Oligo-Miocene foraminiferal record (Miogypsinidae, Lepidocyclinidae and Nummulitidae) from the Western Taurides (SW Turkey): Biometry and implications for the regional geology

Abstract

The marine Oligo-Miocene units of western Taurides, deposited under different tectonic regimes (in Bey Dag ˘lari platform in foreland and coeval sequences in hinterland), were studied to establish a high-resolu- tion biostratigraphic framework. Biometric study of the full spectrum of larger foraminifera in a regional scale allowed us correlating them with the shallow benthic zonation (SBZ) system introduced by (Cahuzac, B., Poignant, A., 1997. Essai de biozonation de l'Oligo-Miocene dans les bassins europeens a l'aide des grands foraminiferes neritiques. Bulletin de la Societe geologique de France 168, 155-169), and to determine the ages of these sites on zonal precision for the first time. In correlating these assemblages to standard shallow benthic zones, planktonic data were also used whenever possible. Taxa, classified under the genera Nummu- lites, Miogypsina, Miolepidocyclina, Nephrolepidina, Eulepidina, Heterostegina, Operculina and Cycloclypeus (?) and their assemblages, closely resemble to the fauna described from European basins. These groups char- acterize the SBZ 22B to 25 zones referring to a time interval from early Chattian to Burdigalian. However, a main gap in late Chattian (SBZ 23) and in early part of the Aquitanian (SBZ 24) is also recorded in the plat- form succession. In the meantime, rare Eulepidina in the Burdigalian levels suggest a clear Indo-Pacific influ- ence. Based on the discovery of early Chattian (SBZ 22B) deposits (previously mapped under Eocene/ Miocene units), the Oligo-Miocene stratigraphy of the Bey Dag ˘lari platform is also revised. A more precise chronology for regional Miocene transgression is presented based on the miogypsinid evolutionary scale. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.