickness (m)
  • Member units: Kasi et al. (2012): lower formation of the Dasht Murgha Group. Its lower contact is an angular unconformity with the Eocene Nisai Formation; the upper contact with the Bahlol Nika Formation is transitional and conformable. It thins westward and pinches out.
• Cenozoic Malthanai Formation Neogene
  Introduced byType localityThicknessThickness (m)Geological significance
• Cenozoic Murgha Faqirzai Formation Paleogene
  • Thickness: Kasi et al. (2012): the Murgha Faqirzai Member (lower, shale-dominant member of the Khojak Formation), named after Murgha Faqirzai village of Qila Saifullah District, has its reference section at the Rud Faqirzai section where it is ~2,000 m thick (Hunting Survey Corporation 1960); Ashraf et al. (2010) record ~1,200 m in the Murgha Faqirzai stream section. It rests conformably and transitionally on the Nisai Formation and passes up transitionally into the Shaigalu Member.
• Mesozoic Muslim Bagh Ophiolite Cretaceous
  Introduced by
  • Geological significance: Kasi et al. (2012): the Muslim Bagh Ophiolite forms the base (Zone I) of the Pishin Belt and is part of the Bela–Muslim Bagh–Zhob–Waziristan ophiolite belt along the NW margin of the Indian Plate — a relic of Neo-Tethyan oceanic floor obducted at/after the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary, emplaced at ~65–70 Ma (⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar; Mahmood et al. 1995). It consists of an upper nappe of ultramafic rocks intruded by gabbro plutons and dolerite dykes over a lower nappe of pillow basalts and sediments underlain by ophiolitic mélange, and is non-conformably overlain by the Eocene Nisai Formation.
• Cenozoic Nisai Limestone Paleogene
  Synonyms
  • Type locality: Kasi et al. (2012): the Nisai Formation ('Nisai Group' of the Hunting Survey Corporation 1960, after Nisai village, for the 'black nummulitic limestone' of Vredenburg 1904 and 'older nummulitic beds' of Davies 1930; redefined as a formation by Cheema et al. 1977) has its type section ~12 km north of Nisai railway station, where it is ~1,200 m thick. It is ~1,027 m in the Nisai–Murgha Faqirzai Rud section (Nizami et al. 2008; Ashraf et al. 2010).
  • Upper contact (underlies): Kasi et al. (2012): in the Pishin Belt the Nisai Formation non-conformably overlies the Muslim Bagh Ophiolite (base, Zone I) and is conformably overlain by the Oligocene–Early Miocene Khojak Formation — an alternative to the curated Humai/Saindak (Chagai–Kharan) contacts. It divides into lower, middle and upper parts (Kazmi & Abbasi 2008).
• Cenozoic Shaigalu Member Paleogene–Neogene
  Introduced byType localityThicknessThickness (m)SynonymsGeological significance
• Cenozoic Sra Khula Formation Neogene
  AgeLithologyThicknessType localityThickness (m)
  • Member units: Kasi et al. (2012): uppermost formation of the Dasht Murgha Group; it transitionally and conformably overlies the Bahlol Nika Formation and is separated from the overlying Late Miocene–Pliocene Malthanai Formation (Zone IV) by a thrust.