CALCAREOUS ALGAE OF THE MIDDLE EAST 85 



ranges of 29 dasyclads listed by him with the 45 now shown for the same time- 

 interval in fig. 6. A general correspondence of restricted ranges, with individual, 

 local differences, may be observed. 



Permian 



The dasycladaceae recognized from the Iraqi Permian and their distribution there- 

 in are shown in Fig. 7. This Permian succession is approximately 800 m. thick, and 

 was sampled by Wetzel and others through complete successions near the localities 

 of Ora and Harur, in the north of Mosul Liwa, near the Turkish frontier. The 

 general succession is set out in Dunnington, Wetzel and Morton (1959) where the 

 whole series of thick upper and lower limestone divisions, separated by a thinner 

 evaporitic development, is named the Chia Zairi Formation ; Hudson (1958) has 

 named the two thick limestone divisions, so that the succession, from bottom to top, 

 comprises Zinnar Formation, Satina Evaporite Formation and Darari Formation. 



The Zinnar rests unconformably on Carboniferous (Tournaisian) . The Darari, at 

 its top, shows evidence of progressive shallowing, though the actual contact with the 

 overlying Triassic is said to be abrupt. 



Of the rich faunas collected, only two, both from the Zinnar, have been adequately 

 investigated. A coral fauna, from the Wentzelella limestones at about the middle of 

 the Zinnar, was compared by Hudson (1958) with similar faunas elsewhere in Asia, 

 the latter often including Neoschwagerina, especially N. cratulifera (Schwager) 

 " which could quite well be the age of the Wentzelella-Limestones of Iraq ". This 

 would be Artinskian-Kungurian (or Leonard- Word) . A fusulinid-fauna occurs near 

 the base of the Zinnar : this was studied by Lloyd (1963) who thought it " some- 

 what older " than a comparable Iranian assemblage dated as of Parafusulina-zone 

 age i.e. a possible Sakhmarian-Artinskian (Wolfcamp-Leonard) age for this lower 

 part. 



No other detailed faunal evidence for age is at present available above these levels, 

 though the upper Darari is similar to the north Italian Bellerophon-limestone 

 described by Accordi (1956). It may be that sedimentation was more or less 

 continuous throughout, up to the Triassic contact, and that the Zinnar-Satina- 

 Darari correspond to PSakhmarian (part), Artinskian-Kungurian-Tartarian, but this 

 remains to be proved by detailed analysis of the faunas. It is unlikely that the 

 boundaries of the Satina will correspond with stage levels. Against this lack of 

 detail the ranges of the dasyclads are of some interest. 



Mizzia velebitana ranges from near the base of the Iraqi Permian to near the top, 

 accompanied by the nondasyclads Gymnocodium bellerophontis and some Permo- 

 calctdus spp. The other dasyclads have very different ranges. Anthracoporella 

 mercurii is confined to the basal beds of the Zinnar : Pseudoepimastopora ampullacea 

 occurs in the Zinnar only, as do the non-dasyclad Ungdarella Maslov and the new 

 Permoperplexella. Atradyliopsis darariensis occurs only near the top of the Darari, 

 and Pseudovermiporella sodalica only within this formation. " Clypeina sp. " 

 marks the emergent conditions of the Zinnar-Satina contact level. 



It is probable that a fresh sampling, carried out primarily for the collection of 



