Cenozoic • Paleogene-Neogene formation In GSP lexicon

Bugti Formation

Oligocene to Miocene (Rupelian-Aquitanian; ~33.9-20.45 Ma)

Cited in 3 sources Last reviewed Jul 17, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene-Neogene · Oligocene to MioceneOligocene to Miocene (Rupelian-Aquitanian; ~33.9-20.45 Ma)
Named by: (formalized from 'Bugti Beds'; = upper 'Upper Nari' Pilgrim 1908, 'Bugti Bone deposits' Cooper 1924)
Type locality: North of Gandoi Post
Thickness: Attains a maximum thickness of 300 m on the flanks of Zin anticline and gradually wedges out in all directions. m
Lithology: Coarse-grained sandstone. It is composed of bright and varicolored sandstones with common interbeds of ferruginous conglomerates and yellow and red sandy silts. Some of the sandstones are pure white and soft with no apparent bedding; such beds increase in number upwards. Conglomerates occur in lower section where lenticular beds of tuff and ash are also present.
Synonyms: Not recorded

Coarse-grained sandstone. It is composed of bright and varicolored sandstones with common interbeds of ferruginous conglomerates and yellow and red sandy silts. Some of the sandstones are pure white and soft with no apparent bedding; such beds increase in number upwards. Conglomerates occur in lower section where lenticular beds of tuff and ash are also present. Restricted to Bugti area. It is best developed on both flanks of Zin anticline and is not recognized in Sulaiman Range foothills.

Fossils

Very rich vertebrate fauna ('Bugti Beds')

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

SandstoneLimestoneFossils 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

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: Not recorded
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

Not recorded

Sources (2)

Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.

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). Bugti Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_bugtiformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Bugti 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/bugti-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: (formalized from 'Bugti Beds'; = upper 'Upper Nari' Pilgrim 1908, 'Bugti Bone deposits' Cooper 1924).

Above · younger

Drazinda Formation

Paleogene