Miocene scleractinian corals from a mixed siliciclastic–carbonate system: Bakhtiari succession,Zagros Basin (central-western Iran)

Colonial scleractinian corals were sampled from three levels within a Miocene marine unit of the Bakhtiari succession, Zagros Basin, central-western Iran. The first two coral-bearing intervals, A and B, contain small-scale scattered colonies and show a poor coral diversity, whereas the third, consisting of a strongly lithified limestone package, reflects a well-developed biostromal framework with higher coral skeletal volume within the Bakhtiari succession. The Bakhtiari succession coral assemblages are characterized by Porites sp. cf. P. maigensis, Porites sp. cf. P. mancietensis, Porites sp. cf. P. collegniana, Tarbellastraea reussiana, Favia sp., Montastrea sp. cf. P. tchihatcheffi, Favites sp. cf. P. neugeboreni, Favites sp. cf. P. neuvillei, Agathiphyllia sp. and Acropora sp. Sedimentological and palaeontological data indicate that the depositional environment is consistent with a mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp that was gently deepening basinwards from the shoreline. The hemispherical and massive growth forms of colonies and sparse branching forms dominated the well-illuminated euphotic zone. Abundant domestone and dense pillarstone coral growth fabrics interdigitating with coarse-grained terrigenous sediments developed in the shallow inner ramp environment. Branching forms and meandroid branching colonies together with some massive forms mostly inhabited the low-energy conditions of the lower euphotic to oligophotic zones of the middle ramp. In the middle parts of the mixed carbonate–siliciclastic ramp, sparse pillarstone together with domestone comprises a mixstone coral growth fabric. Fluctuations in nutrient and clastic sediment input, salinity and the growth of red algae likely terminated coral growth.     

Balanced Bilingualism: Patterns of Contact Influence in L1 and L2 Turkic and Bakhtiari Speech in Juneqan,Iran

Most studies on language contact in Iran have focused on the effects of Persian on the country’s minority languages. There are also many cases where large regional languages such as Azeri, Kurdish, Balochi, Lori and Bakhtiari exert an influence on smaller regional languages, and a few studies have appeared on this topic. This paper examines the effects of language contact in the city of Juneqan in Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari Province, Iran, where the position of two minority languages—Bakhtiari and Qashqai Turkic—appears to be evenly balanced. The analysis is based on a comparison of L1 and L2 speech from two bilingual individuals with a different L1, as found in responses to the Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) questionnaire. Drawing on examples from lexicon, phonology and morphosyntax, the article argues that the equivalent influence of each language on the first- and second-language speech of members of the other language community is likely achieved not by simple equal status, but through the counterbalancing of regional Bakhtiari dominance with majority mother-tongue Turkic population in this city.