Precambrian • Ediacaran In GSP lexicon

Salt Range Formation

Late Precambrian (Ediacaran)

Cited in 11 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: Not recorded
Status: Published
Age: Precambrian · Ediacaran · EdiacaranLate Precambrian (Ediacaran)
Named by: Asrarullah (1967)
Type locality: Khewra, Salt Range, Punjab32.6486°N, 73.0111°E
Thickness: 800-1500 m
Lithology: Rock salt (Billianwala Salt Member), gypsum (Bandar Kas Gypsum Member), marl (Sahwal Marl Member)
Synonyms: Punjab Saline Series; Saline Series

The oldest rocks exposed in the Salt Range: a thick Ediacaran sequence of rock salt, gypsum and marl formed when a restricted, evaporating sea dried out. It hosts the world-famous Khewra salt mine.

The oldest exposed formation in the Salt Range, consisting of evaporites deposited in a restricted marine environment. Contains the world-famous Khewra Salt Mine, second largest in the world. Includes Sahwal Marl Member, Bandar Kas Gypsum Member, and Billianwala Salt Member.

Fossils

Stromatolites Algal mats

Contacts

In the Salt Range column

Shale / mudGypsum / evaporiteFossils 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

Salt Range Kohat Basin Potwar Basin

Basin: Not recorded
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: restricted marine, evaporitic
Coordinates: 32.6486°N, 73.0111°E

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See it in the field

Geoheritage sites where this unit is exposed at outcrop.

Khewra Salt Mine

Salt Range

Salt Range Escarpment (Khewra–Choa Saidan Shah)

Salt Range

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Source rock Salt & evaporites

Major source of rock salt (Khewra Salt Mine), gypsum, and potential oil shales

Remarks

A late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) evaporite succession deposited under arid, restricted-marine conditions on the northwestern margin of the Indian Plate; geochemistry indicates felsic to intermediate source terrains. It forms the basal detachment of the Salt Range thrust belt and is the region's economic salt source.

Sources (11)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
Farooqui, M.A., Umar, M., Sabir, M.A., Pervez, R. & Jalees, T. (2019). Geochemical attributes of late Neoproterozoic Salt Range Formation, Pakistan: constraints on provenance, paleoclimate, depositional and tectonic settings. Geosciences Journal, 23(2), 201-218.
Indian Plate Lexicon (indplex.geolex.org), Geological Society of India and international compilation.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
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.
Gee, E.R. (edited by Gee, D.G.) (1989). Overview of the geology and structure of the Salt Range, with observations on related areas of northern Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L.L. & Lillie, R.J. (eds) Tectonics of the Western Himalayas. Geological Society of America Special Paper 232, 95-112.
Jamil, A. & Sheikh, R.A. (2012). An overview of Neoproterozoic reservoirs in Pakistan. In: Bhat, G.M., Craig, J., Thurow, J.W. et al. (eds) Geology and Hydrocarbon Potential of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian Basins in Asia. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 366, 111-121.
Craig, J., Hakhoo, N., Bhat, G.M., Hafiz, M., Khan, M.R., Misra, R., Pandita, S.K., Raina, B.K., Thurow, J., Thusu, B., Ahmed, W. & Khullar, S. (2018). Petroleum systems and hydrocarbon potential of the North-West Himalaya of India and Pakistan. Earth-Science Reviews, 187, 109-185.

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

APA

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_saltrangeformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Salt Range 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/salt-range-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Asrarullah (1967).

Above · younger

Khewra Sandstone

Cambrian