Late Cenozoic shortening in the west-central Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, by combined conjugate strike-slip and thin-skinned deformation

Abstract

The west-central Alborz Mountains of northern Iran have deformed in response to the Arabia-Eurasia collision since ca. 12 Ma and have accommodated 53 ± 3 km of shortening by a combination of range-parallel, conjugate strike-slip faulting and range-normal thrusting. By our interpretation, ∼17 km of shortening across the Alborz is accommodated by westward relative motion of a crustal wedge bounded by conjugate dextral and sinistral strike-slip fault systems. The Nusha, Barir, and Tang-e-Galu fault zones strike west-northwest, constrain the north side of the wedge, and, prior to ca. 5 Ma, accumulated a total of ∼25 km of dextral slip. The south side of the wedge is bounded by the active sinistral reverse Mosha and Taleghan faults, which merge northwest of Tehran and have a total slip estimate of 30–35 km. A restored cross section across the range indicates a minimum of 36 ± 2 km of fold-and-thrust–related, range-normal shortening. Combined, wedge motion, thrusting, and folding yield a net shortening of 53 ± 3 km across the range, which is within the error of the shortening estimate predicted by assuming that the present-day shortening rate (5 ± 2 mm/yr) has been constant since ca. 12 Ma (∼60 km of predicted shortening). A second restored cross section farther west, which includes the wedge, gives a total shortening of 15–18 km and a long-term shortening rate of 1.25–1.5 mm/yr (constant shortening rate since ca. 12 Ma). These strong along-strike finite-strain and long-term strain-rate gradients are important for our understanding of how long-term strain rates compare with instantaneous strain rates derived from global positioning system (GPS) data, and should be considered when planning mountain belt–scale GPS surveys. Finally, a 60-km-long right-hand bend in the Mosha-Taleghan fault system has driven the development of a transpressional duplex south of the fault. The southern boundary of the duplex is the active Farahzad–Karaj–North Tehran thrust system. The kinematic development of this strike-slip duplex has implications for seismic hazard assessment in the heavily populated Karaj and Tehran areas.