Conodonts of the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary interval in Central Iran

The record of conodonts related to the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary interval was investigated in four sections in Central Iran from two different structural units. Two sections from the Sanandaj-Sirjan trend zone (Asad-abad, and Darchaleh sections) and two from the East-Central Iran Microplate (Shesh-angosht and Kale-Sardar sections) exhibit a nearly complete record previously described across the Mississippian/Pennsylvanian boundary in Iran. The investigated sections can be subdivided in three formations (Ghaleh-, Absheni-, and Zaluda Formation) which belong to the Sardar Group. The mid-Carboniferous boundary was defined by the occurrence of Declinognathus noduliferus s.l.. Bio-event characteristics of the Carboniferous conodont fauna (Mississippian genera Gnathodus and Lochriea have been replaced by Pennsylvanian genera Declinognathus and Idiognathodus) as well as sedimentological changes within overall shallow water deposits were located approximately 33° S of the paleoequator and suggest sea-level changes within the framework of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age (LPIA). Furthermore, a widespread crinoid marker horizon previously described from two localities in Iran can be subdivided into three units of different ages.