Cenozoic • Paleogene formation GSP memoir

Shagala Formation

Eocene

Balochistan Basin · Kakar-Khurasan Basin

Part of Shagala Group

Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 4 sources Last reviewed Jul 31, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · EoceneEocene
Named by: HSC (1961)
Type locality: Shagala militia post, southwest of Zhob
Thickness: 3000m
Lithology: Sandstone and shale with local conglomerate and limestone; sandstone fine to coarse, gritty, grey-green to brown.
Synonyms: Shaigalu Formation; Shagalu Formation

An Eocene sandstone-and-shale molasse of the Zhob area, shed from the rising Indus Suture.

Shagala Formation is named after the militia post of Shagala about 50Km southwest of Zhob (39A/16). It consists of sandstone and shale but at places conglomerate and limestone. The sandstone is fine to coarse grained, gritty, thin to thick bedded, grey to greenish grey, brown and weathers light grey, brown, rusty with patches of black desert varnish on its surface. In the central and eastern part of Kaker Khurasan range the sandstone is more coarsely grained and thick bedded than western part. It shows the source from the Indus Suture, however the western part may have northern and northwestern source. Some sandstone is pebbly, red and maroon. Cross bedded and ripple marks are common. The shale is maroon, red ochre type, grey, greenish grey and calcareous. The red and maroon color is dominant in the Kaker Khurasan area while grey to greenish grey shale color is dominate in the southern Balochistan basin. It is 3000m thick and only exposed in the northern Balochistan Basin (Kakar-Khorasan range). This formation shows the continental (Molasse) conditions in the Kaker Khurasan range. Continental vertebrate bones of rhinoceros, horses, crocodiles, wood fossils, etc (Malkani et al. 2013; Malkani 2014f) are also found in the Kaker Khurasan areas. Recently Malkani et al. (2013) found a baluchithere Pakitherium shagalai with his baby. Pakitherium shagalai Malkani et al. 2013 --a ba

Fossils

Pakitherium shagalai

Contacts

In the Zhob-Muslim Bagh column

Shale / mudSandstoneFossils 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: Balochistan Basin
Region: Kakar-Khurasan Basin
Depositional environment: marine, molasse
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

An Eocene sandstone-shale (molasse-flysch) unit of the Kakar-Khurasan basin, recording uplift and clastic shedding from the Indus Suture to the east.

Sources (4)

Malkani, M.S. & Mahmood, Z. (2017). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 24.
Malkani, M.S. (2020). Revised Stratigraphy and Mineral Resources of Balochistan Basin, Pakistan: An Update. Open Journal of Geology, 10, 784-828.
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.

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: 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). Shagala Formation. In Pakistan Stratigraphy Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21363991

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_shagalaformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Shagala 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/shagala-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: HSC (1961).

Below · older

Mina Formation

Paleogene