Cenozoic • Neogene formation Literature

Kargocha Formation

Pliocene (magnetostratigraphic; ~3.2 Ma and younger, to the base of the Gauss chron)

Bannu Basin · Trans-Indus Ranges

Cited in 2 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Neogene · PliocenePliocene (magnetostratigraphic; ~3.2 Ma and younger, to the base of the Gauss chron)
Named by: Morris (1938); usage of Munthe (1981)
Type locality: Bhittani, Marwat and Khasor Ranges, Trans-Indus, NW Pakistan (Morris 1938; Munthe 1981).
Thickness: Not recorded
Lithology: Red-bed facies (mudstone-dominated), the local Trans-Indus equivalent of the Chinji lithofacies; sediment-accumulation rate ~60 cm/1000 yr.
Synonyms: Not recorded

The Kargocha Formation is the basal (oldest) Upper-Siwalik red-bed unit of the Trans-Indus Bhittani, Marwat and Khasor Ranges (Morris 1938; Munthe 1981). Magnetostratigraphy places its deposition in the Plio-Pleistocene — in the Khasor Range the oldest Kargocha red beds began at about 3.19 Ma (just before the Mammoth subchron), with the top of the formation at the base of the Gauss chron. Hemphill & Kidwai (1973) proposed renaming it the Chinji Formation, but Khan et al. (1988) reject this because it is Plio-Pleistocene (not the Miocene Chinji) and cannot be traced from the Chinji type section.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

Lower contact — not recorded; upper contact — conformable.

In the Kohat Basin 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

Kohat Basin

Basin: Bannu Basin
Region: Trans-Indus Ranges
Depositional environment: fluvial, continental
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

Records the onset of Trans-Indus Siwalik molasse deposition in the Plio-Pleistocene; its retention (over the Potwar Chinji name) documents that the Trans-Indus succession is a distinct, much younger basin fill than the Potwar type Siwaliks.

Sources (1)

Khan, M.J., Opdyke, N.D. & Tahirkheli, R.A.K. (1988). Magnetic stratigraphy of the Siwalik Group, Bhittani, Marwat and Khasor Ranges, and the timing of Neogene tectonics of the Trans Indus. Journal of Geophysical Research, 93(B10), 11773-11790.

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: Defined in journal or other literature; not found in a GSP memoir. There is no body currently ratifying unit status, so provenance is shown in place of a formal ruling.

Cite this unit

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_kargochaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Kargocha 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/kargocha-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Morris (1938); usage of Munthe (1981).

Above · younger

Marwat Formation

Neogene-Quaternary