Mesozoic • Cretaceous GSP memoir

Muslim Bagh Ophiolite

Late Cretaceous

Cited in 10 sources Last reviewed Aug 9, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Cretaceous · Late CretaceousLate Cretaceous
Named by: Vredenburg (1901); reconnaissance-mapped by the Hunting Survey Corporation (1960)
Type locality: Muslim Bagh, Balochistan30.7519°N, 67.8206°E
Thickness: 5000+ m (complete sequence)
Lithology: Ultramafic rocks (peridotite, dunite), gabbro, sheeted dykes, pillow lavas, chromite
Synonyms: Not recorded

A Late Cretaceous supra-subduction-zone ophiolite obducted onto the Indian margin at Muslim Bagh, with podiform chromite in mantle harzburgite and a complete oceanic-crust sequence above.

Best preserved ophiolite in Pakistan representing obducted Neo-Tethyan oceanic lithosphere. Major chromite deposits. Complete Penrose-type ophiolite sequence.

Fossils

Not recorded

Contacts

In the Zhob-Muslim Bagh column

Shale / mudIgneousLimestoneFossils 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

Zhob-Muslim Bagh

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: oceanic lithosphere
Coordinates: 30.7519°N, 67.8206°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Metals & minerals

Major chromite deposits, nickel potential, asbestos

Remarks

The best-preserved Penrose-type ophiolite in Pakistan, representing obducted Neo-Tethyan (supra-subduction-zone) oceanic lithosphere. Its mantle section is foliated harzburgite and dunite hosting podiform chromite, overlain by a crustal sequence of gabbro, sheeted dykes and pillow lavas. Obducted onto the Indian passive margin in the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene.

Sources (10)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
OpenStreetMap contributors and GEOnet Names Server (public geographic gazetteers), used to geolocate named GSP type localities to approximate decimal coordinates.
Kakar, M.I., Mahmood, K., Kerr, A.C. & Khan, M. (2013). Petrology of the mantle rocks from the Muslim Bagh Ophiolite, Balochistan, Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 46, 101-112.
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.
Kazmi, A.H. & Jan, M.Q. (1997). Geology and Tectonics of Pakistan. Graphic Publishers, Karachi.
Kazmi, A.H. & Abbasi, I.A. (2008). Stratigraphy and Historical Geology of Pakistan. Department & National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar. 524 pp. ISBN 978-969-9119.
Yaseen, W., Khan, A.S., Sohail, K., Farooq, U., Usman, M. & Ghani, M. (2019). Modal composition and provenance of Shaigalu Sandstones, Pishin-Katawaz Basin, northern Balochistan, Pakistan. Bahria University Research Journal of Earth Sciences (BURJES), 4(2), 70-77.
Waliullah, Khan, J.A. & Akhtar, W. Preliminary geology and mineral potential of the Karezat and Barshor quadrangles (toposheets 34 N/6 and 5), district Pishin, Balochistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta (abstract).
Kasi, A.K., Kassi, A.M., Umar, M., Manan, R.A. & Kakar, M.I. (2012). Revised lithostratigraphy of the Pishin Belt, northwestern Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 45(1), 53-65.
Maldonado, F., Mengal, J.M., Khan, S.H. & Warwick, P.D. (2011). Summary of the Stratigraphy and Structural Elements Related to Plate Convergence of the Quetta-Muslim Bagh-Sibi Region, Balochistan, West-Central Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2011-1224.

Reviewer confidence: medium

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). Muslim Bagh Ophiolite. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_muslimbaghophiolite,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Muslim Bagh Ophiolite} --- 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/muslim-bagh-ophiolite (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Vredenburg (1901); reconnaissance-mapped by the Hunting Survey Corporation (1960).