Samana Suk Formation
Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian)
Part of Surghar Group
Jurassic in the time scale →Cited in 16 sources Last reviewed Aug 20, 2026
- Rank
- Not recorded
- Status
- Published
- Age
- Mesozoic · Jurassic · Middle JurassicMiddle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian)
- Named by
- Fatmi (1977)
- Type locality
- Samana Suk peak, Samana Range, Kohat
- Thickness
- 200-400 m
- Lithology
- Massive grey limestone
- Synonyms
- Baroch Limestone
A thick, cliff-forming Middle Jurassic grey limestone laid down on a shallow tropical carbonate platform - one of the most widespread Jurassic units in northern Pakistan.
Named after Samana Range. Thick carbonate platform forming prominent cliffs. One of most widely distributed Jurassic formations in northern Pakistan. Part of the Surghar Group.
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
- marine, 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 widespread Jurassic carbonate reservoir target in the Upper Indus Basin; also quarried for aggregate and cement raw material.
Remarks
One of the most widely distributed Jurassic formations of northern Pakistan: a thick shallow-marine carbonate-platform limestone of the Surghar Group forming prominent cliffs, deposited above the Shinawari Formation and overlain (with a break) by the Cretaceous Chichali Formation.
Sources (16)
- 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.
- Shah, S.M.I. (1977). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 12.
- Jamil, M., Ullah, I., Rahim, H.U., Khan, I., Abbas, W., Rehman, M.U., Rashid, A., Umar, M., Ali, A. & Siddiqui, N.A. (2024). Tracking Depositional Architecture and Diagenetic Evolution in the Jurassic Carbonates, Trans Indus Ranges, NW Himalayas. Minerals, 14, 1170.
- Akhtar, S., Rahim, Y., Hu, B., Tsang, H., Ibrar, K.M., Ullah, M.F. & Bute, S.I. (2019). Stratigraphy and Structure of Dhamtaur Area, District Abbottabad, Eastern Hazara, Pakistan. Open Journal of Geology, 9(1), 57-66.
- 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.
- Asim, S., Qureshi, S.N., Asif, S.K., Abbasi, S.A., Solangi, S. & Mirza, M.Q. (2014). Structural and Stratigraphical Correlation of Seismic Profiles between Drigri Anticline and Bahawalpur High in Central Indus Basin of Pakistan. International Journal of Geosciences, 5(11), 1231-1240.
- Calkins, J.A., Offield, T.W., Abdullah, S.K.M. & Ali, S.T. (1975). Geology of the southern Himalaya in Hazara, Pakistan, and adjacent areas. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-C, 29 p. (Geological Investigations in Pakistan).
- 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.
- Ali, F., Haneef, M., Anjum, M.N., Hanif, M. & Khan, S. (2013). Microfacies analysis and sequence stratigraphic modeling of the Samana Suk Formation, Chichali Nala, Trans Indus Ranges, Punjab, Pakistan. Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences, 46(1), 41-53.
- Butt, A.A. (1989). An Overview of the Hazara Arc Stratigraphy, Northern Pakistan. Geological Bulletin of the Punjab University, 24, 1-11.
- Hayat, M., Rahman, M.U., Khan, N.A., Abdullah & Ali, F. (2016). Sedimentology, Sequence Stratigraphy and Reservoir Characterization of Samana Suk Formation Exposed in Namal Gorge Section, Salt Range, Mianwali, Punjab, Pakistan. International Journal of Economic and Environmental Geology, 7(1), 1-15.
- Ahmed, S., Mertmann, D. & Manutsoglu, E. (1997). Jurassic shelf sedimentation and sequence stratigraphy of the Surghar Range, Pakistan. Journal of Nepal Geological Society, 15, 15-22.
- Hemphill, W.R. & Kidwai, A.H. (1973). Stratigraphy of the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan Areas, Pakistan. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 716-B (Geological Investigations in Pakistan), 36 p.
- 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
Qudsi, L. (2026). Samana Suk Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991
@misc{stratigraphypk_samanasukformation,
author = {Qudsi, Lareb},
title = {{Samana Suk 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/samana-suk-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).
To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Fatmi (1977).
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