Parh Limestone Fm
Type Locality and Naming
Mona Jhai Gr – third formation. Holotype section: In Parh Range; upper reaches of Gaj River. Author: W.T. Blanford, 1879. Reference section: None.
Synonym: Parh Limestone, Parh Fm
Lithology and Thickness
Limestone. Parh Limestone is a very distinct unit and shows typically same characteristics in KrP and SP and the Axial Belt. It is a hard, light grey, white, cream, olive green, thin to medium bedded, lithographic to porcellainous, at places argillaceous, platy to slabby limestone with subordinate calcareous shale and marl intercalations. In the lower part, an impersistent maroon colored limestone bed is developed near the contact with the Goru Fm.
Thickness: 268-600 m, (93-704 m in subsurface). In the type area the thickness is 268 m (varies from 300-600 m in adjacent areas), further northeast in southern Sulaiman Range it is 482 m, and at Moghal Kot section (Toi Nallah) it again reduces to 303 m in thickness. In subsurface at Giandari-1 well it is 704 m, at Khararo-1, it is 93 m and towards south at Manjhu-1 it is 345 m thick.
Relationships and Distribution
Lower contact
Conformably underlain by Goru Fm (gradational).
Upper contact
Conformably overlain by Moghal Kot Fm
Regional extent
The Parh is a very uniform, distinct and persistent rock formation and is exposed extensively in Sulaiman Province (SP) and Kirthar Province (KrP), and in parts of the Axial Belt it has been traced up to southern Waziristan.
GeoJSON
Fossils
Globotruncana ventricosa, G. lapprenti, G. siagli and Pseudotextularia elegans.
Age
Depositional setting
It is considered to be deposited in a clear deep water, and represents a general deepening and flooding of the lower and middle Cretaceous seas.
Additional Information
EMW: Gas.