Foraminiferal biozonation,biostratigraphy and trans-basinal correlation of the Oligo-Miocene Qom Formation,Iran (northeastern margin of the Tethyan Seaway)

During the Rupelian–Burdigalian (early Oligocene–early Miocene), the Qom Formation was deposited along the northeastern margin of the Tethyan Seaway in the Sanandaj–Sirjan, Urumieh–Dokhtar, and Central Iran basins. The biostratigraphic data from a total of 1152 thin sections from 10 outcrop sections along over 1000 km of the Tethyan Seaway margin are presented. A larger benthic foraminiferal (LBF) biozonation, consisting of five biozones, is proposed for dating the Rupelian–Burdigalian Qom Formation. It is correlated with global planktonic zones, LBF zones, southeastern Asian “Letter Stages”, shallow benthic foraminiferal zones (SB-zones) of southern European basins, and newly revised zones of the Asmari Formation in southwestern Iran. This biozonation subdivides the Rupelian stage into “early Rupelian” and “late Rupelian”, based on the first appearances of lepidocyclinids in the latter one. The early Rupelian strata are characterized by the presence of Nummulites without lepidocyclinids which are reported merely from southwestern and southern Kashan, where the thickest Rupelian deposits of the Qom Formation are recorded. The basal layers of the Qom Formation in southeasternmost outcrops (northwestern Jazmurian Lake) are late Rupelian in age based on the co-occurrence of lepidocyclinids and Nummulites spp. By comparison of the well-documented transgression of the Tethyan Seaway over the Iranian plate (from southeast to northwest) and the limitation of all reported early Rupelian strata of the Qom Formation to southwestern and southern Kashan, the following scenarios can be supposed: 1) the oldest deposits could be deposited in southeastern Iran, but they have not been reported, yet; 2) during early Rupelian, there was a transgression from the Zagros Basin to southwestern and southern Kashan areas, then the transgression progressed both northwestward and southeastward.