Micropaleontological and Lithogeochemical Characteristics of the Turtas Formation (Upper Oligocene), Western Siberia

This work presents the results of integrated micropaleontological and lithogeochemical analysis of Upper Oligocene continental deposits of the Turtas Formation from the Zyryanskaya-1 borehole (southwestern part of the Tyumen Region, Western Siberia). The predominance of freshwater planktonic diatoms at the subordinate significance of benthic species, as well as the presence of gemmuloscleres of sponges, indicates the coastal sedimentation conditions in a freshwater basin varying in depth from 3 to 50 m. The studied palynocomplex is similar to the spore-and-pollen spectra of the Turtas Formation of the Lower Ob Region, but differs from palynocomplexes of the same formation spread over the southern regions of Western Siberia in a low amount of Taxodiaceae/Cupressaceae and Betulaceae pollen, as well as the absence of Fagaceae pollen and Pseudokomewuia freshwater dinocysts. The revealed differences can be explained both by facies features and by variations in the volume of the Turtas Formation in the currently known localities. The data on the microelemental composition of samples, as well as geochemical and petrogeochemical modules, indicate that the accumulation of the Turtas Formation occurred in the coastal areas of a low-mineralized basin under relatively warm humid climatic conditions.