Tectonic evolution of the hinterland of the Zagros Orogen revealed from the deformation of the Golpaygan Metamorphic Complex, Iran

Abstract

In the southwestern part of the Central Iran zone, the Golpaygan Metamorphic Complex (GMC) was evolved during the Zagros orogeny. This complex is composed of different metamorphic rocks including schist, marble, slate, gneiss and amphibolite. The metamorphic complex is overlain by a cover sequence including Permian carbonates, Jurassic clastic rocks, Cretaceous carbonates and Eocene clastic rocks. The internal structure of the GMC is characterized by four deformational stages. The first stage (D1) developed contemporaneously with the prograde regional metamorphism and resulted in formation of the first generation folds and prevailing axial plane foliation. The second stage of deformation (D2) was accompanied by deformation partitioning and formation of contractional shear zones. These structures were overprinted by different scale folds of the third stage (D3). The fourth stage of deformation (D4) is characterized by generation of the extensional shear zones which gradually transformed into normal faults. D1 and accompanied metamorphism may have resulted from steep subduction of the Neotethys Ocean beneath the active margin of the Central Iran zone during Jurassic times. D2–D3 structures and retrograde metamorphism may have been formed by a regional shortening and transpression deformation event which resulted in exposure of the metamorphic rocks in shallower levels during Cretaceous flat slab subduction. This condition lasted until Paleocene time when the slab roll-back caused extension and thinning of the overriding Central Iran plate. The subsequent decompression and regional extension resulted in intrusion of magmatic rocks and generation of D4 which formed the GMC and related magmatism in Paleocene-Eocene time.