Cenozoic • Paleogene group GSP memoir

Early-Middle Eocene Kahan Group

Eocene

Sulaiman Basin

Cited in 3 sources Last reviewed Jul 15, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: group
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early–Middle EoceneEocene
Named by: Khan (2009)
Type locality: Kahan29.2982°N, 68.9023°E
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Limestone and calcareous shale (Habib Rahi, Pirkoh) alternating with marl and shale (Domanda, Drazinda).
Synonyms: Not recorded

The Eocene Kahan Group of the Sulaiman Range — the Habib Rahi, Domanda, Pirkoh and Drazinda formations, including major gas-reservoir limestones.

Introduced by Khan (2009), the Kahan Group has its type section near Kahan village and comprises the Habib Rahi, Domanda, Pirkoh and Drazinda formations — previously members of the Kirthar Formation, formalized by Shah (2002). Early–Middle Eocene.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

Shale / mudLimestoneSandstoneFossils 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.

Constituent units

Formations that make up this group, in stratigraphic order (youngest at top, as in the column).

Distribution & setting

Sulaiman Fold Belt

Basin: Sulaiman Basin
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: shallow marine
Coordinates: 29.2982°N, 68.9023°E

Google Maps ↗ OpenStreetMap ↗

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Reservoir Metals & minerals

The Pirkoh and Habib Rahi limestones are gas reservoirs; the Drazinda Shale yields celestite.

Remarks

The Eocene Kirthar-equivalent succession of the Sulaiman Range, comprising the Habib Rahi, Domanda, Pirkoh and Drazinda formations; hosts the Pirkoh and Habib Rahi limestone gas reservoirs.

Sources (3)

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.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.

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: Appears in a single-author Geological Survey of Pakistan memoir (Malkani & Mahmood 2017), not cross-confirmed against the Shah lexicon. The Stratigraphic Committee of Pakistan is largely inactive, so documented provenance — not formal ratification — is the available signal.

Cite this unit

APA

Qudsi, L. (2026). Early-Middle Eocene Kahan Group. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_earlymiddleeocenekahangroup,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Early-Middle Eocene Kahan Group} --- 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/early-middle-eocene-kahan-group (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Khan (2009).