Assignment#1:

Stratigraphy
Submitted by: Eesha Ahmed
Submitted to: Mr. Mirza Waheed Ahmad

Lithostratigraphic units:
They are based on the law of superposition, ‘In any succession of strata, not disturbed or
overturned since deposition, younger rocks lie above older rocks’. They are distinguished on the
basis of lithologic characteristics. They are commonly stratified and tabular in form.
They carry no connotation of age. They can’t be defined on the basis of paleontologic criteria ad
they are independent of time concepts.
Lithosome: It refers to masses of rock of essentially uniform character and having intertonguing
relationships with adjacent masses of different lithology. We speak of shale lithosomes, limestone
lithosomes, sand-shale lithosomes etc.
Types of Lithostratigraphic units:
Formation: It’s the fundamental lithostratigraphic unit of this type. It’s a body of rock of
considerable thickness that is large enough to be mappable, and with the characteristics that
distinguish it from adjacent rock units. Its usually composed of one or more beds of sedimentary
rock, units of metamorphic and igneous rock are also called formation. Its a convenient unit for
mapping, describing, or interpreting the geology of a region. Formations are often based on rock
type. A formation may be a single thick bed of rock such as sandstone. A sequence of several thin
sandstone beds could also be called a formation, as could a sequence of alternating limestone and
shale bed. The main criterion for distinguishing and naming a formation is some visible
characteristics that make it a recognizable unit. This characteristic may be rock type or sedimentary
structures or both. It may consist of a single lithosome or part of an intertonguing lithosome, and
thus consist of a single lithology. Alternatively, a formation can be composed of two or more
lithosomes and thus may include rocks of different lithology
Formations are further divided into smaller stratigraphic units called members.
Members are further divided into smaller distinctive units called beds. They are the smallest formal
lithostratigraphic units.
Formations having some sort of stratigraphic unity are called Groups. And Groups are further
combined to form SuperGroups.
All formal lithostratigraphic units are given names that are derived from some geographic feature in
that area where they are studied.