Chitarwata Formation
Neo-Paleogene fossiliferous formation in Pakistan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Chitarwata Formation is a geological formation in western Pakistan, made up of Oligocene and early Miocene terrestrial fluvial facies. The sediments were deposited in coastal depositional environments (estuarine, strandplain and tidal flats) when Pakistan was partly covered by the Tethys Ocean.
Chitarwata Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Early Oligocene (Tabenbulakian)-Early Miocene ~28–17 Ma | |
Type | Geological formation |
Sub-units | Bugti Member |
Overlies | Vihowa Formation |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | Claystone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 29.0°N 69.0°E / 29.0; 69.0 |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 19.4°N 67.7°E / 19.4; 67.7 |
Region | Balochistan |
Country | Pakistan |
Type section | |
Named for | Chitarwata |
Paleomagnetic data indicates an age range of around 28 to 17 million years ago, with its base in the Oligocene, and its upper boundary, where it meets the overlying Vihowa Formation, of the Early Miocene.
Together with the Vihowa Formation, the Chitarwata Formation records the sedimentation of the Himalayan foreland basin during the collision of the Indian and Asian tectonic plates, the transition from marginal marine to fluvial environments, and the rise of the Himalayas.