Mesozoic • Cretaceous In GSP lexicon

Goru Formation

Early Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian)

Cited in 9 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Early–Late CretaceousEarly Cretaceous (Aptian-Albian)
Named by: Williams (1959)
Type locality: Goru village27.8024°N, 66.8314°E
Thickness: 536 m (type locality)
Lithology: Interbedded limestone, shale and siltstone; lower part shalier (thin-bedded light limestone with splintery grey-olive shale), upper part thin-bedded porcellaneous limestone; grades up into the Parh Limestone.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A thick Cretaceous limestone-and-shale; its Lower Goru sands are one of Pakistan's top gas reservoirs.

Marine sequence with excellent petroleum reservoir characteristics. Shows transition from restricted to open marine conditions.

Fossils

Foraminifera Ammonites Bivalves

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

LimestoneShale / mudFossils recordedConformable

Band colour = period; texture = dominant rock type. Lines between bands mark the contact type. 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

Sulaiman Fold Belt Kirthar Range Sindh Province

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: 27.8024°N, 66.8314°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Reservoir

The Lower Goru sands are a major gas reservoir of the Lower and Central Indus Basin (e.g. Sui, Mari, Sawan, Miano).

Remarks

A thick Cretaceous limestone-shale-siltstone unit (Lower and Upper Goru) overlying the Sembar source rock; the Lower Goru is among Pakistan's most important gas reservoirs.

Research notes (6)

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

Age & correlation (1)

Umar et al. (2024): the Goru Formation is dated Albian–Cenomanian at its type section and in NW Pakistan (Shafique 2001) but Aptian–Coniacian in the southern Kirthar Fold-Thrust Belt (Smewing et al. 2002), on planktonic/benthic foraminifera and nannofossils. Deposition was open-marine, deeper-shelf/ramp; it is much thicker in the south (~536 m) than the north (50–100 m).

Umar, M., Kassi, A.M., Jamil, M., Kasi, A.K. & Khan, A.S. (2024)

Type locality & location (1)

Reviewer-confirmed coordinate (27.802397, 66.831371) for the Goru Formation type section near Goru Village on the Nar River, southern Kirthar Range; refines Shah's (2009) published type section (27 deg 50' N, 66 deg 54' E).

Shah, S.M.I. (2009)

Depositional environment (2)

Khalid et al. (2014): on the Punjab Platform (eastern Central Indus Basin) the Cretaceous Sembar–Goru interval forms a prograding deltaic mega-sequence, subdivided into three depositional sequences; the Lower Goru comprises shoreface sands laterally sealed by shales and claystones, forming a stratigraphic play charged by underlying Lower Cretaceous (Sembar) black shales.

Khalid, P., Qayyum, F. & Yasin, Q. (2014)
Ahmad & Ghazi (2022): the Early Cretaceous Lower Goru Formation of the Lower Indus Platform was deposited in a westerly-prograding, river-dominated delta; a third-order sequence-stratigraphic correlation of ten wells and 2D seismic defines its reservoir sand geometries and the stratigraphic/combination traps they form.

Ahmad, S. & Ghazi, S. (2022)

Economic significance (2)

Munir et al. (2011): the sands of the Lower Goru Formation are the principal reservoir of the Sawan gas field in the Lower Indus Basin, mapped by seismic stratigraphy and rock-physics (productive zones marked by high reflection strength and low shear strain). Khalid et al. (2014) additionally identify Lower Goru shoreface-sand stratigraphic plays on the Punjab Platform.

Munir, K., Iqbal, M.A., Farid, A. & Shabih, S.M. (2011)
Munir et al. (2011): at the Sawan gas field (southern/Lower Indus Basin) the productive Lower Goru sands are mapped by seismic stratigraphy and rock-physics attributes (bulk modulus, Poisson's ratio), which together identify gas saturation within the sand-shale system - documenting the Lower Goru as a proven gas reservoir.

Munir, K., Iqbal, M.A., Farid, A. & Shabih, S.M. (2011)

Sources (9)

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.
Iqbal, M. et al. (2017). Hydrocarbon exploration perspective in Middle Jurassic-Early Cretaceous reservoirs in the Sulaiman Foldbelt, Pakistan. (ResearchGate).
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Khalid, P., Qayyum, F. & Yasin, Q. (2014). Data-Driven Sequence Stratigraphy of the Cretaceous Depositional System, Punjab Platform, Pakistan. Surveys in Geophysics (Springer).
Munir, K., Iqbal, M.A., Farid, A. & Shabih, S.M. (2011). Mapping the productive sands of Lower Goru Formation by using seismic stratigraphy and rock physical studies in Sawan area, southern Pakistan: a case study. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 1, 33-42.
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.
Umar, M., Kassi, A.M., Jamil, M., Kasi, A.K. & Khan, A.S. (2024). Cretaceous stratigraphic framework and sedimentary architecture, Pakistan: signatures of rift-drift tectonics and submarine volcanism along the western continental margin of the Indian Plate. In: Hart, M.B. et al. (eds) Cretaceous Project 200 Volume 2: Regional Studies. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 545.
Ahmad, S. & Ghazi, S. (2022). Depositional trends and reservoir geometries of the Early Cretaceous Lower Goru Formation in Lower Indus Basin, Pakistan: evidence from sequence stratigraphy. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 12, 2377-2399.

Reviewer confidence: high

Every fact on this page is source-cited. This entry is part of the peer-archived Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset (doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991, CC‑BY‑4.0).

Lexicon status: Name attested in the Shah (1977/2009) Geological Survey of Pakistan compilation — the national stratigraphic lexicon. This records where the name is documented; it is not an endorsement of the unit’s definition, age or figures.

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Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Goru Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_goruformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Goru 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/goru-formation (accessed October 7, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Williams (1959).

Below · older

Sembar Formation

Cretaceous

Above · younger

Parh Limestone