Ostracoda and Foraminifera Assemblages of the Lower-Middle Miocene Reefal Carbonates within the Değirmençay Area, NW Mersin/S Turkey

Abstract

The occurrence and development of reefal carbonates depend on biological activity and depositional conditions. Besides of fossil assemblages, it is also critical to determine depositional parameters of environment such as sea level change, substratum or clastic input.  This study is realised on an important reefal carbonate units as known the Kaplankaya and Karaisalı formations in the Değirmençay locality of Mersin Province, Mediterranean. In this study, the ostracod and foraminifer assemblages were determined in the samples collected from reefal carbonate units of the Early-Middle Miocene age.  The base of the investigated area consists of Upper Cretaceous ophiolite and Upper Cretaceous-Palaeocene ophiolitic mélange. These units are unconformably overlain by Miocene sediments. This study determine ostracod and foraminifera assemblages of the Early-Middle Miocene reefal carbonate system. While abundance ostracod species were observed at the reefal carbonate levels, also a few planktonic foraminifer species. As a result of paleontological studies, 12 genera and 15 species from Ostracoda, 3 genera and 3 species from planktonic foraminifera have been determined. The Ostracoda species (Aurila soummamensis, Hemicyprideis villandarutensis), and planktonic foraminifer species (Globigerinoides trilobus, Globoquadrina dehiscens and Orbulina universa) point out that these reefal carbonates deposited at the Early-Middle Miocene time interval.