ISSN 0869-5938, Stratigraphy and Geological Correlation, 2016, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 267–275. © Pleiades Publishing, Ltd., 2016.
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INTRODUCTION
The Zagros Basin is one of the most important oil
and gas reservoirs in the world. This basin has long
been studied by many researchers. Many formations
in the southeast of Zagros zone are the hydrocarbon
reservoirs. The Guri Member of the Mishan Forma-
tion contains a significant amount of gas in some areas
(Alsharhan and Nairn, 1997). The Bandar Abbas hin-
terland is one of significant areas that are located in the
southeast Zagros. The eastern boundary of this hinter-
land is Minab fault, and its southern border crosses
through the Persian Gulf region. The most important
geological features of the Bandar Abbas hinterland are
the anticlines with different orientation and structural
changes which can be attributed to the basement
faults. The anticlines consist mostly of Fars Group
with a remarkable thickness (Aghanabati, 2006).
The Mishan Formation as one of the formations of
the Fars Group was introduced by James and Wynd
(1965). Previously, the Guri Member of this formation
has been called by different names, for instance, Guri
Formation and Operculina Limestone. Its type sec-
tion, 111-m thick, is located in Tang-e-Guri, 28 km
1
The article is published in the original.
southeast of the Lar and is composed of rough, mas-
sive, and hard creamy limestone. This part of the Mis-
han Formation contains numerous fossils including
micro- and macrofossils (foraminifers, ostracods, red
algae, and mollusks) with some interbedded gray to
green marl. This member overlies siliciclastic rock of
the Razak Formation or the Evaporate Formation of
Gachsaran. The lower boundary with the Gachsaran
Formation is disconformable and sharp and its upper
boundary with green and gray marls of the Mishan
Formation is conformable and gradual. Thickness of
the Guri Limestone is variable, for example, in the
Bandar Abbas hinterland it increases to 1200 m but
decreases from Fars toward Khuzestan, and it is invis-
ible in the northwest of the Kazerun fault (Aghanabati,
2006) (Fig. 1). Daneshian et al. (2008) studied litho-
logical features of the Guri Member in 15 subsurface
and outcrop sections at the Dezful Embayment
located in the Khuzestan Province. They reported that
the thickness reduces in the studied areas from south-
east to northwest. They stated the maximum thickness
of this rock unit at approximately 192 m.
Wynd (1965) introduced biofacies no. 64 for the
Guri Limestone and the overlying no. 65 for marl sedi-
ments of the Mishan Formation. The biofacies no. 64
Refinement of Stratigraphy According to the First Finds
of Planktonic Species of Orbulina and Praeorbulina from the Guri
Limestone of the Mishan Formation in Northwest of Bandar Abbas,
South Iran
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J. Daneshian
a
, S. A. Moallemi
b
, and M. Derakhshani
a
a
Department of Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
b
Reservoir Geology Division, Exploration and Production Department, Research Institute of Petroleum Industry, Tehran, Iran
e-mail: daneshian@khu.ac.ir
Received February 16, 2015; in final form, March 29, 2015
Abstract—The Zagros Basin is one of the most universal oil and gas basins that is located in the west to south
of Iran and in north of the Arabian Plate. The Guri Member at the bottom of the Mishan Formation, in some
areas such as Bandar Abbas hinterland, contains a significant amount of gas. The Bandar Abbas hinterland is
located in the southeast of Zagros. The Guri Limestone is the youngest hydrocarbon reservoirs of the Zagros
Sedimentary Basin. In this study, a total of 178 samples from the Guri Limestone in the Handun section are
investigated for foraminiferal biostratigraphy. The study of foraminifers led to a recognition of 43 genera and
57 species of benthic and planktonic foraminifera. For the first time, planktonic foraminiferal species includ-
ing Praeorbulina glomerosa, Praeorbulina transitoria, Orbulina suturalis, and Orbulina universa are reported,
and based on the identified benthic and planktonic foraminifera taxa, the age of the Guri Member at Handun
section is estimated as late Burdigalian to Langhian.
Keywords: Planktonic foraminifers, biostratigraphy, Early and Middle Miocene, Mishan Formation, Zagros
Basin, Iran
DOI: 10.1134/S0869593816030023