Kirthar Formation
Middle to Late Eocene
Paleogene in the time scale →Cited in 9 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Cenozoic · Paleogene · Middle EoceneMiddle to Late Eocene
- Named by
- Not recorded
- Type locality
- Kirthar Range
- Thickness
- 500-800 m
- Lithology
- Thick grey, massive to thick-bedded, fossiliferous nummulitic limestone.
- Synonyms
- Not recorded
The thick Middle Eocene nummulitic limestone of the Kirthar Range — the basin's namesake unit.
Type formation of Kirthar Range. Thick carbonate sequence forming backbone of the range. Richest larger foraminifera fauna in Pakistan.
Fossils
Contacts
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
- Basin
- Not recorded
- Region
- Not recorded
- Depositional environment
- shallow marine
- Coordinates
- Not recorded
See it in the field
Geoheritage site where this unit is exposed at outcrop.
Correlation
Not recorded. Compare this unit against other basins on the correlation panel →
Economic significance
A major Eocene limestone, used locally as building and cement stone and forming reservoir intervals.
Remarks
The thick Middle Eocene nummulitic limestone of the Kirthar Range that gives the basin its name; in the Sulaiman and Kohat areas it is divided into the Habib Rahi, Domanda, Pirkoh and Drazinda formations.
Sources (8)
- 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.
- Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
- Afzal, J., Williams, M. & Aldridge, R.J. (2009). Revised stratigraphy of the lower Cenozoic succession of the Greater Indus Basin in Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 28(1): 7-23.
- Maldonado, F., Khan, S.H. & Mengal, J.M. (1994). Preliminary Geologic Map of Parts of Loralai, Sibi, Quetta, and Khuzdar Divisions, Balochistan Province, West-Central Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94-689, 20 p., 1 sheet.
- Khan, I.H. & Clyde, W.C. (2013). Lower Paleogene Tectonostratigraphy of Balochistan: Evidence for Time-Transgressive Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Uplift. Geosciences, 3(3), 466-501.
- Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
- Jones, R.W. (1997). Aspects of the Cenozoic stratigraphy of the Northern Sulaiman Ranges, Pakistan. Journal of Micropalaeontology, 16(1), 51-58.
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
Qudsi, L. (2026). Kirthar Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_kirtharformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Kirthar 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/kirthar-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).
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