Zagros Mountain Belt Research Articles

Tomographic upper-mantle velocity structure beneath the Iranian Plateau

The Iranian plateau is one of the most structurally complex and tectonically inhomogeneous regions in the world. In this study, we analyze Pn arrival-times from regional seismicity in order to resolve lateral velocity variations within the uppermost-mantle under the Iranian Plateau. More than 48,000 Pn first arrival times selected from the EHB catalog were used with epicentral distances of 200 to 1600km. We used regularized isotropic and anisotropic damped least-squares inversion to image lateral velocity variations in the upper mantle. Our velocity model, with high lateral resolution, shows positive anomalies in the Zagros mountain belt with a distinct transition approximately along the Main Zagros Thrust to the lower mantle velocity zone of Central Iran. Anomalously low velocities are observed predominantly beneath NW Iran and eastern Turkey, suggesting a zone of relatively weak mantle. Low velocity region under the Damavand volcano reveals the hot upper mantle beneath the central Alborz mountains.

Brittle tectonic reconstruction of palaeo-extension inherited from Mesozoic rifting in West Zagros (Kermanshah, Iran)

Abstract: The present-day Zagros mountain belt of SW Iran corresponds to the former Arabian passive continental margin of the southern Neo-Tethyan basin, which existed since a Permian–Triassic rifting episode and underwent later collisional deformation in mid- to late Cenozoic time. In West Zagros, the Kermanshah Radiolarian Trough, separated from the Neo-Tethyan basin by the narrow continental platform of the Bisotun Limestone, resulted from the Triassic–Jurassic rifting of the passive margin. Brittle tectonic analyses of syndepositional normal fault slip data have been undertaken to study the extensional history of the passive margin in terms of palaeostress reconstruction. Dominant east–west trends of the inherited rift-related normal faults in West Zagros indicate an approximately north–south trend of extension that prevailed during the entire Mesozoic syn- to post-rift evolution of the radiolarian trough. This extension characterizes a stretched continental margin similar to the present-day passive margin of the British Isles. Considering the structural pattern of the inherited basement faults, as revealed by the present-day earthquake focal mechanisms, an oblique crustal stretching model is proposed for the rifting process.

Seismic imaging of the lithospheric structure of the Zagros mountain belt (Iran)

Abstract We present a synthesis and a comparison of the results of two temporary passive seismic experiments installed for a few months across the Central and Northern Zagros. The receiver function analysis of teleseismic earthquake records gives a high-resolution image of the Moho beneath the seismic transects. On both cross-sections, the crust has an average thickness of 42±2 km beneath the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt and the Central domain. The crust is thicker beneath the hanging wall of the Main Zagros Reverse Fault (MZRF), with a greater maximum Moho depth in the Central (69±2 km) than in the Northern Zagros (56±2 km). The thickening affects a narrower region (170 km) beneath the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone of the Central Zagros and a wider region (320 km) in the Northern Zagros. We propose that this thickening is related to overthrusting of the crust of the Arabian margin by the crust of Central Iran along the MZRF, which is considered as a major thrust fault cross-cutting the whole crust. The fault is imaged as a low-velocity layer in the receiver function data of the Northern Zagros profile. Moreover, the crustal-scale thrust model reconciles the imaged seismic Moho with the Bouguer anomaly data measured on the Central Zagros transect. At upper mantle depth, P-wave tomography confirms the previously observed strong contrast between the faster velocities of the Arabian margin and the lower velocities of the Iranian micro-blocks. Our higher-resolution tomography combined with surface-wave analysis locates the suture in the shallow mantle of the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone beneath the Central Zagros. The Arabian upper mantle has shield-like shear-wave velocities, whereas the lower velocities of the Iranian upper mantle are probably due to higher temperature. However, these velocities are not low enough and the low-velocity layer not thick enough to conclude that delamination of the lithospheric mantle lid has occurred beneath Iran. The lack of a high-velocity anomaly in the mantle beneath Central Iran suggests that the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere is probably detached from the Arabian margin.

Mesozoic extensional brittle tectonics of the Arabian passive margin, inverted in the Zagros collision (Iran, interior Fars)

Abstract The present Zagros mountain belt of SW Iran is known to be the former NE Arabian passive continental margin of the southern Neo-Tethyan basin, which originated by Permian–Triassic rifting, and has a late Cenozoic collisional imbricate structure. We carried out brittle tectonic analyses of syndepositional normal fault slip data in the High Zagros Belt of the Fars Province to reconstruct the extensional deformation of the passive margin during the Mesozoic era in terms of stress tensor inversion. This reconstruction revealed two main directions of extension, developing from a north–south margin-oblique trend to a NE–SW margin-perpendicular one. Considering the basement structures and the existence of the basal Infracambrian salt detachment, we infer that a transtensional extension could have initiated two major periods of crustal stretching: a Permian–Triassic thick-skinned phase with the basement faults developing in an oblique rifting, and a Mesozoic thin-skinned phase with the sedimentary cover being affected by successive extensional structures and block tilting. This extensional tectonic history probably continued during the early Tertiary period, prior to the continental collision. Fault slip geometries and structural patterns of both the Mesozoic extension and the late Cenozoic compression indicate inversion of the inherited structures in the Zagros collision during the subsequent thin- and thick-skinned stages of crustal shortening.

The kinematics of the Zagros Mountains (Iran)

Abstract We present a synthesis of recently conducted tectonic, global positioning system (GPS), geomorphological and seismic studies to describe the kinematics of the Zagros mountain belt, with a special focus on the transverse right-lateral strike-slip Kazerun Fault System (KFS). Both the seismicity and present-day deformation (as observed from tectonics, geomorphology and GPS) appear to concentrate near the 1000 m elevation contour, suggesting that basement and shallow deformation are related. This observation supports a thick-skinned model of southwestward propagation of deformation, starting from the Main Zagros Reverse Fault. The KFS distributes right-lateral strike-slip motion of the Main Recent Fault onto several segments located in an en echelon system to the east. We observe a marked difference in the kinematics of the Zagros across the Kazerun Fault System. To the NW, in the North Zagros, present-day deformation is partitioned between localized strike-slip motion on the Main Recent Fault and shortening located on the deformation front. To the SE, in the Central Zagros, strike-slip motion is distributed on several branches of the KFS. The decoupling of the Hormuz Salt layer, restricted to the east of the KFS and favouring the spreading of the sedimentary cover, cannot be the only cause of this distributed mechanism because seismicity (and therefore basement deformation) is associated with all active strike-slip faults, including those to the east of the Kazerun Fault System.

The continuation of the Kazerun fault system across the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone (Iran)

The Kazerun (or Kazerun-Qatar) fault system is a north-trending dextral strike-slip fault zone in the Zagros mountain belt of Iran. It probably originated as a structure in the Panafrican basement. This fault system played an important role in the sedimentation and deformation of the Phanerozoic cover sequence and is still seismically active. No previous studies have reported the continuation of this important and ancient fault system northward across the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone. The Isfahan fault system is a north-trending dextral strike-slip fault across the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone that passes west of Isfahan city and is here recognized for the first time. This important fault system is about 220 km long and is seismically active in the basement as well as the sedimentary cover sequence. This fault system terminates to the south near the Main Zagros Thrust and to the north at the southern boundary of the Urumieh–Dokhtar zone. The Isfahan fault system is the boundary between the northern and southern parts of Sanandaj–Sirjan zone, which have fundamentally different stratigraphy, petrology, geomorphology, and geodynamic histories. Similarities in the orientations, kinematics, and geologic histories of the Isfahan and Kazerun faults and the way they affect the magnetic basement suggest that they are related. In fact, the Isfahan fault is a continuation of the Kazerun fault across the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone that has been offset by about 50 km of dextral strike-slip displacement along the Main Zagros Thrust.

Distribution of the right-lateral strike–slip motion from the Main Recent Fault to the Kazerun Fault System (Zagros, Iran): Evidence from present-day GPS velocities

GPS measurements across the Kazerun Fault System in the Zagros mountain belt provide first instantaneous velocities on the different segments. These results are closely consistent with the geological fault slip rates (over 150 ka), implying stable velocities over a longer period. The present-day strike–slip motion is distributed from the Main Recent Fault to the N-trending Kazerun Fault System along a preferential en-echelon fault zone included in a more distributed fan-shape fault pattern. The Hormuz salt decoupling layer cannot be the only cause of a sedimentary spreading because seismicity attests these faults are rooted in the basement. The Dena fault (3.7 mm/yr) transfers the MRF fault slip mainly to the Kazerun (3.6 mm/yr) and slightly to the High Zagros and Sabz Pushan faults (1.5 mm/yr), and the Kazerun fault further to the Kareh Bas fault (3.4 mm/yr). Total geological horizontal offsets associated with GPS slip rates help inferring precise fault slip onset ages. The successive onsets deduced by this approach imply that the right-lateral strike-slip activity of the MRF has propagated in time southeastward to the Dena segment, and then to the Kazerun segment and to the Kareh Bas fault.

Relationships between foraminiferal assemblages and depositional sequences in Jahrum Formation, Ardal area (Zagros Basin, SW Iran)

The Jahrum Formation was deposited in the foreland basin in southwest Iran (Zagros Basin). The Zagros mountain belt of Iran, a part of the Alpine–Himalayan system, extends from the NW Iranian border through to SW Iran, up to the strait of Hormuz. The various facies of the Jahrum Formation were deposited in four main genetically related depositional environments, including: tidal flat, lagoon, shoal and open marine. These are represented by 14 microfacies. The Jahrum Formation represents sedimentation on a carbonate ramp. Tidal flat facies are represented by fenestral fabric, stromatolitic boundstone and thin-bedded planes. Carbonate deposition in a shallow marine lagoon was characterised by wacke–packstone, dominated by various taxa of imperforate foraminifer. The shoals are made up of medium- to coarse-grained skeletal and peloidal grainstone. This facies was deposited predominantly in an active high energy wave and current regime, and grades basinward into middle ramps facies are represented by wackestones–packstones with a diverse assemblage of echinoderm and large benthic foraminifers with perforate wall. Outer ramp facies consist of alternating marl and limestones rich in pelagic foraminifera. There is no evidence for resedimentation processes in this facies belt. The sequence stratigraphy study has led to recognition of three third-order depositional sequences.

The diffuse transition between the Zagros continental collision and the Makran oceanic subduction (Iran): microearthquake seismicity and crustal structure

SummaryThe nature of the transition between the Zagros intra-continental collision and the Makran oceanic subduction is a matter of debate: either a major fault cutting the whole lithosphere or a more progressive transition associated with a shallow gently dipping fault restricted to the crust. Microearthquake seismicity located around the transition between the transition zone is restricted to the west of the Jaz-Murian depression and the Jiroft fault. No shallow micro-earthquakes seem to be related to the NNW-SSE trending Zendan-Minab-Palami active fault system. Most of the shallow seismicity is related either to the Zagros mountain belt, located in the west, or to the NS trending Sabzevaran-Jiroft fault system, located in the north. The depth of microearthquakes increases northeastwards to an unusually deep value (for the Zagros) of 40 km. Two dominant types of focal mechanisms are observed in this region: low-angle thrust faulting, mostly restricted to the lower crust, and strike-slip at shallow depths, both consistent with NS shortening. The 3-D inversion of P traveltimes suggests a high-velocity body dipping northeastwards to a depth of 25 km. This high-velocity body, probably related to the lower crust, is associated with the deepest earthquakes showing reverse faulting. We propose that the transition between the Zagros collision and the Makran subduction is not a sharp lithospheric-scale transform fault associated with the Zendan-Minab-Palami fault system. Instead it is a progressive transition located in the lower crust. The oblique collision results in partial partitioning between strike-slip and shortening components within the shallow brittle crust because of the weakness of the pre-existing Zendan-Minab-Palami faults.

Difference in the GPS deformation pattern of North and Central Zagros (Iran)

SUMMARY Measurements on either side of the Kazerun fault system in the Zagros Mountain Belt, Iran, show that the accommodation of the convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian Plates differs across the region. In northwest Zagros, the deformation is partitioned as 3‐6 mm yr −1 of shortening perpendicular to the axis of the mountain belt, and 4‐6 mm yr −1 of dextral strikeslip motion on northwest‐southeast trending faults. No individual strike-slip fault seems to slip at a rate higher than ∼ 2m m yr −1 . In southeast Zagros, the deformation is pure shortening of 8 ± 2m m yr −1 occurring perpendicular to the simple folded belt and restricted to the Persian Gulf shore. The fact that most of the deformation is located in front of the simple folded belt, close to the Persian Gulf, while seismicity is more widely spread across the mountain belt, confirms the decoupling of the surface sedimentary layers from the seismogenic basement. A comparison with the folding and topography corroborates a southwestward propagation of the surface deformation. The difference in deformation between the two regions suggests that right-lateral shear cumulates on the north‐south trending Kazerun strike-slip fault system to 6 ± 2m m yr −1 .

Seismological evidence for crustal-scale thrusting in the Zagros mountain belt (Iran)

SUMMARY Crustal receiver functions (RFs) computed from the records of 45 temporary seismological stations installed on a 620-km-long profile across central Zagros provide the first direct evidence for crustal thickening in this mountain belt. Due to a rather short 14 km average station spacing, the migrated section computed from radial RFs displays the Moho depth variations across the belt with good spatial resolution. From the coast of the Persian Gulf to 25 km southwest of the Main Zagros Thrust (MZT), the Moho is almost horizontal with slight depth variations around 45 km. Crustal thickness then increases abruptly to a maximum of ∼70 km beneath the Sanandaj‐Sirjan metamorphic zone, between 50 and 90 km northeast of the surface exposure of the MZT. Further northeast, the Moho depth decreases to ∼42 km beneath the UrumiehDokhtar magmatic assemblage and the southern part of the Central Iranian microcontinent. The region of thickest crust is located ∼75 km to the northeast of the Bouguer anomaly low at −220 mGals. Gravity modelling shows that the measured Moho depth variations can be reconciled with gravity observations by assuming that the crust of Zagros underthrusts the crust of central Iran along the MZT considered as a crustal-scale structure. This hypothesis is compatible with shortening estimates by balanced cross-sections of the Zagros folded belt, as well as with structural and petrological studies of the metamorphic Sanandaj‐Sirjan zone.

Active deformation within the Zagros Mountains deduced from GPS measurements

We present and interpret the results of Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements at 35 stations in and beside the Zagros Mountain belt, SW Iran, for three campaigns ending March 1998, December 1999 and June 2001. Preliminary motion estimates show clearly the change in character along the strike of the belt. Stations to the SE move at 13–22 ± 3 mm a −1 towards N 7 ± 5°E with respect to Eurasia. Most of the shortening indicated by the GPS velocities seems to occur in the SE Zagros along two major seismic zones and along the Zagros front. To the NW, stations move oblique to the trend of the belt towards N 12 ± 8°W, at 14–19 ± 3 mm a −1 . Most of the shortening in the NW Zagros seems to occur along the Mountain Front Fault with its major earthquakes as well as along the Zagros front. The change in direction and magnitude of the velocity vectors across the north–south-trending Kazerun and Karebas faults involves extension of up to 4 mm a −1 along the strike of the Zagros belt.

Seismological constraints on the crustal structure beneath the Zagros Mountain belt (Iran)

SUMMARY The Zagros Mountain belt of western Iran results from the collision of the Arabian and Central Iran continental blocks. The stage of the collision is unclear and the crustal structure of the Zagros is rather poorly known. In this study we investigate the velocity structure of the crust and upper mantle beneath the Ghir region located in the Central Zagros using data collected by a temporary local seismological network including a broad-band instrument. The structures of the sedimentary cover and the upper crystalline crust are estimated from the inversion of P and S traveltimes of local earthquakes recorded on a dense seismological network. The upper crust consists of an ∼11 km thick sedimentary layer (V p ∼ 4.70 km s −1 ) above a ∼8 km thick upper crystalline crust (V p ∼ 5.85 km s −1 ). The velocity of the lower crust and the depth of the Moho are found using receiver function analysis of teleseismic earthquakes. The lower crystalline crust is unusually slow (V p ∼ 6.5 km s −1 ) and ∼27 km thick. The upper bound for the total crustal thickness beneath the Ghir region is 46 ± 2 km. A comparison of the thickness of the crystalline crust of the Zagros with available information for the thickness of the crystalline crust of the Arabian Platform shows that, at present, the Zagros has a thinner crust. The current crustal thickness beneath the Zagros is comparable to the pre-collision crustal thickness of the Arabian Platform, suggesting that the Zagros is now in a very early stage of continental collision.

The present‐day deformation of the central Zagros from GPS measurements

In 1997 and in 2000, we measured the distances between 14 geodetic benchmarks across the central Zagros mountain belt. The results show that about 10 mm/yr of shortening in the central Zagros is distributed across the mountain belt. This shortening corresponds to roughly 50% of the total convergence between Arabia and Eurasia and is consistent in direction. The Persian Gulf does not deform significantly. The Main Zagros Reverse Fault is not an active kinematic boundary. The internal deformation of the folded belt is rather homogeneous, at the scale of our survey, which does not allow us to detect any individual active blind fault. However, the strain pattern suggests that N‐S dextral strike slip faults may accommodate part of the deformation.

ABSTRACT: Thermal and Maturity Reconstruction in Northern Fars and Zagros Mountain Belt (Iran)

ABSTRACT: Thermal and Maturity Reconstruction in Northern Fars and Zagros Mountain Belt (Iran)

ABSTRACT: A Regional Structural Interpretation of the Zagros Mountain Belt in Northern Fars and High Zagros (SW Iran)

The structural style is controlled by the stratigraphic position of the decollement levels, that varies with depth for the different areas of the 300 km long transect. Within the sedimentary pile, the main decollement level is the Hormuz salt. Sometimes this decollement level as well as pre Hormuz sedimentary basins can be clearly observed on seismic lines. Paleozoic formations are therefore involved in the main structures. The second decollement and disharmonic level is the evaporitic Dashtak formation (Trias). The difference in the tectonic style between Northern Fars, in the southern part of the transect and High Zagros in the northern part of the transect is partly due to the lateral facies changes in the Triassic formations, from evaporite to dolomite. The shaly layers of the Kazhdumi (Cretaceous) and Pabdeh/Gurpi (late Cretaceous/Early Tertiary) as well as Gachsaran (Late Miocene) evaporitic layer can locally act as secondary decollement.

The geometry of structures in the Zagros cover rocks and its neotectonic implications

Abstract The Zagros Mountains are situated along the NE margin of the Arabian plate and are the product of complex deformation which began in Late Cretaceous time as a result of the collision between the Arabian and Central Iranian plates. During Pliocene time, deformation increased when plate convergence was accelerated by the opening of the Red Sea. This stimulated the migration of a deformation front from the collision zone towards the SW into the undisturbed Zagros basin and led to the creation of the Zagros Mountain Belt. The type and distribution of the deformation in the Zagros are controlled mainly by plate velocity, which is linked to the anticlockwise rotation of the Arabian plate around a pole in Syria, and the regional stratigraphy. The sedimentary cover and the underlying metamorphic basement decouple along an important detachment horizon, the Hormuz Salt Formation, and the uneven thickness and distribution of this salt plays a key role in determining the geometry of the deformation belt. Analysis of the distribution and geometry of the folds provides evidence for the southwestwards migration of the deformation front into the Arabian plate. The analyses are consistent with field evidence for serial folding, which indicates that each fold takes c. 600 ka to develop fully, and with the model of a southwestward advancing deformation front driven by the processes of serial folding and footwall collapse.

Epicenter distribution and magnitude of earthquakes in fold‐thrust belts: Insights from Sandbox Models

Scaled analogue models are used to illustrate the effect of basal friction and erosion on fault activity and hence on epicentre distribution and magnitude of earthquakes in the sedimentary cover of active fold‐thrust belts. Model results suggest that in fold‐thrust belts shortened above low‐friction ductile decollements (rock salt or over‐pressured mudstone), low‐ to moderate‐magnitude earthquakes (Mw = 5.3–5.6), distributed over a wide area, occur along several long‐lived thrust faults. Conversely, in areas shortened above high‐friction decollements large‐magnitude earthquakes (Mw = 6.6–6.8), distributed over a narrow zone are likely to occur along few short‐lived thrust ramps. Calculated magnitude of earthquakes from models and their distribution are in agreement with recorded earthquake pattern from the Zagros mountain belt, which is partially shortened above a ductile decollement of Hormuz salt formation. Model results also showed that erosion reactivates older inactive thrusts and promotes formation of out‐of‐sequence thrusts.

Subsurface Structure of the Eastern Edge of the Zagros Basin as Inferred from Gravity and Satellite Data

A data set of 10,505 points of land gravity measurements from southeast Iran obtained from the Bureau Gravimetrique International, combined with Landsat imagery, was used to investigate crustal and Cenozoic lithospheric structure. Interpretation of the Bouguer anomalies reveals three primary structural features. The Zagros Mountain belt is characterized by a progressive decrease in gravity values from -70 mGal near the Persian Gulf to -160 mGal over the suture zone between the Arabian margin and central Iran crustal blocks. The second feature is marked by a backward-L-shaped pair of anomalies that extends from the eastern peripheries of the Zagros basin and wraps around southern Iranian shores. These 15- to 20-km-deep source anomalies, with amplitudes of as much as 10 mGa , are interpreted as intrabasement intrusions demarcating an ancient rift axis. The shallow (6-8 km) east-west-trending anomalies are perhaps interbasement uplifts bordered by reverse faults. The third structure, observed on both gravity and Landsat displays, a north-striking eastward-facing topographic escarpment, has a gravity gradient of 0.85 mGal/km, and is right laterally offset approximately 100 km by the Zagros main recent fault. On Landsat, this escarpment is manifest by a system of north-trending faults that seem to diverge into a horsetail pattern toward the east, and by a set of north-trending dike swarms that cut Jurassic volcano-sedimentary rocks. It separates two distinct structural and sedimentary styles, the Zagros foreland basin anticlines of shallow marine Precambrian to Pliocene rocks on the west and the Makran deep-water Eocene flysch belt on the east. A comparison of gravity features with surface structures on Thematic Mapper and Landsat Multispectral Scanner imagery indicates that a northeast-trending fault system is the result of post-Miocene pervasive transpressive stress coupled with clockwise rotation of underlying basement blocks following the collision of Arabia and Iran. Accommodation structures such as forced folds and rabbit-ear anticlines may develop over and on the flanks of the basement blocks, providing remigration and trapping mechanisms for new oil and gas plays.

Modern alluvial fan and deltaic sedimentation in a foreland tectonic setting: the Lower Mesopotamian Plain and the Arabian Gulf

The Arabo-Persian Gulf, generally considered as a classical carbonate basin, in fact also includes important terrigenous systems whose nature and geometry are related closely to the tectonic framework. The Gulf is bordered along its northeastern periphery by an active alpine system which constitutes a major source of both siliceous and calcareous detritus. There are four types of terrigenous discharge which are classified according to their structural relationships. Numerous alluvial fans terminate ephemeral consequent streams draining the flanks of anticlines forming the external parts of the Zagros Mountain belt. Alluvial-fan deltas studied in detail in southeastern Iran terminate semi-permanent streams which flow along major synclinal axis. They are composed mainly of fine carbonate detritus, part of which accumulates as spectacular marine mud banks. Two major types of delta occur. Relatively small marine deltas, associated with permanent antecedent streams which cross the Zagros fold system, are scattered along the Persian shoreline. The other is the a major deltaic complex which is associated with the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers. This system has prograded along the main axis of the Gulf, the resulting Mesopotamian Plain filling at least half of the original basin which, in early Quaternary times, extended from Hormuz to Syria.