Cenozoic • Paleogene formation In GSP lexicon

Shaheed Ghat Formation

Eocene

Sulaiman Basin

Part of Ghazij Group, Chamalang (=Ghazij) Group

Paleogene in the time scale →

Cited in 6 sources Last reviewed Jul 18, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Cenozoic · Paleogene · Early EoceneEocene
Named by: Shah (1987)
Type locality: Shaheed Ghat, 5 km southwest of Zinda Pir30.4000°N, 70.4667°E
Thickness: 340–680 m
Lithology: Grey to olive-green laminated shale with marl, locally with nummulite-, gastropod- and bivalve-bearing layers.
Synonyms: Not recorded

A laminated Early Eocene marine shale, the base of the Ghazij Group above the Dungan limestone.

Named by Siddiqui and others (in Shah, 2002) for the upper Rakhi Gaj and the green nodular shales of Eames (1952), type locality at Shaheed Ghat in the Zinda Pir area, the Shaheed Ghat Formation is mainly grey calcareous shale and mudstone with minor silt and sand and thin upper limestone beds bearing nummulites, gastropods and lamellibranchs; about 500 m thick. Its lower contact with the Dungan Formation and upper contact with the Toi (or Drug) Formation are conformable.

Fossils

Nummulites Gastropods Bivalves

Contacts

In the Sulaiman Fold Belt column

LimestoneSandstoneShale / mudFossils 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

Sulaiman Fold Belt

Basin: Sulaiman Basin
Region: Not recorded
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: 30.4000°N, 70.4667°E

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Correlation

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

Economic significance

Other

Thin aragonite beds (Rakhni, Sham, Kulchas, Phailawagh and other Dera Bugti areas).

Remarks

The lowest unit of the Eocene Ghazij Group in the Sulaiman Range, a laminated marine shale resting on the Dungan Formation.

Sources (5)

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.
Malkani, M.S. (2010). Updated Stratigraphy and Mineral Potential of Sulaiman Basin, Pakistan. Sindh University Research Journal (Science Series), 42(2), 39-66.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_shaheedghatformation,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Shaheed Ghat 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/shaheed-ghat-formation (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Shah (1987).

Below · older

Dungan Formation

Paleogene

Above · younger

Drug Formation