Urgonian Type Microfossils of the Dariyan Formation, from Southwest of Iran (Northeast of Shiraz)

The Lower Cretaceous Carbonate deposits of the Dariyan Formation of the HighZagros Belt are mainly composed of thick to medium bedded limestone. These depositscontain abundant and diversified benthic foraminifera which have been recovered fromcarbonate rocks. A rich assemblage of microfossils with characteristic: Palorbitolinalenticularis (Blumenbach), Mesorbitolina subconcava (Leymerie), Mesorbitolina texana(Roemer), Mesorbitolina parva (Douglass) Pseudocyclammina hedbergi (Maync),Archalveolina reicheli (de Castro), Praechrysalidina infracretacea Luperto Sinni,Chofatella decipiens (Schlumberger), Debarina hahonerensis (Fourcade, Raoul et Vila),Rumanoculina ponticuli (Neagu), Rumanoloculina pseudominima (Bartenstein etKovatcheva), Istriloculina cf. elliptica (Iovcheva) indicate paleoenviromental conditionsof shallow water carbonate sedimentation and Urgonian type facies. Based onmicrofossils distribution and biozones identification in study sections, the age of theDariyan Formation is assigned late Barremian-early Albian. The microfossilsassemblages are regarded to be comparable with the Urgonian-type fauna known fromthe peri-Mediterranean Tethys in the Barremian-Albian time interval.