The Department of Earth and petroleum sciences at the Faculty of science – Mosul University, on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, discussed the master’s thesis tagged “ostracoda, stratigraphy and paleogeography of the Ibrahim formation (Oligocene–Miocene) in Bir khabaz (41), Kirkuk region, north-eastern Iraq”, by researcher Dima Nashwan Jamil al-ablish. The dean of the Faculty of Science, Prof. Dr. Hiam Adel Ibrahim, and the head of the Department of Earth and petroleum Sciences, Dr. Omar khalouk Mohammed Sajid, attended part of the discussion. The taxonomic study included the diagnosis of 59 species of ostracoda belonging to 31 genera, including 52 previously named species, as well as the registration of four new species, one species within the open label for lack of specimens, and two species within the open label for lack of sufficient diagnostic qualities. Based on the stratigraphic distribution of ostracoda fossils, the study identified two main assemblage ranges and three assemblage zones within the studied section, and the stratigraphic age of the Ibrahim formation was determined to be from the late Oligocene (Late Oligocene), in accordance with regional and global stratigraphic records. The results also showed that the life evidence corresponds to the lithological and sedimentary qualities of the formation, which indicate that the depositional basin was within a deep marine environment of a basin character (Deep-marine basal environment), locally extended towards parts of the deep continental shelf and the continental slope. The study indicated that the stratigraphic distribution of ostracoda populations in the Ibrahim and sirkacne formations reflects a chronological sequence extending from the late Oligocene to the early Miocene, with the presence of significant stratigraphic species contributing to the dating and regional stratigraphic link between the deposits of these periods in northern Iraq. The discussion Committee was chaired by Dr. Omar Ahmed Mouloud Al-Badrani, and the membership of assistant professor Dr. Abdullah Sultan Shihab Ahmed, assistant professor Dr. Mahfouz Abdullah Ali Hussein, and the membership and supervision of Dr. Nasreen mallallah Aziz Mahmoud. We wish the researcher and all graduate students and teachers of the Faculty of science success, excellence and creativity.

Government information and Communication Division

Tuesday, September 29, 2026