Barremian-Aptian Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy in Zagros Basin (west Iran), Tethyan Realm
Abstract
The calcareous nannofossils from the upper part of Garau Formation were studied in the NW Zagros Basin, western Iran (Kabir-Kuh section). The ca. 510 m thick studied interval is mainly composed of interlayered marls, marly limestones, marly shales, laminated black shales and limestones. The succession of nannofossil bioevents defines the stratigraphic range of the studied part of section spanning the interval from the early Barremian (CC5b/NC5C) to the late Aptian (CC7b/NC7B). Six primary calcareous nannofossil bioevents and eight secondary bioevents are recorded within the studied interval. The comparison of the recorded bioevents with those referred from other parts of the Tethyan and the Boreal realms indicates some diachroneity between these localities.
Keywords:
biostratigraphy calcareous nannofossils Lower Cretaceous Zagros Basin Iran TethysNotes
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank reviewers, Dr. E.A. Shcherbinina and Dr. V.S. Vishnevskaya from the Geological Institute Russian Academy of Sciences who kindly reviewed the version of the manuscript and gave many constructive comments that greatly improved quality of this paper. Funding for this study was provided by Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman. Slides of nannofossil analysis are housed at nannofossil laboratory in Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran.
Reviewers E.A. Shcherbinina and V.S. Vishnevskaya
REFERENCES
- 1.Agard, P., Omrani, J., Jolivet, L., and Mouthereau, F., Convergence history across Zagros (Iran): constraints from collisional and earlier deformation, Int. J. Earth Sci., 2005, vol. 94, pp. 401–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 2.Aguado, R., Company, M., Sandoval, J., and Tavera, J.M., Biostratigraphic events around the Barremian–Aptian boundary in the Betic Cordillera (southern Spain), Proc. 2nd Int. Symp. on Cretaceous Stage Boundaries, Brussels, 1995, vol. 6.Google Scholar
- 3.Aguado, R., Castro, J.M., Company, M., and De Gea, G.A., Aptian bio-events—an integrated biostratigraphic analysis of the Almadich Formation, Inner Prebetic Domain, SE Spain, Cretaceous Res., 1999, vol. 20, pp. 663–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 4.Aguado, R., de Gea, G.A., and O’Dogherty, L., Integrated biostratigraphy (calcareous nannofossils, planktonic foraminifera, and radiolarians) of an uppermost Barremian–lower Aptian pelagic succession in the Subbetic Basin (southern Spain), Cretaceous Res., 2014a, vol. 51, pp. 153–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 5.Aguado, R., de Gea, G.A., Castro, J.M., et al., Late Barremian–early Aptian dark facies of the Subbetic (Betic Cordillera, southern Spain): Calcareous nannofossil quantitative analyses, chemostratigraphy and palaeoceanographic reconstructions, Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2014b, vol. 395, pp. 198–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 6.Alavi, M., Tectonostratigraphic evolution of the Zagrosides of Iran, Geology, 1980, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 144–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 7.Alavi, M., Tectonics of the Zagros orogenic belt of Iran: New data and interpretations, Tectonophysics, 1994, vol. 229, no. 3, pp. 211–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 8.Alavi, M., Regional stratigraphy of the Zagros fold-thrust belt of Iran and its proforeland evolution, Am. J. Sci., 2004, vol. 304, no. 1, pp. 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 9.Aldega, L., Corrado, S., Carminati, E., et al., Thermal evolution of the Kuh-e-Asmari and Sim anticlines in the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt: Implications for hydrocarbon generation, Mar. Petrol. Geol., 2014, vol. 57, pp. 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 10.Applegate, J. and Bergen, J., Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of sediments recovered from the Galicia Margin, ODP Leg 103, Proc. Ocean Drill. Program: Sci. Results, 1988, vol. 103, pp. 293–348.Google Scholar
- 11.Applegate, J.L., Bergen, J.A., Covington, J.M., and Wise, S., Lower cretaceous calcareous nannofossils from continental margin drill sites off North Carolina (DSDP Leg 93) and Portugal (ODP Leg 103): A comparison, in Nannofossils and Their Applications, Crux, J.A. and van Heck, S.E., Eds., London: Ellis Horwood Limited, British Micropalaeontol. Soc., 1987, pp. 212–222.Google Scholar
- 12.Barragán, R. and Melinte, M.C., Palaeoenvironmental and palaeobiologic changes across the Barremian/Aptian boundary interval in the Tethys Realm, Mexico and Romania, Cretaceous Res., 2006, vol. 27, pp. 529–541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 13.Berberian, M. and King, G., Towards a paleogeography and tectonic evolution of Iran, Can. J. Earth Sci., 1981, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 210–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 14.Bischoff, G. and Mutterlose, J., Calcareous nannofossils of the Barremian/Aptian boundary interval in NW Europe: Biostratigraphic and palaeoecologic implications of a high resolution study, Cretaceous Res., 1998, vol. 19, pp. 635–661.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 15.Bordenave, M.L. and Burwood, R., Source rock distribution and maturation in the belt, provenance of the Asmari and Sarvak reservoirs oil accumulations, Org. Geochem., 1990, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 369–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 16.Bordenave, M. and Hegre, J., The influence of tectonics on the entrapment of oil in the Dezful Embayment, Zagros Foldbelt, Iran, J. Petrol. Geol., 2005, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 339–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 17.Bottini, C. and Mutterlose, J., Integrated stratigraphy of Early Aptian black shales in the Boreal Realm: Calcareous nannofossil and stable isotope evidence for global and regional processes, Newsl. Stratigr., 2012, vol. 45, no. 2, pp. 115–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 18.Bown, P., Calcareous Nannofossil Biostratigraphy, London: Chapman and Hall, Kluwer Acad., 1998.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 19.Bown, P.R., Early to mid-Cretaceous calcareous nannoplankton from the northwest Pacific Ocean, Leg 198, Shatsky Rise, Proc. Ocean Drill. Program: Sci. Results, 2005, vol. 198.Google Scholar
- 20.Bralower, T.J., Valanginian to Aptian calcareous nannofossil stratigraphy and correlation with the upper M-sequence magnetic anomalies, Mar. Micropaleontol., 1987, vol. 11, pp. 293–310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 21.Bralower, T.J., Sliter, W.V., Arthur, M.A., et al., Dysoxic/anoxic episodes in the Aptian–Albian (Early Cretaceous), The Mesozoic Pacific: Geology, Tectonics, and Volcanism, 1993, vol. 77, pp. 5–37.Google Scholar
- 22.Bralower, T.J., Leckie, R.M., Sliter, W.V., and Thierstein, H.R., An integrated Cretaceous microfossil biostratigraphy, in Geochronology, Time Scales and Global Stratigraphic Correlations, Berggren, W.A. Kent, D.V. Aubry, M.-P., and Hardenbol, J., Eds., SEPM Spec. Publ., 1995, vol. 54, pp. 65–79.Google Scholar
- 23.Van Buchem, F.S., Baghbani, D., Bulot, L.G., et al., Barremian-Lower Albian sequence stratigraphy of southwest Iran (Gadvan, Dariyan and Kazhdumi formations) and its comparison with Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates Publ., 2010, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 503–548.Google Scholar
- 24.Burnett, J.A., Gallagher, L.T., and Hampton, M.J., Upper Cretaceous, in Calcareous Nannoplankton Biostratigraphy, Bown, P.R., Ed., Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Acad. Publ., 1998, pp. 86–131.Google Scholar
- 25.Channell, J.E.T. and Erba, E., Early Cretaceous polarity chrons CM0 to CM11 recorded in northern Italian land sections near Brescia, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1992, vol. 108, pp. 161–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 26.Channell, J.E.T., Cecca, F., and Erba, E., Correlations of Hauterivian and Barremian (Early Cretaceous) stage boundaries to polarity chrons, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 1995, vol. 134, pp. 125–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 27.Coccioni, R., Erba, E., and Premoli-Silva, I., Barremian–Aptian calcareous plankton biostratigraphy from the Gorgo Cerbara section (Marche, central Italy) and implications for plankton evolution, Cretaceous Res., 1992, vol. 13, pp. 517–537.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 28.Erba, E., Aptian–Albian calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy of the Scisti a Fucoidi cored at Piobbico (central Italy), Riv. Ital. Paleontol. Stratigr., 1988, vol. 94, pp. 249–284.Google Scholar
- 29.Erba, E., Nannofossils and superplumes: The early Aptian “nannoconid crisis”, Paleoceanography, 1994, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 483–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 30.Erba, E., Channell, J.E., Claps, M., et al., Integrated stratigraphy of the Cismon Apticore (southern Alps, Italy): a “reference” section for the Barremian-Aptian interval at low latitudes, J. Foraminifer. Res., 1999, vol. 29, no. 4, pp. 371–391.Google Scholar
- 31.Ezampanah, Y., Sadeghi, A., Jamali, A.M., and Adabi, M.H., Biostratigraphy of the Garau Formation (Berriasian?–lower Cenomanian) in central part of Lurestan zone, northwest of Zagros, Iran, Cretaceous Res., 2013, vol. 46, pp. 101–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 32.Golonka, J., Cambrian–Neogene Plate Tectonic Maps, Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2000.Google Scholar
- 33.Golonka, J., Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, Tectonophysics, 2004, vol. 381, no. 1–4, pp. 235–273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 34.Herrle, J.O. and Mutterlose, J., Calcareous nannofossils from the Aptian–Lower Albian of southeast France: palaeoecological and biostratigraphic implications, Cretaceous Res., 2003, vol. 24, pp. 1–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 35.Jamalian, M., Adabi, M.H., Mosavi, M.R., and Sadeghi, A., Geochemistry and petrography of Garau Formation with Neocomian-Aptian age in type section (Kabir-Kuh, Ilam province), J. Stratigr. Sedimentol. Res., 2011, vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 1–26.Google Scholar
- 36.James, G. and Wynd, J., Stratigraphic nomenclature of Iranian oil consortium agreement area, AAPG Bull., 1965, vol. 49, pp. 2182–2245.Google Scholar
- 37.Mahanipour, A., Mutterlose, J., Kani, A.L., and Adabi, M.H., Palaeoecology and biostratigraphy of early Cretaceous (Aptian) calcareous nannofossils and the δ13Ccarb isotope record from NE Iran, Cretaceous Res., 2011, vol. 32, pp. 331–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 38.Motiei, H., Stratigraphy of Zagros, in Treatise on the Geology of Iran, Geol. Surv. Iran, 2003 [in Persian].Google Scholar
- 39.Navidtalab, A., Rahimpour-Bonab, H., Nazari-Badii, A., and Sarfi, M., Challenges in deep basin sequence stratigraphy: A case study from the Early–Middle Cretaceous of SW Zagros, Facies, 2014, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 195–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 40.Negahdari, A., Ziaii, M., and Ghiasi-Freez, J., Application of discriminant analysis for studying the source rock potential of probable formations in the Lorestan basin, Iran, Int. J. Mining and Geo-engineering, 2014, vol. 48, pp. 31–54.Google Scholar
- 41.Patruno, S., Triantaphyllou, M.V., Erba, E., et al., The Barremian and Aptian stepwise development of the ‘Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a’(OAE 1a) crisis: Integrated benthic and planktic high-resolution palaeoecology along the Gorgo a Cerbara stratotype section (Umbria–Marche Basin, Italy), Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol., 2015, vol. 424, pp. 147–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 42.Perch-Nielsen, K., Calcareous nannofossils from the Cretaceous between the North Sea and the Mediterranean, IUGS Ser. (A)6, 1979, pp. 223–272.Google Scholar
- 43.Perch-Nielsen, K., Recognition of Cretaceous stage boundaries by means of calcareous nannofossils, Proc. Symp. on Cretaceous Stage Boundaries, Copenhagen, 1983, pp. 152–156.Google Scholar
- 44.Perch-Nielsen, K., Mesozoic calcareous nannofossils, in Plankton Stratigraphy, Cambridge: Univ. Press, 1985, pp. 329–426.Google Scholar
- 45.Roth, P.H., Cretaceous nannoplankton biostratigraphy and oceanography of the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, Initial Rep. Deep Sea Drill. Proj., 1978, vol. 44, pp. 731–759.Google Scholar
- 46.Sarfi, M., Ghasemi-Nejad, E., Mahanipour, A., et al., Integrated biostratigraphy and geochemistry of the lower Cretaceous Radiolarian Flood Zone of the base of the Garau Formation, northwest of Zagros Mountains, Iran, Arabian J. Geosci., 2015, vol. 8, no. 9, pp. 7245–7255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 47.Şengör, A., Altıner, D., Cin, A., et al., Origin and assembly of the Tethyside orogenic collage at the expense of Gondwana land, Geol. Soc. London Spec. Publ., 1988, vol. 37, pp. 119–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 48.Setudehnia, A., The Mesozoic sequence in south-west Iran and adjacent areas, J. Petrol. Geol., 1978, vol. 1, pp. 3–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 49.Sharland, P., Archer, R., Cassey, D., et al., Arabian Plate Sequence Stratigraphy, Bahrain: Gulf PetroLink, 2001.Google Scholar
- 50.Sherkati, S., Letouzey, J., and Frizon de Lamotte, D., Central Zagros fold-thrust belt (Iran): New insights from seismic data, field observation, and sandbox modeling, Tectonics, 2006, vol. 25, pp. 1–27.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 51.Sissingh, W., Biostratigraphy of calcareous nannoplankton, Geol. Mijnbouw, 1977, vol. 56, pp. 37–65.Google Scholar
- 52.Takin, M., Iranian geology and continental drift in the Middle East, Nature, 1972, vol. 235, pp. 147–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- 53.Thierstein, H.R., Foraminiferen und nannoplankton aus einem profil durch santone Amdenerschichten in den ostlichen Churfirsten, Eclogae Geol. Helv., 1971, vol. 64, pp. 29–45.Google Scholar
- 54.Thierstein, H.R., Lower Cretaceous calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy, Geol. Bundesanst., 1973, vol. 29, pp. 1–59.Google Scholar
- 55.Vincent, B., van Buchem, F.S.P., Bulot, L.G., et al., Carbon-isotope stratigraphy, biostratigraphy and organic matter distribution in the Aptian–Lower Albian successions of southwest Iran (Dariyan and Kazhdumi formations), GeoArabia Spec. Publ., 2010, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 139–197.Google Scholar