Mesozoic • Jurassic

Loralai Formation

Early to Middle Jurassic

Stratigraphic position

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

Shale / 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.

A Jurassic limestone of the Loralai area whose old name has mostly been replaced by the Shirinab Formation.

Named after Loralai. Marine sequence in Sulaiman basin representing open marine shelf conditions. Important for petroleum exploration.

Significance. A Jurassic limestone of the Loralai–Zhob area; the name 'Loralai Limestone' was an early Hunting Survey Corporation mapping unit now largely subsumed into the Jurassic Shirinab Formation.

Lithology: Limestone, shale, marl
Thickness: 300-500 m
Type locality: Loralai, Balochistan
Environment: marine

Fossils

AmmonitesBelemnitesBivalvesForaminifera

Provinces

Sulaiman Fold Belt

References

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.

Reviewer confidence: medium

Related units

Above · younger

Chiltan Limestone

Jurassic