Early Miocene benthic foraminifera and biostratigraphy of the Qom Formation, Deh Namak, Central Iran

Foraminiferal paleoecology and paleoenvironmental reconstructions of the lower Miocene deposits of the Qom Formation in Northeastern Isfahan, Central Iran

“…The Qom basin, in the Iranian plate, on the southeastern margin of the Paratethys, is an important basin for the interpretation of paleogeography and the construction of the Paratethys, the Mediterranean Sea to the Indo-Pacific region from the late Oligocene to early Miocene (Stöcklin and Setudehina, 1991;Rögl, 1998;Seyrafian and Toraby, 2005;Reuter et al, 2009, Khaksar andMaghfouri Moghaddam, 2007;Daneshian and Ramezani Dana, 2007;Mohammadi et al, 2011;Behforouzi and Safari, 2011;Yazdi et al, 2012).…”

“…The microfossil assemblages of the Qom Formation have been described by many authors based on large benthic foraminifer distribution (Schuster and Wielandt, 1999; Abaie et al, 1964;Seyrafian and Toraby, 2005;Reuter et al, 2009;Daneshian and Ramezani Dana, 2007;Mohammadi et al, 2011;Behforouzi and Safari, 2011). The Qom Formation can be correlated with the lower part of Asmari Formation (Zagros fault belt) (Figure 1) and was assigned a Rupelian to Burdigalian age.…”

“…This basin has been examined since 1934 because of economic interests (Furon and Marie, 1939;Abaie et al, 1964). Most of those studies were carried out based on the distribution of larger assemblages of benthic foraminifers and sedimentary sequences (Furon and Marie, 1939;Furon, 1941;Furrer and Soder, 1955;Gansser, 1955;Dozy, 1944Dozy, , 1945Dozy, , 1955Abaie et al, 1964;Bozorgnia, 1966;Kashfi, 1988;Aghanabati, 2003;Daneshian and Ramezani Dana, 2007;Zhu et al, 2007;Behforouzi and Safari, 2011). In general, the Lower Red Formation underlies the Qom Formation; on the other hand, this unit is conformably overlain by the Upper Red Formation (Stöcklin and Setudehina, 1991).…”

“…Reuter et al (2009) recognized two basins for the Qom Formation: the Qom backarc basin and Isfahan-Sirjan forearc basin ( Figure 1). Subsequently, Oligocene-Miocene sedimentation in the Qom basin took place along a ramp carbonate platform including: intertidal, shelf lagoon, platform margin and open marine environments (Aghanabati, 2003;Seyrafian and Toraby, 2005;Daneshian and Ramezani Dana, 2007;Zhu et al, 2007;Behforouzi and Safari, 2011).…”

The Monte Orfano Conglomerate revisited: stratigraphic constraints on Cenozoic tectonic uplift of the Southern Alps (Lombardy, northern Italy)

“…Nevertheless, the few benthic species identified in sample MO1 mainly appear in the Miocene (Agip 1982). In particular, according to Cahuzac and Poignant (2002) and Daneshian and Dana (2007), the first occurrence of Ammonia beccarii indicates the earliest Miocene. Despite the paucity of foraminifers in terms of index species and preservation, the Miocene age of the MOC indicated by Cita (in Vecchia and Cita 1954) is here confirmed, although restricted by the calcareous nannoplankton data to the very base of the Miocene.…”