NANNOFOSSIL BIOSTRATIGRAPHY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTS OF THE PALEOGENE PATALA FORMATION AND NAMMAL FORMATION, KOHAT-POTWAR AREA, PAKISTAN

Nannofossils are extensively dispersed in marine rocks from Jurassic to Recent time. They are primary biostratigraphic age indicators of marine sedimentary rocks. Calcareous nannofossils provide outstanding mapping tools for both surface and subsurface rock units especially in the areas where complex facies patterns are displayed in lithological units and are important tools in determining depositional paleoenvironments. In Pakistan few scientists had worked on nannofossils of this area. Haq (1971) examined Paleogene Calcareous Nannofossils from the Salt Range and the Sulaiman Range in Pakistan. Köthe et.al. (1988) examined calcareous nannofossils from the Salt Range, the Surghar Range and the Sulaiman Range. Paleogene rocks are well exposed throughout the Kohat-Potwar province of Pakistan, except in the Khisor Marwat Ranges, South Western part of the basin. In Kohat-Potwar area of Pakistan, the Patala Formation and the Nammal Formation of Paleogene age are rich in nannofossils and both rocks have a good potential for hydrocarbon resources. The Patala Formation acts as source rock and Nammal formation acts as reservoir rock for hydrocarbons. These formations are widely distributed in the Salt Range and Trans Indus ranges in the south, in Hazara (except Nammal formation). These areas are easily accessible, lithologic sections were measured and samples were collected for detailed nannofossil biostratigraphy