Micropalaeontological investigation and environmental interpretation of negene sequence of northwestern Kahta (Adiyaman)

Study area is located around northwestern of Adıyaman between Kahta and Besni villages. Late Paleocene-Eocene age claystone, marl and sandstone layers unconformably rest on the Cretaceous basement, which mainly made up of detrital limestone, in the area. This unit is overlain discordantly by early Miocene abundant fossiliferous reef carbonates. This early Miocene unit is unconformably overlain by sandstone, marl and tuffite layers of late Miocene units. This study has been based on the formations so called Germav, Fırat and Şelmo.Five stratigraphical sections were measured in this study and several random sampling have been done from four different stations where unsuitable locations for measuring stratigraphical sections. 12 genus and 36 species of planktonic foraminifera have been determined from 41 sample collected from these measured sections and other random sampling areas and their systematic locations have been clarified. Turborotalia frontosa, Turborotalia possagnoensis zones were differentiated by using biostratigraphical distribution of these species. Also, 22 genus and 39 species of ostracoda have been defined. According to the lithology of the units cropping out in the area, properties of ostracoda which particularly indicative for environments, and contents of planktonic foraminifera show that the sequence is thought to be deposited marine environment generally in epineritic and partly in infra-neritic and bathial depth.