early miocene (burdigalian) gastropod faunas of vareh zard section, north of pole-dokhtar, (lorestan, iran)

a total 7 species and 13 genera of marine gastropod assemblages are reported for the first time from the varehh zard section (asmari formation), north of pole dokhtar, lorestan basin. the section under study, the asmari formation, lies between the shahbazam formation at the base and gachsaran formation at the top. according to the distribution of index foraminifera, the asmari formation is early miocene (aquitanian-burdigalian) in age. in general, gastropod assemblages have been observed in the upper part of asmari formation (burdigalian). the miocene and even oligocene gastropod faunas, relatively similar to the vareh zard section, reported from tethys and proto- indo- pacific ocean, indicate that  a passage  was open during this interval. in this study, oostrombus auricularius, anazola elavula, conus diversiformis, turbo thouvignoni, campanile pseudoobeliscus, cassis mamilliaris, psudophasianus elatus, paroxystele, ampullina sp., architectonica cf. carocollata are described with special emphasis on their distribution in the tethys and adjacent bioprovinces. lyra sp., cerithium rude and ampullospira sp. are restricted to the proto- indo- pacific ocean.