TITLE:
Lower Cretaceous Orbitolinid (Foraminiferida) Record from the Southwest of Iran (Zagros, Shiraz)
AUTHORS:
Mahnaz Parvaneh Nejad Shirazi Parvaneh Nejad Shirazi, Fatemeh Abedi
KEYWORDS:
Aptian—Early Albian; Orbitolinid; Foraminifera; Zagros; Shiraz
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.3 No.1,
January
17,
2013
ABSTRACT: A biostratigraphic study was carried out in the Lower Creaceous (Aptian-lower Albian) Zagros basin, northeastern Shiraz located at southwestern Iran, allowing the recognition of one lithostratigraphic unit. The Lower Cretaceous shallow-water limestones on the northeast of Shiraz contains abundant and diversified orbitolinid foraminifera. A biostratigraphy, based on the orbitolinid taxa and their distribution, is proposed for the Aptian and Albian deposits in the Lower Creaceous (Aptian-lower Albian) Zagros basin, northeastern Shiraz located at southwestern Iran, allowing the recognition of one lithostratigraphic unit. Three orbitolinid biozones have been recognized: 1) Palorbitolina lenticularis Assemblage Zone in the Lower Aptian; 2) Mesorbitolina parva Total Range Zone in the Late Aptian; 3) Orbitolina (Mesorbitolina) texana Assemblage Zone in the uppermost Aptian-lower Albian, the body of strata being characterized by a distinctive assemblage of Orbitolina (Mesorbitolina) texana and O. (M.) parva. The following taxa are the most abundant: Mesorbitolina texana, Mesorbitolina parva, Orbitolina sp., Pseudocyclammina lituus, Pseudochrysalidina conica, Pseudochrysalidina cf. arabica, Pseudocyclammina hedbergi, Praechrysalidina infracretacea, Cuneolina pavonia, Dictyocunus arabicus, Iraqia simplex, Vercosella laurentii, Protomarssonella trochus, Nautiloculina oolithica, and calcareous algae such as Salpingoporella dinarica, Trinocladus tripolitanus, Terquemella sp. and Lithocodium aggregatum-Bacinella irregularis.