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Santonian-Campanian planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy of the northern Moghan area (NW Iran): implications for the timing of Cretaceous marine transgression

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Abstract

An Upper Cretaceous deep marine unit containing planktonic foraminifera was studied based on the material recovered from a subsurface section at the northern part of the Moghan area. The unit contains a relatively diverse assemblage of planktonic foraminifera, which allowed identifying a number of three biozones spanning the late Santonian to early late Campanian. These are Dicarinella asymetrica Zone, Globotruncanita elevata Zone, and Globotruncana ventricosa Zone. Based on the stratigraphic values of the identified planktonic foraminifera, a late Santonian to middle-late Campanian age is ascribed to the examined strata. The biostratigraphic results also point to the earlier marine transgression in the northern Moghan area starting in the late Santonian. Our biostratigraphic results indicate a prominent stratigraphic hiatus at the contact of Upper Cretaceous unit with the overlying Sarmatian strata, comprising the late Campanian to middle Serravallian.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank NIOCEXP for the permission of publication. Bu-Ali Sina University is also thanked in supporting this study. Two reviewers Dalila Zaghbib-Turki (Tunis) and Mehdi Sarfi (Damghan) gave helpful comments. We appreciate Beatriz Badenas (Zaragoza) for the editorial handling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Iranian Oil Company Exploration Directorate, Sheikh Bahayi Square, Tehran, Iran

    Mohsen Yazdi-Moghadam

  2. Geology Department, Earth Sciences Faculty, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran

    Yadolah Ezampanah

Authors
  1. Mohsen Yazdi-Moghadam
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  2. Yadolah Ezampanah
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Correspondence to Yadolah Ezampanah.

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Responsible Editor: Beatriz Badenas

Appendix

Appendix

List of taxa mentioned in the text with author attributions and dates

Planktonic foraminifera

Archaeoglobigerina cretacea (d’Orbigny, 1840)

Contusotruncana fornicata (Plummer, 1931)

Dicarinella asymetrica (Sigal, 1952)

Globotruncana arca (Cushman, 1926)

Globotruncana bulloides (Vogler, 1941)

Globotruncana falsostuarti (Sigal, 1952)

Globotruncana hilli (Pessagno, 1967)

Globotruncana lapparenti (Brotzen, 1936)

Globotruncana linneiana (d’Orbigny, 1939)

Globotruncana ventricosa (White, 1928)

Globotruncanita elevata (Brotzen, 1934)

Globotruncanita stuarti (de Lapparent, 1918)

Globotruncanita stuartiformis (Dalbiez, 1955)

Heterohelix globulosa (Ehrenberg, 1840)

Heterohelix reussi (Cushman, 1938)

Macroglobigerinelloides bollii (Pessagno 1967)

Macroglobigerinelloides prairiehillensis (Pessagno, 1967)

Macroglobigerinelloides ultramicrus (Subbotina, 1949)

Marginotruncana marginata (Reuss, 1845)

Marginotruncana pseudolinneiana (Pessagno, 1967)

Muricohedbergella holmdelensis (Olsson, 1964)

Muricohedbergella planispira (Tappan, 1940)

Radotruncana calcarata (Cushman, 1927)

Rugoglobigerina rugosa (Plummer, 1926)

Benthic foraminifera

Elphidium crispum (Linnaeus, 1758)

Elphidium cf. hauerinum (d'Orbigny, 1846)

Elphidium macellum (Fichtel and Moll, 1798)

Prosononion granosum (d'Orbigny, 1846)

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Yazdi-Moghadam, M., Ezampanah, Y. Santonian-Campanian planktonic foraminifera biostratigraphy of the northern Moghan area (NW Iran): implications for the timing of Cretaceous marine transgression. Arab J Geosci 13, 967 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05921-7

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