Significance of foraminifera during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM)‎ in the Aaliji and Kolosh formations, north and northeast Iraq

Abstract EN

Paleontological study is used to determine Paleocene/ Eocene boundary as principal step to investigate the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) characteristics, and to extrapolate the global warming event in three separate sections of Paleogene marine sedimentary rocks in the Sinjar, Dhouk and the Shaqlawa area, in Sinjar, Dohuk and Shaqlawa areas, North and Northeastern Iraq.

Shape, size, decline and abundance of the foraminiferal species and generic diversity of photoautotrophic (oligotrophic conditions) in the Aaliji and Kolosh formations respond to the PETM environmental conditions, as well as to the extinction events in deep marine sections with general decrease in larger foraminifera, followed by abundance stage in shallow marine sections.

The paleontological and sedimentological, characteristics within the Aaliji and Kolosh formations represent records of PETM- associated events which is obviously distinguished in shallow marine environments exactly at the Dohuk section compared to deep marine environment at the Shaqlawa section