The Danian sediments and the K/Pg boundary determination using calcareous nannofossil from Sulaimani area, Kurdistan Reg
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Danian sediments and the K/Pg boundary determination using calcareous nannofossil from Sulaimani area, Kurdistan Region/Iraq Soran O. A. Kharajiany1 · Sherwood W. Wise Jr.2 · Basim A. Al‑Qayim1 Accepted: 20 June 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The nature of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary in the Kurdistan region of northeastern Iraq is still under debate. Most studies have considered the Danian sediments to be mostly missing. Another hypothesis suggests that a conglomerate represents the contact between the Cretaceous and Paleogene. We examined the succession of the Deramazan and Chinarok sections in Sulaimani area to examine calcareous nannofossil assemblages and the biostratigraphy around the boundary and the Danian sediments; previously, the calcareous nannofossil has not been applied to this sequence. The rock strata in the study sections are characterized by alternations of sandstone, siltstone, shale and marlstone within the Tanjero Formation (late Campanian–Maastrichtian) and the overlying Kolosh Formation (Paleocene–early Eocene). The current study shows that deposition across the boundary in both sections was continuous with no discernible break or pause in sedimentation; it is biostratigraphically delineated by the first occurrences of Biantholithus sparsus, Cruciplacolithus spp. and Coccolithus pelagicus plus an acme of Thoracosphaera operculata of biozone NP1 that indicates no hiatus. The successions in both sections also highlight the occurrence of the early Danian sequence at the bottom of the Kolosh Formation. Keywords Calcareous nannofossil · Tanjero formation · Kolosh formation · K/Pg boundary · Sulaimani · Kurdistan/Iraq
Introduction The Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary in northeast Iraq has been studied by many authors using planktonic foraminifera such as the study of Kassab (1974), AbdelKareem (1986) and Sharbazheri (2009). Our study examines the stratigraphic sequence across this boundary at two localities using calcareous nannofossils. This globally important boundary is characterized in our area by a sequence of flysch sediments of the foreland basin on the northeast Arabian Plate (Al-Qayim et al. 2012). The flysch sediments are represented by the Maastrichtian Tanjero Formation and the overlying Paleogene Kolosh Formation. The Deramazan and Chinarok sections were selected for a case study to sample and re-examine the age of the sequence. The Deramazan Village section is 300 m thick. The study section is located 200 m west of Deramazan Village between * Soran O. A. Kharajiany [email protected] 1
University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan, Iraq
Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306‑4100, USA
2
the Sulaimani-Qaradagh main road and the Tanjero River (35°23′56.0″N, 45°30′36.8″). The section fringes the western side of Deramazan Village (Fig. 1a, b), while the Chinarok section is 170 m thick. The Chinarok section is inside Kani Kand Village 250 m north of the Chinarok resort at the toe of the
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