Nooshin Habibi Babadi, L. Mahesh Bilwa* and P. Madesha

Department of Studies in Earth Science, Center for Advanced Studies, Manasagangothri, University of Mysore, Mysuru-570006, India

*E-mail: lmbilwa@rediffmail.comcom

Abstract

The Cretaceous stratigraphy is very significant and studied globally. Several invertebrate megafossils have been reported from various Cretaceous formations of the world. The present field investigation reports a megafossil assemblage from the limestones of the Gurpi Formation belonging to the Sarableh open cast limestone mine (SOCLM) of the Ilam State of Northwest Iran. The SOCLM is located 60 km from Ilam city at Latitude 33° 36′ 414′′ N and Longitude 46° 24′ 054′′ E exposing ~30m thick limestone. Each interval of four benches of the SOCLM is rich in gastropoda, pelecypoda, cephalopoda, echenodermita, bryozoa, warm tracks and mega trace fossils representing the Gurpi Formation indicating calm energy condition during its deposition.

Keywords: Invertebrate megafossil assemblage, Limestone, Sarableh open cast limestone mine, Gurpi Formation, Cretaceous, Ilam state, Iran.