Mesozoic • Triassic formation In GSP lexicon

Zait Limestone

Triassic

Karakoram-Hindukush Basin · Central Karakoram Batholith

Cited in 5 sources Last reviewed Jul 30, 2026

Unit summary

Rank: formation
Status: Published
Age: Mesozoic · Triassic · Early TriassicTriassic
Named by: Talent et al. (1979)
Type locality: Not recorded
Thickness: more than 600 m
Lithology: Massive black dolomitic limestone with a 6 m pisolitic ironstone bed.
Synonyms: Not recorded

An Early Triassic black dolomitic limestone in the Mastuj valley, with a marker ironstone bed.

Zait limestone is named by Talent et al. (1979) exposed in the Chitral area and consists of fossiliferous limestone. Tahirkheli (1982) mentioned Triassic age on the base of fossils.

Fossils

ConodontsIsarcicella isarcicaIsarcicella staescheiHindeodus parvus

Contacts

In the Hindukush-Chitral column

ConglomerateSandstoneLimestoneShale / mudFossils recordedUnconformityConformable

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

Hindukush-Chitral

Basin: Karakoram-Hindukush Basin
Region: Central Karakoram Batholith
Depositional environment: marine
Coordinates: Not recorded

Correlation

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

Economic significance

Not recorded

Remarks

An Early Triassic dolomitic limestone with a distinctive pisolitic-ironstone bed, exposed on the left bank of the Mastuj valley between Tormal Gol and Zait; it overlies Early Devonian sandstones within the area mapped as the Shogram Formation.

Sources (4)

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.
Shah, S.M.I. (2009). Stratigraphy of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Memoir Vol. 22.
Perri, M.C., Molloy, P.D. & Talent, J.A. (2004). Earliest Triassic conodonts from Chitral, northernmost Pakistan. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 110(1), 467-478.

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

BibTeX

@misc{stratigraphypk_zaitlimestone,
  author    = {Qudsi, Lareb},
  title     = {{Zait Limestone} --- 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/zait-limestone (accessed August 30, 2026).

To cite the unit's original definition instead, see: Talent et al. (1979).