Paleozoic • Permian In GSP lexicon

Amb Formation

Middle Permian (Wordian)

Cited in 13 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Paleozoic · Permian · GuadalupianMiddle Permian (Wordian)
Named by: Teichert (1966)
Type locality: Amb, Salt Range32.5084°N, 71.9365°E
Thickness: 50-150 m
Lithology: Dark grey to black shale with thin limestone interbeds
Synonyms: Lower Productus Limestone

The basal unit of the Permian Zaluch Group: interbedded sandstone, limestone and shale rich in fusulinid foraminifera, deposited on a mixed clastic-carbonate shelf.

Marine shale sequence deposited during Early Permian transgression. Rich in cold-water Gondwanan fauna. Part of the Zaluch Group.

Fossils

Brachiopods (Productus)Crinoids Bryozoans Foraminifera

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

SandstoneShale / mudLimestoneFossils 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

Salt Range Kohat Basin Potwar Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: shallow marine, carbonate platform
Coordinates: 32.5084°N, 71.9365°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Other

Produces (with the Wargal Limestone) in the Dhurnal field.

Remarks

A Permian mixed siliciclastic-carbonate unit at the base of the Zaluch Group whose fusulinid-rich limestones record the initial flooding of a Neo-Tethyan carbonate platform on the northwestern margin of the Indian Plate.

Sources (13)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Shah, S.M.I. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
Wadood, B., Khan, S. & Li, H. (2022). Middle Permian Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate System on the Northwestern Margin of the Indian Plate, Pakistan: Implications for Paleoclimate and Carbonate Platform Evolution. Acta Geologica Sinica (English Edition).
Mertmann, D. (2003). Evolution of the marine Permian carbonate platform in the Salt Range (Pakistan). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 191(3-4), 373-384.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Kadri, I.B. (1995). Petroleum Geology of Pakistan. Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Karachi.
Waterhouse, J.B. (2010). Lopingian (Late Permian) stratigraphy of the Salt Range, Pakistan and Himalayan region. Geological Journal, 45, 264-284.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
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.
Gee, E.R. (edited by Gee, D.G.) (1989). Overview of the geology and structure of the Salt Range, with observations on related areas of northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 95-112.
Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973). Stratigraphy of the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan Areas, Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-B (Geological Investigations in Pakistan), 36 p.
Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018). Petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential of the North-West Himalaya of India and Pakistan. Earth-Science Reviews, 187, 109-185.

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

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_ambformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Amb 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/amb-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Teichert (1966).

Below · older

Sardhai Formation

Permian

Above · younger

Wargal Limestone

Permian

Referenced in other successions

Underlain by Nilawahan Group