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Conodont biostratigraphy of the Kesheh and Dizlu sections, and the age range of the Bahram Formation in central Iran

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Abstract

Conodont fauna from the Kesheh and Dizlu sections in the North Isfahan province were investigated. Shallow-water and/or near-shore conodonts, mainly belonging to the icriodidpolygnathid biofacies, dominate the conodont fauna. Due to the depositional setting which is characterised by predominantly shallow-water palaeoenvironments and the lack of some important zonal index taxa (e.g. Palmatolepis species), a precise conodont biostratigraphy is difficult to establish. The Kesheh section covers sediments ranging from the Givetian hermanni Zone to disparilis Zone whereas in the Dizlu section, the ranges of Middle triangularis to Uppermost crepida, the marginifera to Upper trachytera, and the Lower and Middle expansa Zones indicate a Famennian age. The stratigraphic range of the Bahram Formation is discussed, and according to literature and new conodont data presented herein, it is likely that the age of the Bahram Formation in central Iran has a stratigraphical range from the Givetian (hermanni Zone) to the late Famennian (Middle expansa Zone).

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Acknowledgements

This study was undertaken at the University of Isfahan in cooperation with the Department of Paleontology, Stratigraphy and Sedimentology, Geological Institute, Sofia, and the Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, Frankfurt. Reviews, provided by Thomas Suttner (Geological Survey, Wien, Austria) and Matthias Piecha (Geological Survey NRW, Krefeld, Germany), are thankfully acknowledged and improved the final version of this paper.

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The second author (P.K.) acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG grant Ko 1622/16-1).

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This article is an additional contribution to the special issue “Climate change and biodiversity patterns in the mid-Palaeozoic”

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Bahrami, A., Königshof, P., Boncheva, I. et al. Conodont biostratigraphy of the Kesheh and Dizlu sections, and the age range of the Bahram Formation in central Iran. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 98, 315–329 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-017-0307-y

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