Source provenance

Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.

Cited by 241 units (232 published) · 1073 field-level citations · 124 revision notes.

Authoritative regional/tectonic + economic-geology textbook. Predates some Malkani (2017) units. Covers 49/59 Tier-1 formations.

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Units citing this source

• Paleozoic Abbottabad Formation Cambrian
  LithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Aghil Limestone Triassic–Jurassic
  Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Ailak Formation Triassic
  LithologyThicknessDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Ali Masjid Formation Devonian–Carboniferous
  Geological significancePlain summaryLithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environment
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Ali Masjid Formation (type locality the village of Ali Masjid, Khyber Pass; extends across the Khyber Agency) is Late Devonian on a brachiopod and coral fauna — 220 m of red shale alternating with siltstone, sandstone, quartzite and limestone, with thin conglomerates and lateritic beds marking breaks in sedimentation. It conformably overlies the Shagai Limestone and is conformably overlain by the Khyber Limestone; Shah (1977) correlated it with the Haji Gak Formation of Afghanistan. Corroborates the curated Late Devonian age.
• Mesozoic Alozai Group Jurassic
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) NAMING FLAG: the book treats the 'Alozai Group' (HSC 1960; Wulgai section near Muslimbagh) as a superseded name — the rocks are re-mapped as the Triassic Wulgai Formation (dark mudstone/shale with thin limestone) and the Jurassic Shirinab Formation (Williams 1959, Fatmi 1977). The DB 'Alozai Group' should be reconciled with this two-formation revision.
• Paleozoic Alpurai Group
  EraLithologyType localityGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Paleozoic Amb Formation Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Amb Formation (type ~5 km SW of Amb village) is up to 80 m of fossiliferous calcareous sandstone, sandy limestone and carbonaceous shale (with thin coals), disconformable on the Sardhai and below the Wargal Limestone; the fusulinids Monodiexodina kattaensis and Codonofusiella laxa are cited for an Early Permian (Late Artinskian) age — OLDER than the curated Middle Permian (Guadalupian), so recorded here as a note rather than an overwrite (the 1997 assignment predates the modern usage).
• Paleozoic Ambar Formation Cambrian
  EraPeriodLithologyThicknessSynonymsUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Mesozoic Anjira Formation Jurassic
  EpochDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summarySynonyms
  • Name: Anjira is a MEMBER of the Shirinab Formation, not a separate formation (Williams 1959).
• Paleozoic Arkari Formation Permian–Jurassic
  LithologyType localityGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Ashtigar Formation Jurassic
  EpochLithologyType localityDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsGeological significancePlain summaryCoordinates
• Precambrian Asianwala Formation Precambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Asianwala Formation is the third of the five formations of the Precambrian Kirana Group (Alam 1983; Kirana Hills; Rb-Sr 870 ± 40 Ma); no separate per-formation description is given.
• Paleozoic Baghanwala Formation Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Baghanwala Formation (tentatively Middle Cambrian; type near Baghanwala village) is ~100 m of reddish-brown shale and platy/flaggy sandstone characterised by abundant salt pseudomorphs, ripple marks and mud cracks — a lagoonal, arid-climate deposit conformable on the Jutana; largely unfossiliferous.
• Cenozoic Bahadurkhel Salt Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Eocene Bahadur Khel Salt is the rock-salt facies of an isolated, desiccated evaporite basin restricted to the southern Kohat Plateau (Jatta–Bahadur Khel–Karak region, ~5,000 km²), the lateral/facies equivalent of the Panoba Shale into which it grades; exposed in anticlinal cores, a 1,500 m borehole did not reach its base.
• Precambrian Baltit Group Precambrian
  LithologyGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Baltoro Granite Neogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Baltoro Granite is a post-collisional Miocene pluton of the Karakoram (Axial) Batholith — U-Pb zircon 21 ± 0.5 Ma (Urdukas; Parrish & Tirrul 1989), stretching ~100 × 10–20 km through the central Karakoram — of massive co-magmatic monzogranite to leucogranite (with orbicular biotite granite on the Trongo Towers and leucogranite dykes), interpreted as lower-crustal melts with a mantle input; drove contact metamorphism (M3) at 25–21 Ma. Corroborates the curated Miocene (25–12 Ma) age.
• Precambrian Banna Formation Precambrian
  LithologyType localityGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Bara Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Baroghil Group Ordovician–Silurian
  PeriodLithologyType localityDepositional environmentFossilsLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Baska Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Bauma Harel Formation Cretaceous–Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Bauma-Harel Formation (Desio 1963; Skardu area of the Ladakh-Kohistan arc, adjacent to the Shyok Suture) is volcaniclastic metasediment metamorphosed to chlorite-epidote greenschist interbedded with slate, phyllite, carbonate and conglomerate, carrying poorly-preserved Cretaceous fossils and correlated with the Chalt Volcanics and Gawuch Formation; truncated northward by the MKT. Corroborates a Cretaceous age (curated 'Ordovician' should be reviewed — the book gives Cretaceous).
• Mesozoic Bdongo-La Formation Jurassic
  LithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)FossilsGeological significancePlain summaryCoordinates
• Mesozoic Bela Ophiolite Cretaceous
  Economic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Besham Group Archean-Paleoproterozoic
  EraLithologyType localityUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Bibai Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Bibai Formation ('Bibai Volcanics' of Kazmi 1955, 1979b) is Late Cretaceous — interlayered Parh Limestone in its lower part yields Globotruncana lapparenti and G. linnei (Campanian), while the upper part carries Omphalocyclus macropora and Baculites binodosus (Early–Middle Maastrichtian; Kazmi 1955); Sawada et al. (1994) report a 71.4 ± 3.4 Ma age for the lower volcanics.
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the lower Bibai comprises basaltic lava flows (locally altered to laterite between Kach and Loralai) and tuffs, interlayered with thick volcanic boulder conglomerate (the Kahan Conglomerate Member of Williams 1959); the upper part is mudstone and ash beds with subordinate sandstone. Volcanism was initially submarine (pillow lavas) then subaerial (Kazmi 1984), and geochemistry indicates within-plate alkali basalt — possibly hot-spot magmatism linked to the break-up of Gondwana (Sawada et al. 1992; Siddiqui et al. 1994). The book quotes a thickness of ~30 to 610 m (cf. the curated ~3,000 m Ziarat figure).
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Bibai Formation of the Zhob thrust belt lies unconformably on the eroded Parh Limestone (its basal part locally interlayered with Parh) and grades up into the Dungan Formation; it is carried over the autochthonous Sulaiman fold belt on the Bibai Thrust and is correlated with the Mughal Kot Formation (Ziarat) and the Moro Formation, with the Porali Agglomerates and Bela Volcanics as further equivalents.
• Mesozoic Borom Formation Triassic
  Lower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Bostan Formation Quaternary
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Bostan Formation (believed Pleistocene; type sections Pishin Lora and Kamerod village) is folded lacustrine-to-playa gypsiferous white/grey/brick-red clay interbedded with salt-and-pepper thin sandstone and conglomerate, laid down in tectonic depressions and unconformably overlying the Neogene and older rocks (transitional with the Khojak Formation in the Dalbandin Valley); unfossiliferous.
• Precambrian Buland Hill Formation Precambrian
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997) NAMING FLAG: 'Buland Hill' is treated as a locality (~5 km²) in the Kirana Hills, not a formal formation — predominantly rhyolitic flows, tuffs (some welded), breccia and concordant dolerite sheets (one rhyolite lens 90 m thick), a good example of bimodal continental magmatism of the Precambrian Kirana suite (~870 Ma). The DB 'Formation' rank should be reviewed.
• Paleozoic Burawai Formation Carboniferous–Triassic
  LithologyType localityIntroduced byGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Burji Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Burji Formation (Desio 1978) is the several-km-thick upper metasedimentary-volcanic-detrital sequence of the Kohistan magmatic arc south of the Indus River (Skardu-Ladakh) — phyllite, slate, chlorite-epidote greenschist and limestone with Upper Cretaceous fossils, interbedded with the Deosai Volcanics; northward it has a faulted contact with the Katzarah Formation. Corroborates the curated Cretaceous age.
• Mesozoic Chak Jabbi Limestone Triassic
  Introduced byDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Chalt Formation Carboniferous–Permian
  PeriodLithologyType localityFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Chamalang (=Ghazij) Group Paleogene
  AgeEraPeriodEpochSynonymsLithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Chapursan Group Permian–Triassic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Chapursan Group (Gaetani et al. 1990a/1995; Shimshal and Chapursan valleys, upper Hunza) is a Middle to Late Permian marine sequence of sandstone, siltstone and limestone overlying the Gircha Formation, divided into the Lupghar and Panjshah formations (Upper Hunza) and the Lashkargaz Formation (Baroghil); it was first named the Panjshah Formation (1990a) then redefined as a group.
• Cenozoic Chatti Formation Neogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book treats this as the upper 'Chatti Mudstone Member' of the Hinglaj Formation (more calcareous/marly mudstone; Pleistocene), not a stand-alone formation.
• Paleozoic Chhidru Formation Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Chhidru Formation (type Chhidru Nala) is 75–85 m of basal dark sandy shale passing up to calcareous/sandy sandstone and limestone, capped by a distinctive white sandstone (≤5 m); Late Permian (most probably Late Dzhulfian), the uppermost Permian being missing. Conformable/transitional on the Wargal and overlain by the Mianwali Formation across a palaeontologically-indicated para-unconformity; abundant brachiopods and ammonoids (Cyclolobus).
• Mesozoic Chichali Formation Jurassic-Cretaceous
  Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Chikar Formation Cambrian
  Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Chikchi-ri Shale Triassic
  AgeEraPeriodEpoch
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Chikchi-ri Shales (Desio 1963, 1964; Chikchi Range and Singhie Glacier valley, eastern Karakoram) are Triassic — black, brown, green and red arenaceous shales and greenschists with thin limestone, tuff and lava, overlying the Permian Shaksgam Formation and underlying the Late Triassic Aghil Limestone, and passing laterally into the Urdok Conglomerate. A correlative section (Gaetani et al. 1990b) yields the Lower Triassic conodont Neospathodus homeri and the foraminifer Meandrospira pusilla, implying an Early Triassic age.
• Mesozoic Chilas Complex Cretaceous
  EpochIntroduced byLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Chilmarabad Formation Devonian
  LithologyDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Chiltan Limestone Jurassic
  FossilsEconomic importance
• Precambrian Chiniot Granite Neoproterozoic
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997) NAMING FLAG: the book does not use 'Chiniot Granite' and describes the Chiniot (Buland Hill) rocks as predominantly rhyolitic flows, tuffs (some welded), breccia and concordant dolerite sheets — the bimodal Kirana Hills igneous suite (Late Proterozoic, ~870 Ma), NOT a granite. The DB name/lithology should be reviewed against this.
• Cenozoic Chinji Formation Neogene
  Introduced byType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Chitarwatta Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
  • Name: Formerly mapped as the Nari Formation in the Sulaiman Range; renamed Chitarwata Formation (Hemphill & Kidwai 1973).
• Cenozoic Chorgali Formation Paleogene
  AgeLithologyIntroduced byType localityThicknessLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Chushal Formation Carboniferous
  EraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Quaternary Dada Formation Quaternary
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) NAMING FLAG: the book treats the 'Dada Conglomerate' (HSC 1960) as a superseded name renamed the Lei Conglomerate (Gill 1952) — thick boulder conglomerate and cross-bedded sandstone of a Quaternary (early Middle Glaciation) piedmont outwash on the western Lower Indus Plain, resting with sharp angular unconformity on the Siwalik Group and interfingering with the Larkana Formation. The DB name should be reconciled.
• Paleozoic Dandot Formation Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Dandot Formation (Early Permian; type Dandot village) is 45–50 m of greenish-grey splintery shale/siltstone with sandstone, conformable (gradational) on the Tobra and overlain by the Warchha Sandstone; marine in the east shallowing westward, with brachiopods (Discina, Chonetes), bivalves (Eurydesma) and Conularia.
• Mesozoic Darband Formation Cretaceous
  EpochLithologyThicknessType localityFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Darkot Group Carboniferous–Permian
  LithologyType localityFossilsUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Darwaza Formation
  EraLithologyType localityUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Mesozoic Datta Formation Jurassic
  AgeLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Deshan Banda Limestone Jurassic-Cretaceous
  EraAgePeriodLithologyThickness
  • Lithology: Data-quality flag (reviewer, 2026-07-30): this record is internally inconsistent — the name ("Besham Banda Limestone", Cretaceous, Kohistan province) does not match its lithology field, which describes the "Karandoki slates ... 2 km south of Kalam (Tahirkheli 1979)". Kazmi & Jan (1997) describe the Besham Group as a PRECAMBRIAN basement (quartzo-feldspathic gneisses, ~1850-2000 Ma amphibolites) at the core of the Besham antiform, and note that "Banda" elsewhere denotes unrelated units (Misri Banda Quartzite, Deshan Banda Limestone, Baraul Banda Slate) — there is no formal "Besham Banda Limestone". Likely a migration/conflation error; needs reviewer clarification (is this the Karandoki Slates, the Precambrian Besham Group, or a Cretaceous Kohistan limestone?). Downgraded to under-review.
  • Lithology: Audit diagnosis (2026-07-30): Kazmi & Jan (1997) identify the real constituents as two units of the Kalam Group (Dir-Drosh area) — the Karandoki Slate (basal) overlain by the Deshan Banda Limestone (then Shon Quartzite; Kalam Group ~800 m, Middle Jurassic-Cretaceous, Tahirkheli 1980). This record conflates the Karandoki Slate + Deshan Banda Limestone and mislabels them "Besham" (a separate Precambrian nappe near the Indus Syntaxis). Recommend splitting/renaming to the Kalam Group units and removing the "Besham" association.
  • Lithology: Corrected (reviewer audit, 2026-07-30): this record was mislabelled "Besham Banda Limestone" and carried the underlying Karandoki Slate lithology. Per Kazmi & Jan (1997) it is the Deshan Banda Limestone of the Kalam Group (Dir-Drosh area, Kohistan), a Middle Jurassic-Cretaceous limestone between the basal Karandoki Slate and the overlying Shon Quartzite. It is NOT related to the Precambrian Besham nappe. The Karandoki Slate remains to be added as a separate underlying unit.
• Cenozoic Dhok Pathan Formation Neogene
  AgeType localityIntroduced byThicknessLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Dilband Formation Jurassic
  EpochType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Dir Group Paleogene
  Depositional environmentGeological significance
• Cenozoic Domanda Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Drazinda Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Drosh Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Drosh Formation (Cretaceous; type section Drosh Gol, SW Chitral) is ~1.5 km of thickly-bedded epidotised, vesicular porphyritic andesite (plagioclase-hornblende-pyroxene phenocrysts, locally autobrecciated, with associated copper mineralisation) interbedded with thin red shales, overlying the Purit Formation in the Kohistan arc south of the Shyok Suture (possibly part of the Yasin Group).
• Cenozoic Drug Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Dumordo Formation Carboniferous–Permian
  LithologyType localityGeological significancePlain summaryAgeEraPeriod
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Dumordo Formation (Desio 1963, 1964; = Baltit Group of Stauffer 1968c, Dumordo name having priority) is unfossiliferous — Stauffer tentatively placed it in the Permo-Carboniferous, whereas Tahirkheli (1982) correlated it with his Chitral Slates and assigned it a Precambrian–Lower Palaeozoic age. The era/period recorded here follow the Permo-Carboniferous (Darkot Group) option; the Precambrian alternative is noted.
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997): garnet-staurolite schist, garnet-mica schist, garnet amphibolite, crystalline marble and micaceous quartzite with scattered biotite-gneiss layers, exposed south of the Karakoram Granodiorite in the Hunza Valley (part of the Karakoram Metamorphic Complex, north of the Main Karakoram Thrust). Its contact with the Karakoram Granodiorite is partly gradational and partly intrusive; in Hunza it is faulted against the Chalt Formation and overlain by the Ganchen Formation. Gem-bearing recrystallised marbles occur along the Karakoram suture zone.
• Cenozoic Dungan Formation Paleogene
  ThicknessUpper contact (underlies)Economic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Early-Middle Eocene Kahan Group Paleogene
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Fort Munro Formation Cretaceous
  Introduced byEpochLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Fort Munro Group Cretaceous
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Gahirat Limestone Cretaceous
  EraPeriodLithologyThicknessGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Cenozoic Gaj Formation Neogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLower contact (overlies)LithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryUpper contact (underlies)
• Paleozoic Ganchen Formation Devonian–Permian
  LithologyType localityGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Gandaf Formation Proterozoic
  LithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summaryEraPeriodAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cretaceous' conflicts with Kazmi & Jan (1997), who treat the Gandaf Formation as the upper part of the Middle–Late Proterozoic Karora Group (greenschist-facies cover on the Besham basement). Age needs review.
• Mesozoic Gawuch Formation Cretaceous

  Listed as a corroborating source for this unit.

• Paleozoic Gharil Formation Permian
  LithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Ghazij Group Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Ghazij Group (Early Eocene; type section Spintangi) is dominantly shale with claystone, mudstone, sandstone, limestone, conglomerate and alabaster (Kazmi 1962) and mined coal, subdivided into the Marap Conglomerate, Shaheed Ghat, Drug, Toi and Baska formations; ~160 m (Kirthar) to ~1,300 m (Moghal Kot), conformable between the Dungan and Kirthar formations, with a foraminifer/gastropod/echinoid fauna.
• Mesozoic Gilgit Formation Cretaceous
  LithologyDepositional environmentGeological significance
• Paleozoic Gircha Formation Permian
  EpochLithologyDepositional environmentFossilsUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Goru Formation Cretaceous
  Introduced byEpochType localityThicknessLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Quaternary Gwadar Formation Quaternary
  ThicknessThickness (m)
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Gwadar Formation (Late Pliocene to Pleistocene; Gwadar Peninsula) is 60–900 m of soft, poorly-bedded buff sandy clay with subordinate sandstone and conglomerate, unconformably overlying the Hinglaj Formation and overlain (angular unconformity) by the Jiwani Formation; forms a flat rocky marine platform; forams, bivalves, gastropods.
  • Thickness (m): Thickness surfaced from the age note: the Gwadar Formation is 60–900 m of soft buff sandy clay with subordinate sandstone and conglomerate (Kazmi & Jan 1997); it thickens strongly laterally, so thicknessM is the range midpoint and the range string is the reliable figure.
• Mesozoic Gwal Formation Triassic
  EpochDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Habib Rahi Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Hachi Volcanic Group Neoproterozoic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the book names this the 'Hachi Formation' (not 'Hachi Volcanic Group') — the first of the five formations (Hachi, Taguwali, Asianwala, Hadda, Sharaban; Alam 1983) of the Precambrian Kirana Group (>2,330 m of phyllite, slate, quartzite and bimodal volcanics; Rb-Sr 870 ± 40 Ma) in the Kirana Hills. No per-formation lithology/age is given; the DB 'Volcanic Group' rank should be reviewed.
• Precambrian Hadda Quartzite Precambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Hadda Formation is the fourth of the five formations of the Precambrian Kirana Group (Alam 1983; Kirana Hills; Rb-Sr 870 ± 40 Ma); no separate per-formation lithology is given (group lithology: phyllite, slate, quartzite and volcanics).
• Cenozoic Hangu Formation Paleogene
  AgeIntroduced byEpochThicknessType localityUpper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Harmosh Formation
  Geological significancePlain summary
• Quaternary Haro Conglomerate Formation Quaternary
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Haro Conglomerate (Pleistocene; type locality Kech Valley, Kharan District) is 150 m to >900 m of conglomerate with subordinate sandstone and mudstone (rounded pebbles/boulders), deformed and resting unconformably on Neogene or older deposits — the Balochistan-Basin equivalent of the Lei Conglomerate, related to the last major Himalayan orogenic episode.
• Precambrian Hazara Formation Neoproterozoic
  EraPeriodLithologySynonymsDepositional environmentUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Hazira Formation Cambrian
  EraPeriodDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cambrian–Triassic' is over-broad; Kazmi & Jan (1997) treat the Hazira Formation as Cambrian (a basal phosphatic member associated with the Abbottabad Formation). Age needs review.
• Cenozoic Hinglaj Formation Neogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Hinglaj Formation (Miocene to Pleistocene; type Hinglaj Mountains) is 3,303 to >4,545 m of cross-stratified calcareous sandstone with mudstone, shale, shelly limestone and minor conglomerate — a lower Parkini Mudstone Member and an upper Chatti Mudstone Member — forming the bulk of the Neogene Makran/Balochistan succession; it rests transitionally on the Oligocene Khojak Formation and is unconformably overlain by the Gwadar Formation; forams, gastropods and bivalves.
• Paleozoic Hisartang Formation Ordovician
  PeriodLithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Hisartang Formation (Hussain et al. 1989, 1990; Attock-Cherat Range) is a ≥650 m sequence of unfossiliferous white-to-grey quartzites (with worm-burrow impressions) and a middle dark laminated argillite; its Ordovician age is inferred by lithological correlation with the Early–Middle Ordovician Misri Banda Quartzite. It has a conformable gradational contact with the underlying Darwaza Formation and is conformably overlain by the (?Devonian) Inzari Limestone. Consistent with the curated Ordovician age (noted as inferred/unfossiliferous).
• Hispar Sar Group under review
  Economic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Hoshab Formation Paleogene-Neogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Hoshab Formation appears in the Makran stratigraphic charts as a Miocene turbidite/limestone unit (with a Shaigalu member); 'Hoshab' is one of the major thrust faults dividing the Makran. Broadly consistent with the curated Late Oligocene–Early Miocene age.
• Mesozoic Humai Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Humai Formation (Maastrichtian; Chagai–Ras Koh) is variable grey-purple shale, sandstone, siltstone, thin-bedded limestone, volcanic conglomerate and massive reefoid limestone, unconformably/disconformably overlying the Sinjrani Volcanic Group and conformably overlain by the Paleocene Rakhshani Formation; rich rudist/foram fauna (Hippurites, Lepidorbitoides socialis, Omphalocyclus).
• Mesozoic Hunza Plutonic Unit Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the mid-Cretaceous, calc-alkaline Hunza Plutonic Complex of the Karakoram Batholith is U-Pb zircon dated at 95 ± 5 Ma (with K-Ar 46 Ma hornblende and 26 Ma biotite; Le Fort et al. 1983) — quartz diorite to granite (granodiorite predominant), its southern part foliated and garnet-bearing with migmatite and late two-mica/garnet-muscovite leucogranite dykes; a pre-collision unit. Consistent with the curated ~105 Ma age.
• Paleozoic Inzari Limestone Devonian
  PeriodLithologyLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Precambrian Iskere Gneiss Paleoproterozoic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Iskere Orthogneiss yields a 1850 Ma zircon date (Zeitler et al. 1989), interpreted as a deformational, thermal and magmatic event (Treloar et al. 1990b) that was regionally widespread — comparable Ar/Ar ages of 1887–1865 Ma at Besham (Baig 1990) and a 1820 ± 130 Ma Rb–Sr date from Kumaon (Valdiya 1988). This corroborates the curated ~1850 Ma (Paleoproterozoic) age.
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Iskere Orthogneiss is a core unit of the Nanga Parbat Group; it is tectonically overlain (Madin et al. 1989) by the Shingus Gneiss — or, per Treloar et al. (1991b), forms the basement to it — and in the Haramosh region is overlain by the Haramosh Schist (amphibolite-grade biotite schist/gneiss, marble, calc-silicate gneiss and amphibolite).
• Paleozoic Jafar Kandao Formation Devonian–Carboniferous
  PeriodLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Jaglot Group Jurassic–Cretaceous
  LithologyDepositional environmentGeological significance
• Cenozoic Jatta Gypsum Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Eocene Jatta Gypsum is a desiccated-basin evaporite of the SE Kohat Plateau — the Early Eocene Shekhan Formation grades southward into it in the Jatta area, and it is conformably overlain by the Kuldana Formation; commonly imbricated and folded with slivers of Panoba Shale.
• Cenozoic Jiwani Formation Quaternary
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Jiwani Formation (Pleistocene to Sub-Recent; type section east of Jiwani) is ~30 m of littoral shelly limestone, cross-laminated pebbly sandstone and conglomerate, overlying the Gwadar Formation with an angular unconformity (locally the Hinglaj) and forming uplifted, tilted marine terraces of the Makran coast; bivalves (Fossularca, Timoclea arakanensis, Martesia striata).
• Paleozoic Jobra Formation Ordovician
  EraPeriodEpochLithologyThicknessSynonymsLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cambrian–Carboniferous' is over-broad. This unit (type locality Misri Banda, Stauffer 1968a) is the Misri Banda Quartzite, dated Early–Middle Ordovician by the trace fossil Cruziana rugosa (Kazmi & Jan, 1997). Age needs review.
• Paleozoic Jutana Formation Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Jutana Formation (late Early to early Middle Cambrian; type near Jutana village) is 75–90 m (45 m Khisor Range) of cliff-forming sandy dolomite and dolomitic sandstone, conformable on the Kussak and overlain by the Baghanwala (or the Khisor Formation in the southern Khisor Range); yields brachiopods, gastropods, trilobites (Redlichia noetlingi) and Cruziana.
• Precambrian Kaghan Group under review
  EraLithologyType localityIntroduced byGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kaghan Group (Ghazanfar & Chaudhry 1986; Proterozoic, matching the curated age) is a Lesser-Himalayan metasedimentary sequence of the Lower Kaghan Nappe — unfossiliferous metapelites, schists, quartzites, marbles, metaconglomerates, calc-silicates and amphibolites (greenschist to garnet grade) — occurring in a band around the Hazara–Kashmir Syntaxis (equated with the Salkhala Formation by Greco 1991). It is overthrust by the higher-grade Sharda Group along the Batal–Luat Fault and is itself thrust over Palaeozoic–Mesozoic rocks along the Panjal Thrust.
• Cenozoic Kahan Group Paleogene
  LithologyEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Kamerod Formation Quaternary
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kamerod Formation (Pleistocene; near Saindak Fort, Chagai) is near-horizontal young basinal beds intruded by small quartz-diorite bodies and fresh olivine-basalt/lamprophyre dykes.
• Cenozoic Kamlial Formation Neogene
  Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Karora Formation
  EraLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summaryAge
• Mesozoic Kashala Formation Triassic
  EpochLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Katzarah Formation Cretaceous–Paleogene under review
  Thickness
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Katzarah Formation (Desio 1963) is ~1,500 m of high-grade metasediments (amphibolite facies or higher) — hornfels, biotite schist, sillimanite schist, gneisses and amphibolites (subdivided into the Tsordas Gneiss, Skoyo Gneiss, Askore Amphibolite and Katzarah Schist), cropping out in the Indus and lower Shigar valleys of the Skardu region. It overlies the Upper-Cretaceous-fossil-bearing Burji Formation (faulted contact), is overlain by the Bauma-Harel Formation and is intruded by the Ladakh Intrusives — implying a Late Cretaceous arc-metasedimentary context. The book gives no Eocene evidence, so the curated 'Cretaceous–Eocene' upper limit is not corroborated (recommend narrowing to Late Cretaceous).
• Mesozoic Kawagarh Formation Cretaceous
  AgeUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Khadro Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Khalkhal Formation Cretaceous
  AgeEraPeriod
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Khalkhal Formation (the book's spelling; DB 'Khalkal' is a typo) is queried Cretaceous — shales, sandstones and conglomerates forming the highest (youngest) stratigraphic level of the Gasherbrum sedimentary sequence, in the sedimentary belt north of the Karakoram Batholith (Broad Peak area, where it is deformed to greenschist facies). This is a Karakoram/Gasherbrum unit — the DB regional tagging should be verified.
• Mesozoic Khanozai Group Triassic
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Kharan Formation Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kharan Formation (Early to Middle Eocene; type section near Jalwar) is 90–600 m of grey argillaceous fossiliferous reefoid limestone with calcareous shale and sandstone (including the Wakai Member), conformably overlying the Rakhshani Formation and overlain transitionally by the Khojak Formation; forams Assilina granulosa/exponens, Orbitolites complanatus.
• Mesozoic Khatkiara Sandstone Member Triassic
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the 'Khatkiara Member' (Danilchik et al. 1967) is the upper part of the Middle Triassic Tredian Formation — 38–59 m of massive-to-thick-bedded sandstone with thin dolomite interbeds above the Landa Member, grading up into the Kingriali Formation.
• Paleozoic Khewra Sandstone Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Khewra Sandstone (Lower Cambrian; type locality Khewra Gorge) is 150 m (80 m in the Khisor Range) of reddish-brown to purple, cross-bedded thick sandstone with ripple marks and mud cracks, resting on the Salt Range Formation without apparent disconformity and overlain disconformably by the Kussak Formation; devoid of fossils apart from rare trilobite trace fossils.
• Paleozoic Khisor Formation Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Khisor Formation (Middle(?) Cambrian; type west of Saiyeduwala, southern Khisor Range) is 100–135 m of white to grey laminated gypsum with dolomite and dark shale — an evaporitic time-equivalent of the Baghanwala Formation, conformable on the Jutana; barren of fossils.
• Cenozoic Khojak Formation Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Khojak Formation (Eocene to Early Miocene; type Khojak) is >6,300 m of shale, sandstone and siltstone with subordinate limestone/conglomerate — a lower Murgha Faqirzai Member (prodelta turbidites) and an upper Shaigalu Member (deltaic-plain cross-bedded sandstone) — deposited in the Katawaz-Makran Sea delta-deep-sea-fan system fed by the rising Himalaya; conformable on the Nisai Formation and overlain transitionally by the Hinglaj Formation; larger forams (Nummulites atacicus, N. fichteli) and molluscs.
• Paleozoic Khyber Limestone Carboniferous–Permian
  EraPeriodLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Silurian' is incorrect: the Khyber Limestone (Stauffer 1968b) conformably overlies the Upper Devonian Ali Masjid Formation and carries fusulinids, indicating a Carboniferous–Permian age (Kazmi & Jan, 1997). The baseline lithology string ('Spin Rag quartzite…') also appears to be an artifact from a different unit. Age and lithology need review.
• Mesozoic Kingriali Formation Triassic
  Type localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significance
• Precambrian Kirana Group Neoproterozoic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kirana Group (Kazmi 1964; Kirana Hills near Sargodha) is Late Proterozoic — a Rb-Sr isochron of 870 ± 40 Ma (Davies & Crawford 1971), part of the 850–750 Ma post-Delhi anorogenic event — >2,330 m of unfossiliferous phyllite, slate, quartzite and subordinate conglomerate with bimodal rhyolite–dolerite volcanics, subdivided into the Hachi, Taguwali, Asianwala, Hadda and Sharaban formations; the western extension of the Indian shield forming the probable basement to the Salt Range.
• Cenozoic Kirthar Formation Paleogene
  EpochType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyFossilsDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Koh-i-Sultan Volcanic Group Neogene–Quaternary
  Type localityGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Kohat Formation Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kohat Formation (Eocene) is 50–170 m of grey-to-cream massive nodular limestone and olive shale with a lower Kaladhand Limestone, middle Sadkal Shale and upper Habib Rahi Limestone member; it rests conformably on the Kuldana Formation and is overlain unconformably by the Neogene; foraminifera include Assilina spp., Lockhartia hunti and Nummulites mammilla.
• Mesozoic Krinj Limestone Cretaceous
  EraPeriodUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summaryAge
• Cenozoic Kuldana Formation Paleogene
  Upper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
  • Age: Current record lists Miocene, but Kazmi & Jan (1997) place the Kuldana Formation in the Paleogene, and its Pakicetus-bearing fauna is Early–Middle Eocene. Age needs review.
• Paleozoic Kundil Formation Permian
  EpochLithologyDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Kussak Formation Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Kussak Formation (Early Cambrian to early Middle Cambrian; type near Fort Kussak) is ~75 m (30 m Khisor Range) of grey glauconitic silty/sandy shale with a thin basal conglomerate, resting disconformably on the Khewra Sandstone and conformably overlain by the Jutana Formation; a marine unit with brachiopods and trilobites (Neobolus warthi, Redlichia noetlingi).
• Cenozoic Lakhra Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityThicknessLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Laki Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Landa Member Triassic
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the 'Landa Member' (Kummel 1966) is the lower part of the Middle Triassic Tredian Formation — 19–29 m of nonmarine variegated micaceous sandstone with ripple marks and slump structures interbedded with shale, above the Mianwali Formation and below the Khatkiara Member. (The book treats it as a member of the Tredian Formation.)
• Paleozoic Landikotal Formation Ordovician–Silurian
  PeriodLithologyThicknessType localityDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
• Precambrian Langrial Limestone Neoproterozoic under review
  • Geological significance: Data-quality flag (reviewer audit, 2026-07-30): Kazmi & Jan (1997) carry "Langrial Limestone" only inside a historical correlation table (after Marks & Mohammad Ali 1962) as a superseded MEMBER-level subdivision of the Precambrian Hazara Formation — no descriptive text, age or type section. It is a Hazara/foreland unit, NOT a Karakoram unit as currently clustered in the DB. Recommend reclassifying (informal member of the Hazara Formation; correct the regional tag) or removal.
• Paleozoic Lashkargaz Formation Permian
  EpochLithologyThicknessDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Quaternary Lei Conglomerate Quaternary
  Introduced bySynonymsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Lockhart Limestone Paleogene
  AgeLithologyType localityIntroduced byThicknessLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Loralai Formation Jurassic
  Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summarySynonyms
  • Name: 'Loralai Limestone' (HSC 1960) has largely been replaced by the Shirinab Formation (Fatmi 1977).
• Mesozoic Lumshiwal Formation Cretaceous
  AgeDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Lun Shale Silurian–Devonian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Lun Shales (Desio; = Sarikol Slate of Hayden 1915) are a thick sequence of grey splintery slaty shale with quartzite, dolomite and limestone between the Tirich and Reshun Faults (NW Chitral), overlying the Shogram Formation and truncated by the Tirich Fault. The book gives a wide/uncertain range — largely Permo-Carboniferous, but possibly Devonian(?) to Late Jurassic (Permian fusulines and, in the Rosh Gol upper part, Middle–Late Jurassic ammonites) — bracketing the curated 'Permian–Triassic'.
• Paleozoic Lupghar Formation Permian
  LithologyThicknessDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Manchar Formation Neogene
  Introduced byLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryType localityLower contact (overlies)Fossils
• Precambrian Manglaur Formation Ediacaran
  AgeLithologyThicknessType locality
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Manglaur Schist (age uncertain, tentatively Precambrian; type near Manglaur village, Swat) is quartz-feldspar, quartz-mica-garnet, quartz-mica-kyanite and graphitic schist with amphibolite and calc-silicate (two garnet generations = ≥two metamorphic events), forming crystalline basement of the Swat Nappe intruded by the Swat Granite Gneiss and unconformably overlain by the Late Palaeozoic Alpurai Group. Corroborates the curated Late Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian age (book flags it as uncertain).
• Precambrian Manglour Formation
  EraLithologyType localityUpper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summaryAge
• Precambrian Manki Formation Precambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Manki Formation (Precambrian by lithologic correlation with the Hazara Formation, Hussain et al. 1990) is ≥950 m of dark grey thin-bedded argillite, slate and phyllite (two cleavages; grade increasing northward with quartz veins) in the Attock-Cherat and Gandghar Ranges — base not exposed, grading up into the Shahkot Formation, and thrust westward over the Dakhner Formation.
• Paleozoic Mansehra Granite Ordovician
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the porphyritic two-mica Mansehra Granite (Hazara District) is an Early Palaeozoic, calc-alkaline S-type granite–granodiorite (quartz–albite/oligoclase–K-feldspar–biotite ± garnet, with feldspar megacrysts to 15 cm and a strong gneissose fabric; Susalgali Gneiss + Mansehra porphyritic granite + andalusite granite), intruding the Precambrian Tanawal Formation of the Hazara Nappe as thick folded sheets over >2,000 km². Rb-Sr isochron 516 Ma (Le Fort et al. 1980), variously termed 'Late Cambrian'/'Cambro-Ordovician' — slightly older than the curated ~478–466 Ma (Early–Middle Ordovician), recorded as a note.
• Cenozoic Margala Hill Limestone Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Margalla Hill Limestone (Early Eocene; type locality Burjianwala) is 80–120 m of grey medium-bedded to massive nodular limestone with subordinate marl and shale, conformably overlying the Patala Formation and succeeded by the Chor Gali Formation; rich larger-foram fauna (Assilina granulosa/spinosa, Discocyclina, Lockhartia, Nummulites atacicus).
  • Fossils: Surfaced into fossils[] (field was previously empty): rich larger-foram fauna — Assilina granulosa/spinosa, Discocyclina, Lockhartia, Nummulites atacicus (Kazmi & Jan 1997); Afzal, Williams & Aldridge (2009) assign shallow benthic zones SBZ8–SBZ11 (early–middle Ypresian) on these larger benthonic foraminifera.
• Paleozoic Marghazar Formation Carboniferous
  EraPeriodLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cambrian–Triassic' is over-broad; Kazmi & Jan (1997), after Pogue et al. (1992), tentatively assign the Marghazar Formation a Carboniferous age (the overlying Kashala Formation yields Late Triassic conodonts). Age needs review.
• Mesozoic Marpo Sandstone Jurassic
  EpochLithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summaryCoordinates
• Mesozoic Mazar Drik Formation Jurassic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Mazar Drik Formation (Callovian to Late Bathonian; type Mazar Drik, Marri Hills) is ~30 m of interbedded grey limestone and dark shale, conformable on the Takatu Limestone and disconformably overlain by the Sembar Formation; a rich Middle-Jurassic ammonite fauna (Macrocephalites, Indocephalites, Bullatimorphites bullatus).
• Mesozoic Mianwali Formation Triassic
  Type localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significance
• Precambrian Misgar Slate Neoproterozoic-Cambrian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Misgar Slate (Desio 1963/64) is ~3,500 m of monotonous dark grey slate and phyllite with siliceous/calcareous interbeds, intruded by dolerite/gabbro/pegmatite sills and dykes, in the uppermost Hunza Valley (thrust southward over the Sost Unit); unfossiliferous, so only tentatively referred to the Palaeozoic — consistent with the curated Late Precambrian–Cambrian assignment being uncertain.
• Mesozoic Mona Jhal Group Cretaceous
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Moro Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Moro Formation (Maastrichtian; Kirthar-Sulaiman region) is a lower limestone (locally with volcanic conglomerate), a middle marly-shaly unit and an upper limestone — a lateral facies of the Pab Sandstone, 'essentially the same as the Bibai Formation of Kazmi (1955)', resting conformably/gradationally on the Pab (or Fort Munro/Parh) and overlain by the Dungan Formation; foraminifera include Omphalocyclus macropora and Orbitoides.
• Mesozoic Mughal Kot Formation Cretaceous
  Introduced byEpochLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Murgha Faqirzai Formation Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book treats this as the lower 'Murgha Faqirzai Member' of the Khojak Formation — grey-green-brown calcareous/arenaceous shale with turbidites, prodelta laminated mudstones and hummocky sandstones — not a stand-alone formation; charts label it Oligocene.
• Cenozoic Murree Formation Neogene
  LithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Musakhel Group Triassic
  LithologyDepositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Muslim Bagh Ophiolite Cretaceous
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Muslimbagh (Zhob Valley) Ophiolite comprises ultramafic tectonites (~70% lherzolite/harzburgite peridotite + dunite), ultramafic-mafic cumulates, a 1,000 m sheeted-dyke complex, a dolerite dyke swarm and pillow lavas, with a ~300 m metamorphic sole (hornblendite, garnet schists, marble) and an associated mélange. Formed ~81–82 Ma (K-Ar) and obducted during the Paleocene (emplacement ~65–70 Ma; Ar-Ar), it tectonically overlies Maastrichtian and older rocks and is unconformably overlain by Eocene shallow-marine limestone; origin debated (spreading centre / back-arc / slow-spreading Neo-Tethys branch). Corroborates the curated Late Cretaceous age.
• Precambrian Nagarparkar Igneous Complex Neoproterozoic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the 'Nagar Igneous Complex' (Kazmi & Khan 1973; Nagar Parkar, SE Sindh) is Late Proterozoic — amphibolite (possibly older basement) intruded by grey and pink (riebeckite-aegirine) granite and cut by undeformed alkaline mafic dykes and two rhyolite domes; an anorogenic within-plate suite correlated with the ~740 Ma Malani Igneous Suite / Mount Abu granites, underlying the Thar coal-field. Corroborates the curated Malani (~750–770 Ma) assignment.
• Cenozoic Nagri Formation Neogene
  Introduced byType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Nammal Formation Paleogene
  EpochDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Nanga Parbat Gneiss Mesoproterozoic
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Nanga Parbat Gneisses form the >15 km-thick Proterozoic Nanga Parbat Group (Madin 1986) of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif (the Nanga Parbat Syntaxis, a re-entrant into the Kohistan arc), comprising the basal Shingus paragneiss, the Iskere orthogneiss, upper amphibolites and marbles, and the Haramosh Schist; the group is intruded by younger undeformed granites, pegmatites and mafic dykes. The Precambrian Salkhala Formation is thrust over the gneisses along the Shontargali Thrust (an MCT analogue), and the Liachar Thrust carries the high-grade gneisses onto Recent Indus-valley glacial sediments.
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997), after Tahirkheli (1987–1992): the amphibolite-facies Nanga Parbat Gneisses are dated at 1,800–2,700 Ma — an older span (Paleoproterozoic–Neoarchean) than the curated 'Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic'; flagged for reconciliation.
• Paleozoic Naran Formation under review
  LithologyType localityIntroduced byGeological significancePlain summary
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Naran Formation (Greco et al. 1989; Kaghan/Naran area, Sharda zone) is the Lower Palaeozoic cover of the pre-Permian basement — metapelitic–metagreywacke gneisses with thick amphibolite layers and diorite dykes, interpreted as products of a Late Pan-African orogenic event, on which the later Palaeozoic–Mesozoic sequence (e.g. the overlying Burawai Formation) was deposited. Consistent with the curated Early Palaeozoic age.
• Cenozoic Nari Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)LithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Nikanai Ghar Formation Triassic under review
  PeriodSynonymsLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summaryAge
• Paleozoic Nilawahan Group Permian
  LithologyEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
  • Member units: Comprises four formations: Tobra, Dandot, Warchha and Sardhai (Kazmi & Jan 1997). Dandot is sometimes treated as a junior synonym / lateral equivalent of the Warchha Sandstone.
• Cenozoic Nisai Limestone Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Nisai Formation/Limestone is Eocene to Early Oligocene (30–1,200 m of grey massive brecciated reefoid and shelly limestone with marl, shale and conglomerate, locally oolitic), along the eastern margin of the Kakar Khorasan-Makran flysch belt — unconformable on Mesozoic/Permian rocks (conformable on the Ghazij eastward) and conformably overlain by the Khojak Formation; abundant larger forams (Assilina, Nummulites, Pellatispira). The book age (Eocene–Early Oligocene) is younger than the curated Paleocene — recorded as a note.
• Paleozoic Nowshera Formation Devonian
  PeriodEpochLithologyThicknessType localityIntroduced byLower contact (overlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Ormara Formation Neogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Ormara Formation (Late Pleistocene) forms the Ormara headland — an uplifted horst of mudstone, sandstone, conglomerate and shelly limestone (shelf deposits) connected to the mainland by tombolos, dipping 3–5° seaward on the Makran coast.
• Mesozoic Pab Sandstone Cretaceous
  Introduced byEpochLithologyThicknessType localityDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Panjal Formation Carboniferous–Permian
  EraPeriodLithologyIntroduced byDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Panjal Group Carboniferous–Permian
  PeriodGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Panjgur Formation Paleogene–Neogene
  • Economic importance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Panjgur Formation is a Miocene slope/shale unit of the Makran (Panjgur) accretionary prism, cited as both a hydrocarbon source rock and a reservoir ('Talar and Panjgur sandstones'); 'Panjgur' is also a major Makran thrust. Consistent with the curated Middle Miocene age.
• Paleozoic Panjpir Formation Ordovician–Silurian
  EpochLithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Panjshah Formation Permian
  EpochLithologyThicknessDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Panoba Formation Paleogene
  AgeLithologyType localityIntroduced byEpochThicknessUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Parh Limestone Cretaceous
  Introduced byEpochLithologyFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Parkini Formation Neogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book treats this as the lower 'Parkini Mudstone Member' of the Hinglaj Formation (nodular dark-grey mudstone; Mio-Pliocene; a Makran slope deposit and hydrocarbon source rock), not a stand-alone formation.
• Cenozoic Patala Formation Paleogene
  EraPeriodEpochLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cretaceous–Paleocene' over-extends the formation: the Patala Formation is Late Paleocene (Thanetian). The 'Cretaceous' component reflects bundling with underlying units. Age needs review.
• Paleozoic Pir Sabak Formation Devonian
  LithologyIntroduced byFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Pirkoh Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Purit Formation Cretaceous
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Purit Formation (Cretaceous; type section Drosh Gol) is ~1 km of red calcareous shale with subordinate lithic-feldspathic sandstone and polymict conglomerate (andesite/limestone/volcanic clasts), overlying the Gawuch Formation and overlain by the Drosh Formation in the Chitral Kohistan arc — possibly part of the Yasin Group.
• Mesozoic Rakhshani Formation Cretaceous–Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Rakhshani Formation (Paleocene; Chagai and Ras Koh, forming the bulk of the Ras Koh Range) is green-grey medium-coarse sandstone with lava flows, tuffs and agglomerates and subordinate argillaceous limestone, conformably overlying the Cretaceous Humai Formation (or Kuchakki Volcanic Group / Kharan Formation) and overlain by the Eocene Saindak Formation; forams Alveolina vredenburgi, Miscellanea miscella.
• Cenozoic Ranikot Group Paleogene
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summaryIntroduced by
• Mesozoic Reshit Formation Jurassic
  EpochLithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)FossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Reshun Formation Cretaceous
  LithologyLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Saidu Formation Triassic–Jurassic
  Type localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Saindak Formation Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Saindak Formation (Eocene; Chagai–Ras Koh) is 60–1,500 m of interbedded shale, calcareous sandstone, fossiliferous limestone and volcanic rocks (agglomerate/conglomerate), resting conformably on the Rakhshani Formation and overlain transitionally by the (?Oligocene) Amalaf Formation; forams Assilina exponens, Opertorbitolites douvillei and the echinoid Echinolampas nummulitica.
• Cenozoic Sakesar Formation Paleogene
  EpochIntroduced byLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Salkhala Formation Neoproterozoic
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Salkhala Formation (the 'Salkhala Series' of Wadia 1930; type locality Salkhala village on the Kishanganga River, Kashmir) is a Proterozoic greenschist-facies sequence of slates, phyllites and schists with intercalated marble, quartzite and graphite, distributed in a band around the Hazara–Kashmir Syntaxis. On the eastern limb of the syntaxis it overlies the Permian Panjal Volcanics along the Panjal Thrust, and in the southern Nanga Parbat Massif it is thrust over the 1,800–2,700 Ma Nanga Parbat Gneisses along the Shontargali Thrust (an MCT analogue); at its type locality it is overlain by the Dogra Slate (correlated with the Hazara Formation). Most workers assign the Kaghan Group to the Salkhala Formation.
• Precambrian Salt Range Formation Ediacaran
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Salt Range Formation is Late Proterozoic (sulphur-isotope data on top gypsum give ~600 Ma) — >800 m (base not exposed; locally >2,000 m in the Kohat-Potwar foredeep by salt migration) of red gypsiferous 'salt marl' claystone with thick salt bodies, a middle gypsum-dolomite-shale-oil-shale interval and a top gypsum with the Khewra Trap; deposited in a restricted shallow-marine evaporitic setting on Indian-shield basement, overlain by the Khewra Sandstone. Type locality Khewra Gorge; devoid of fossils.
• Mesozoic Samana Suk Formation Jurassic
  AgeLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Sardhai Formation Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Sardhai Formation (Early Permian; type Sardhai/Sohal Nala) is 40–60 m of bluish-grey to reddish claystone (dark-violet/black westward), with fossiliferous limestone in the Khisor Range — mainly terrestrial/lagoonal with westward marine incursions, transitional on the Warchha and disconformably overlain by the Amb Formation; plant remains, fish scales and Khisor-Range brachiopods/bryozoans.
• Precambrian Sargodha Ridge Basement Archean-Proterozoic
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Sargodha (Sargodha-Shahpur/Shahkot) ridge is the buried Precambrian basement horst of the Indus platform — the western extension of the Indian shield — whose exposed summits form monadnocks (the Kirana Hills) of unfossiliferous Kirana Group metasediments and metavolcanics (Rb-Sr 870 ± 40 Ma; Davies & Crawford 1971), with gold-bearing hematite; the sedimentary cover thins to 0–600 m over the ridge, which probably forms the basement to the Salt Range.
• Mesozoic Sembar Formation Cretaceous
  Lithology
• Paleozoic Sewakht Formation Devonian
  EpochLithologyGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Shagai Limestone Silurian–Devonian under review
  PeriodEpochLithologyType localityUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryAge
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): named the 'Shagai Limestone' (Stauffer 1968b) — a rank/name correction for the DB record — this grey-to-black, locally dolomitic, thin- to thick-bedded/massive limestone (unfossiliferous, capped by laminated limestone and sheared shale) is considered Silurian(?) to Early Devonian (Shah et al. 1970), matching the curated age. Type locality 1 km NE of Shagai (Khyber Pass, between Shagai Fort, Ali Masjid and Tauda Mela); in tectonic contact with the overlying Khyber carbonate complex and in conformable contact with the overlying Late Devonian Ali Masjid Formation.
• Cenozoic Shagala Formation Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK/NAMING FLAG: the book treats this as the upper 'Shaigalu Member' (Cheema 1977) of the Khojak Formation — grey-green-brown cross-bedded calcareous micaceous sandstone with conglomerate, multicoloured mudstones, paleosols and rare coal (an upper deltaic-plain deposit) — not a stand-alone formation or group. The DB spellings 'Shagala Formation'/'Shagala Group' should be reconciled with 'Shaigalu Member'.
• Cenozoic Shagala Group Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK/NAMING FLAG: this record duplicates 'shagala-formation'; the book knows only the 'Shaigalu Member' (Cheema 1977) of the Khojak Formation — upper deltaic-plain cross-bedded calcareous micaceous sandstone with conglomerate, multicoloured mudstones, paleosols and rare coal — not a stand-alone group. The 'Shagala Formation'/'Shagala Group' DB duplicates should be merged and reconciled with 'Shaigalu Member'.
• Cenozoic Shaheed Ghat Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Shahkot Formation Precambrian
  LithologyThicknessType localityUpper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Shaksgam Formation Permian
  LithologyThicknessType localityDepositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Sharaban Group Neoproterozoic under review
  Type locality
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the book spells this 'Sharaban' and treats it as a FORMATION within the Kirana Group (one of five — Hachi, Taguwali, Asianwala, Hadda and Sharaban; Alam 1983), NOT a stand-alone group — a rank correction for the DB record. The Kirana Group (>2,330 m of phyllites, slates, quartzites and subordinate conglomerates and volcanics) of the Kirana Hills yields a Rb/Sr date of 870 ± 40 Ma (Davies & Crawford 1971), consistent with the curated Neoproterozoic age.
• Precambrian Sharda Group under review
  EraLithologyType localityIntroduced byGeological significancePlain summary
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Sharda Group (Ghazanfar & Chaudhry 1986; considered Middle Proterozoic to Archaean by Chaudhry & Ghazanfar 1987 — agreeing with the curated age) occupies the north-eastern Kaghan Valley and forms a Higher Himalayan crystalline nappe of garnetiferous calc-pelitic and pelitic gneisses (with kyanite and sillimanite), marbles, amphibolites and abundant sheet granites, metamorphosed to sillimanite grade. Along the Batal–Luat Fault (an MCT analogue) the high-grade Sharda Group is thrust southwards over the greenschist-facies Kaghan Group, producing a sharp inverted metamorphic gradient; it was previously lumped with the Salkhala Formation.
• Precambrian Shekhai Formation Precambrian
  LithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Shekhan Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byLower contact (overlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Shinawari Formation Jurassic
  Type localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significance
• Precambrian Shingus Gneiss Paleoproterozoic
  • Geological significance: Corroborating reference: the Shingus Gneiss is also documented in Kazmi & Jan (1997), 'Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan' (reviewer-confirmed), added alongside the GSP lexicon (Malkani & Mahmood 2017) record.
  • Lithology: Kazmi & Jan (1997), after Madin (1986, 1989): the Shingus Gneiss is an amphibolite-grade pelitic and psammitic paragneiss forming the lower part of the Nanga Parbat Group in the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif. It is interlayered by ~500 Ma orthogneisses, and its contact with the overlying Iskere Orthogneiss is sheared and marked by sillimanite-bearing mylonites; the Baroluma Fault separates it from the Haramosh Schist to the south and the Majupah Fault from island-arc gabbro/ultramafics.
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): Treloar et al. (1991b) regard the Shingus Gneiss as the metasedimentary cover to the Iskere Orthogneiss and correlate it with the Tanawal Formation–Mansehra Granite sequence of the Hazara region, whereas Madin et al. (1989) place the Shingus Paragneiss as the structurally lowest unit of the massif (below the Iskere Orthogneiss and the Haramosh Schist) — the superposition remains debated owing to pervasive fault contacts.
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the curated 'Early Proterozoic (2600–2200 Ma)' age is not directly supported here — as the cover to the ~1850 Ma Iskere Orthogneiss and a proposed correlative of the Late Proterozoic Tanawal Formation, the Shingus Gneiss protolith is more plausibly (Late?) Proterozoic. Flagged for reconciliation.
• Mesozoic Shirinab Formation Triassic-Jurassic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Shirinab Formation (as presently recognised Early Jurassic/Lower Jurassic; 1,500–3,000 m of interbedded limestone and shale in Kalat/Quetta/Zhob/Loralai) is subdivided into the Spingwar (Liassic, ammonite-dated, type at Spingwar), Loralai and Anjira Members (Williams 1959); it grades down into the Triassic Wulgai Formation and up into the Middle Jurassic Takatu Limestone. The original HSC (1960) 'Shirinab Formation' lumped undifferentiated Jurassic-Triassic-Permian rocks; near Khuzdar it was renamed the Ferozabad Group.
• Paleozoic Shogram Formation Devonian
  LithologyType localityFossilsDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Siahan Formation Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Siahan Formation appears in the Makran flysch stratigraphic charts as Miocene (paired with the Khojak Formation) and is cited as a hydrocarbon source rock; 'Siahan' is also a major Makran thrust. The chart age (Miocene) differs from the curated Eocene–Oligocene — recorded as a note pending a fuller source.
• Paleozoic Singhie Shales Permian
  Era
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Singhie Shales (Desio 1936; Shaksgam–Baltoro region of the eastern Karakoram, north of the Karakoram Batholith) are a thick sequence of well-cleaved black carbonaceous shales — the equivalent of the Pasu Slates of Upper Hunza (also Shimshal/Baltoro/Rimo shales). The book infers a CARBONIFEROUS age because they underlie the Permian Shaksgam Formation, conflicting with the curated 'Early Permian (Cisuralian)'. As the book is unfossiliferous-inferred and dated 1997, the conflict is flagged for reconciliation rather than overwriting the curated age.
• Mesozoic Sinjrani Volcanic Group Cretaceous
  Depositional environment
• Cenozoic Siwalik Group Neogene
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Siwalik Group is the Neogene molasse of the rising Himalaya (Chinji, Nagri, Dhok Pathan and Soan formations, capped by the Lei Conglomerate) — red/brown clays and thick cross-bedded sandstones passing up into conglomerate; it overlies the Rawalpindi Group in the Kohat-Potwar region and the Gaj Formation in the Kirthar/Sulaiman ranges, and carries a rich mammalian fauna including hominoid primates (earliest remains ~14.5 Ma).
• Mesozoic Skardu Group Cretaceous–Paleogene
  • Geological significance: Data-quality flag (reviewer audit, 2026-07-30): Kazmi & Jan (1997) describe no formal "Skardu Group" — "Skardu" is used only as a town/region name. The Skardu-region arc tectonostratigraphy is formalised there as the Burji Formation (Upper Cretaceous fossils), Katzarah Formation, Bauma-Harel Formation and Deosai Volcanics. This record appears to be a place-name-derived conflation of those units; recommend re-mapping to the actual formations or removal.
• Quaternary Soan Formation Quaternary
  AgeDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Sohnari Formation Paleogene
  ThicknessThickness (m)
  • Geological significance: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book describes this as the 'Sonhari Member' of the (Early Eocene) Laki Formation — ~30 m of coal-bearing sandstone and lateritic clay of the Meting coal-field, near the contact with the underlying Upper Paleocene Lakhra Formation — not as a stand-alone formation; deposited in brackish-water coastal swamps.
  • Thickness (m): Thickness surfaced from the rank note: the Sonhari (Sohnari) unit is ~30 m of coal-bearing sandstone and lateritic clay of the Meting coal-field (Kazmi & Jan 1997, who treat it as the Sonhari Member of the Laki Formation).
• Mesozoic Spingwar Formation Triassic
  EpochType localityThicknessLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summarySynonyms
  • Name: Spingwar is the basal MEMBER of the Shirinab Formation (with the Loralai and Anjira members), not a separate formation (Williams 1959).
• Paleozoic Staghar Cherty Limestone Permian
  Type locality
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Staghar Cherty Limestone (named by Gaetani et al. 1990b) is Late Permian — it yields a Late Permian conodont assemblage (Gondolella bitteri, Gondolella liangshanensis). It is a cherty limestone with sponge spicules, radiolaria and redeposited fusulinids that caps the Shaksgam Formation (whose main body is Lower–Middle Permian) in the Shaksgam–Baltoro region of the eastern Karakoram.
• Cenozoic Sui Main Limestone Formation Paleogene
  • Economic importance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Eocene Sui Main Limestone is referred to informally as the 'Sui Main/Habib Rahi Limestone' and equated with the Habib Rahi Limestone — an important petroleum reservoir in the Kirthar depression and Sukkur Rift zone; the book does not describe it as a separately named formation.
• Mesozoic Sulaiman Group Jurassic
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Surghar Group Jurassic
  LithologyDepositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Precambrian Taguwali Formation Neoproterozoic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Taguwali Formation is the second of the five formations of the Precambrian Kirana Group (Alam 1983; Kirana Hills near Sargodha; Rb-Sr 870 ± 40 Ma) — unfossiliferous metasediment/metavolcanic basement of the buried Sargodha ridge; the book gives no separate per-formation description.
• Mesozoic Takatu Formation Jurassic
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Takatu Limestone (Middle Jurassic; type section Dara Manda south of Bostan; named Chiltan Limestone by HSC 1960, renamed by Shah 1987) is 750–1,800 m of massive dark-to-cream sublithographic to oolitic limestone, locally reefal, conformably overlying the Shirinab Formation and overlain by the Callovian–Bathonian Mazar Drik Formation.
• Cenozoic Talar Formation Neogene
  • Economic importance: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Talar Formation is a Makran-basin sandstone cited as a hydrocarbon reservoir ('Talar and Panjgur sandstones'); the Makran stratigraphic charts label it Plio-Pleistocene, younger than the curated Late Miocene (Messinian) — recorded as a note pending a fuller source.
• Precambrian Tanawal Formation Neoproterozoic
  LithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summaryEraPeriodAge
  • Age: Baseline age 'Cambrian' is questionable: Kazmi & Jan (1997), following Williams (1989) and Treloar et al. (1989a), place the Tanawal Formation in the Late Proterozoic, since it is intruded by the Late Cambrian Mansehra Granite and so must predate it. Age needs review.
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Precambrian Tanawal Formation is placed in the Late Proterozoic (Williams 1989; Treloar et al. 1989a) — metaquartzites, metapsammites and garnet-mica schists of the Hazara Nappe that unconformably overlie the Hazara Formation, are overlain unconformably by the Cambrian Abbottabad Formation (Tanakki Conglomerate at the base), and are intruded by the Late Cambrian two-mica Mansehra Granite (516 Ma Rb–Sr isochron; Le Fort et al. 1980). Treloar et al. (1991b) correlate the Shingus Gneiss with this Tanawal Formation–Mansehra Granite sequence.
• Mesozoic Tekri Formation Jurassic
  EpochLithologyType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Thelichi Formation Cretaceous
  Depositional environmentSynonymsGeological significance
• Paleozoic Tobra Formation Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Tobra Formation (Early Permian, on Striatopodocarpites/Protohaploxypinus palynology; type Tobra village) is 20 m (to 120–130 m in Zaluch Nala) of polymict conglomerate/tillite in the east and diamictic fluvioglacial mudstone in the west, resting unconformably on Cambrian units or the Salt Range Formation and conformably overlain by the Dandot Formation; glacial to fluvioglacial, with Glossopteris/Gangamopteris flora.
• Cenozoic Toi Formation Paleogene
  Introduced byEpochThicknessType localityLithologyLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Tredian Formation Triassic
  Type localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significance
• Precambrian Uch Khattak Formation Precambrian
  LithologyThicknessType localityLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Depositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Vihowa Group Paleogene–Neogene
  AgeEraPeriodEpochLithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Cenozoic Wakai Limestone Paleogene
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997) RANK FLAG: the book treats 'Wakai' as an Eocene Member of the Kharan Formation, not a stand-alone limestone formation; the DB rank/name should be reviewed.
• Paleozoic Warchha Sandstone Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Warchha Sandstone (Early Permian, by position between the Dandot and Sardhai formations; type Warchha Nala) is 150–165 m (120 m Khisor Range) of thick-bedded reddish-brown cross-bedded arkosic sandstone with purple/grey shale — a fluviatile alluvial-flat deposit, conformable on the Dandot and transitional up into the Sardhai; unfossiliferous.
• Paleozoic Wargal Limestone Permian
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Wargal Limestone (the 'Middle Productus Limestone'; 180–200 m in the Salt Range, 150 m Khisor) is grey medium-to-massive partly sandy limestone and dolomite, disconformable on the Amb and transitional up into the Chhidru; richly fossiliferous (brachiopods Enteletes/Richthofenia/Oldhamina, trilobites, ammonoids Xenodiscus, corals, fusulinids, conodonts Iranognathus/Gondolella) — assigned a Late Permian (late Murgabian–early Dzhulfian) age.
• Mesozoic Wirokhun Formation Triassic
  LithologyDepositional environmentFossilsLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)Geological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Wulgai Formation Triassic
  Introduced byEpochUpper contact (underlies)LithologyDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
  • Name: Previously mapped as the Alozai Group, Shirinab Formation or Winder Group (HSC 1960).
• Paleozoic Yarkhun Formation Ordovician
  • Age: Kazmi & Jan (1997): the Yarkhun Formation appears (after Tahirkheli 1982) as flaggy quartzites, slates and thin dolomitic limestones in the upper Yarkhun Valley (south of Baroghil Pass), intruded by the pre-Ordovician Ishkarwaz Granite and overlain across an angular unconformity by a dolomitic bed with Ordovician conodonts — implying a pre-Ordovician basement age here; the running text proposes the name 'Chikar Formation' for the same sequence (Le Fort et al. 1994). (The curated Arenig/Early-Ordovician age follows the later Zanchi & Gaetani 2011 definition, which is retained.)
• Mesozoic Yashkuk Formation Jurassic
  EpochLithologyType localityDepositional environmentLower contact (overlies)Upper contact (underlies)FossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Yasin Group Cretaceous
  PeriodEpochIntroduced byLithologyDepositional environmentFossilsGeological significancePlain summary
• Mesozoic Zait Limestone Triassic
  EraPeriodEpochLithologyFossilsDepositional environmentGeological significancePlain summary
• Paleozoic Zaluch Group Permian
  LithologyDepositional environmentFossilsEconomic importanceGeological significancePlain summary