{
  "accessLevel": "public",
  "bureauCode": [
    "010:12"
  ],
  "contactPoint": {
    "@type": "vcard:Contact",
    "fn": "Paul C Hackley",
    "hasEmail": "mailto:phackley@usgs.gov"
  },
  "description": "The Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian Salt Range Formation (SRF) of Pakistan is a sequence of salt, gypsum, marl, dolomite, fine-grained siliciclastic rocks (shale, siltstone and sandstone), oil shale, and hydrothermally altered extrusive volcanics. The formation occurs in the Salt Range physiographic feature, a mountain range rising 750 to 1000 m above alluvial plains of northwestern Pakistan, between the petroleum-producing Potwar Basin to the north and Punjab Platform to the south. We examined 12 SRF samples from 3 localities located over a distance of ~30 km in the eastern Salt Range at Sohan Nala (SN, 32.66176N, 72.72819E), Makrach Nala (MN, 32.64976N, 72.85527E), and Khewra Gorge (KG 32.64972N, 73.01246E). Samples included 7 thinly bedded SRF oil shales and 5 SRF marls comprised of clays and carbonates. Samples were analyzed by multiple approaches. Data from the analyses are included here in the following tables:\nTable S1 - X -ray diffraction (XRD) mineralogy\nTable S2.csv - Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS/MS) analysis\nTable S3  - Organic geochemical screening\nTable S4 - Elemental analysis and Organic ratios analysis on samples as received\nTable S5 - Reflectance measurements from organic petrographic analysis on solid bitumen and bituminite\nTables S6 through S11 - One csv file reporting organic molecular data for 4 SRF oil shale, including SARA (saturate, aromatic, resin, asphaltene) fractionation and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry saturate and aromatic biomarker analysis\nTable S12 - Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic measurements on carbonate in select marl samples\nTable S13 - Qualitative Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy compositions from the analysis of clay ovoids\nTable S14 - Sixty-one major and trace element concentrations for all samples\nTable S15 - Platinum Group Elements (PGE) from the analysis of 8 SRF oil shale and marl samples.\nRefer to the Data Quality section of the dataset's metadata for complete method and sample data descriptions.",
  "distribution": [
    {
      "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
      "accessURL": "https://doi.org/10.5066/P1WRBPG6",
      "description": "Landing page for access to the data",
      "format": "XML",
      "mediaType": "application/http",
      "title": "Digital Data"
    },
    {
      "@type": "dcat:Distribution",
      "description": "The metadata original format",
      "downloadURL": "https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/metadata/USGS.68da9fabd4be021b36eb5f7e.xml",
      "format": "XML",
      "mediaType": "text/xml",
      "title": "Original Metadata"
    }
  ],
  "identifier": "http://datainventory.doi.gov/id/dataset/USGS_68da9fabd4be021b36eb5f7e",
  "keyword": [
    "Asia",
    "Pakistan",
    "Salt Range",
    "USGS:68da9fabd4be021b36eb5f7e",
    "energy resources",
    "geochronology",
    "geology",
    "geoscientificInformation",
    "oil shale resources"
  ],
  "modified": "2026-04-09T00:00:00Z",
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "org:Organization",
    "name": "U.S. Geological Survey"
  },
  "spatial": "71.3562, 32.0267, 73.6523, 33.4406",
  "theme": [
    "geospatial"
  ],
  "title": "Data to determine new age constraints on the Ediacaran Salt Range Formation of Pakistan"
}