Rakhshani Fm

Holotype section: None (great lateral variations). Hypo: Rakhshani area, eastern Dalbandin valley. Author: Hunting Survey Corporation, 1960. (yet to be formalized by SCP). Reference section: None.

Sandy claystone and Volcanics. In the suggested reference section, it consists of shale and sandstone with some grey to black, clayey and fine-grained limestone beds common in the lower part. Conglomerate, lava flows of basaltic and andesitic composition, tuffs and volcanic agglomerates are essential ingredients of the formation. The shale is light to dark green, maroon and olive, grey and normally contains volcanic material. In Raskoh Range, the shale is calcareous, while at Nuhli Koh it is khaki, fissile and sandy. The sandstone is medium to coarse grained or gritty and it also contains volcanic material, the sandstone is light greenish brown to dark green on fresh surface and dark green or brown on weathered surface.

Thickness: 150-2,400 m. It has an extremely variable thickness, which generally ranges from 150-1,600 m. However, thickest exposures are to the south of Robat where it is more than 2,400 m thick.

It has yielded fairly good assemblage of foraminifers, bivalves, gastropods, algae and rare coelentrata. Foraminifers: Alveolina vredenburgi, Flosculina globosa, Miscellanea miscella, Saudia labyrinthica, etc., indicate a Paleocene age. Danian fossils such as Venericardia sp. cf. V. (Cardita) beaumonti, Pyrazus sp. cf.. P. Buddha, Pseudoglauconia lossoni, etc. are reported from the lower beds of the formation.

The rocks of the formation are possibly all of marine origin, with conglomerates being laid down close to the source.