Pab Sandstone Fm
Type Locality and Naming
Holotype section: West of Wirhab Nai, Pab Range. Author: Vredenburg, 1908. Reference section: None.
Synonym: Pab Sandstone
Lithology and Thickness
Coarse-grained sandstone. The formation typically consists of quarzose sandstone, which is white, cream or brown, weathering yellow brown, medium- to coarse-grained, thick-bedded to massive and shows cross stratification. Some marl and argillaceous limestone, similar to that of the Parh Limestone Fm are found intercalated. Subordinate shale is dark grey and calcareous in Pab Range, brown and sandy in the Laki Range and pale grey, white, pale green and maroon in the Axial Belt.
Thickness: 240-600 m. It is 490 m in the type section, and over 600 m to the southwest of Khuzdar but pinches out northward, to complete absence in the western part of Marri-Bugti Hills. Further northeast it thickens to 450 m in Fort Munro anticline but again thins to 240 m in the Moghal Kot section.
Relationships and Distribution
Lower contact
Conformably underlain by Fort Munro Fm in Kirthar & Sulaiman provinces, and by Parh Limestone Fm in the Axial Belt.
Upper contact
Conformably overlain by the Moro Fm in Kirthar and Sulaiman provinces, and the Axial Belt.
Regional extent
The formation is widely developed in the Sulaiman and Kirthar provinces and the Axial Belt.
GeoJSON
Fossils
Orbitoides (Lepidorbitoides), vertebrate fossils.
Age
Depositional setting
The formation was deposited in shallow water, not far removed from shore line and suggests a continuation of shallow water environment characteristics of the Moghal Kot deposition. Locally in the south, deep-sea strata are present within the formation.
Additional Information
EMW: Gas.