Excited states and terminating bands in123,124I

High spin states in^123,124I were populated via the¹¹⁶Cd(¹¹B,xn) reaction at 38 MeV bombarding energy and via the¹¹⁰Pd(¹⁸O,pxn) reaction at 75 MeV energy. γ-ray energies, intensities, γγ coincidences and DCO ratios were measured with the GASP spectrometer. The level schemes were extended considerably. Band terminations were observed in both nuclei. In¹²³I the rotational band, which is built on the πh _11/2 single-particle state was extended to spinI ^π=(35/2)^?; at higher spin the level spacings and the feeding pattern were found to become irregular, indicating a structure change. The (39/2)^? state and the higher-lying (43/2)^? level were interpreted as aligned oblate states. In¹²⁴I a decoupled band was found to terminate in the same spin region. Total Routhian surface calculations were performed which support the occurrence of a band termination.