late cretaceous paleocene formation of the proto zagros foreland basin lurestan province sw iran late cretaceous emplacement of ophiolitic radiolaritic thrust sheets over the arabian passive margin was the first manifestation of the protracted closure of the neotethys ocean which ended with the continental collision between arabia and central iran and the formation of the present zagros fold belt this tectonic stacking produced a flexural basin the amiran basin 400 200 km in size in the northwest zagros that was filled with a 1225 m thick shallowing upward detrital succession made up of the amiran taleh zang and kashkan formations this succession sits unconformably above the late cretaceous gurpi formation and is overlain by the oligocene miocene shahbazan asmari carbonate succession dating of the amiran kashkan succession is based on detailed biostratigraphy using large foraminifera and calcareous nannoplankton the cretaceous tertiary k t boundary is located within the uppermost 25 45 m of the gurpi formation the overlying amiran and taleh zang formations have been dated as paleocene in age however the base of the paleocene within the gurpi formation lacks np1 and np2 zones implying a hiatus of 2 m y at ca 65 5 ma which is inferred to correspond to an early folding phase near the cretaceous paleocene boundary the upper part of the kashkan formation is dated to the earliest eocene by palynostratigraphy a large hiatus or very slow deposition lasting about 15 m y occurs between the kashkan and shahbazan formations in the studied region the base of the prograding shahbazan platform deposits is dated by 87sr 86sr stratigraphy at ca 33 9 ma the upper part of the asmari formation is dated as early middle miocene using foraminifera associations reconstruction of the amiran taleh zang kashkan succession of the amiran basin indicates a thickening of the basin fill from the southern pinch out along the se flank of the kabir kuh anticline to sw of the khorramabad anticline where the flexure is at least 900 m in contrast the ne part of the basin underwent coeval contraction and uplift of 1300 m superimposed smaller undulations onto the large scale flexure are interpreted as late cretaceous paleocene folds regional comparisons se zagros oman and turkey indicate that late cretaceous early tertiary deformation affected the entire ne margin of arabia but that compression was not synchronous being younger in lurestan than in the nw persian gulf where inversion tectonics occurred from turonian to mid campanian times the long sedimentary hiatus spanning most of the middle and late eocene must have been related to deep lithospheric processes linked to the initial events of the protracted closure of the neotethys ocean between arabia and central iran the tectono sedimentary history recorded in the zagros basin may help to understand early foreland basin growth in other orogens in which subsequent continental collision has obliterated these early events

regional stratigraphy of the zagros fold thrust belt of iran and its proforeland evolution the latest neoproterozoic through phanerozoic stratigraphy of the zagros fold thrust belt of iran has been revised in the light of recent investigations the revised stratigraphy consists of four groups of rocks each composed of a number of unconformity bounded megasequences representing various tectonosedimentary settings in the lowest group ranging in age from latest precambrian to devonian the uppermost neoproterozoic to middle cambrian rocks constitute a megasequence of evaporites siliciclastic deposits and interlayered carbonates which were deposited in pull apart basins that developed by the najd strike slip fault system this megasequence is overlain by a second one middle to late cambrian in age which consists of shallow marine siliciclastic and carbonate rocks representing deposition in an epicontinental platform the overlying shales siltstones and partly volcanogenic sandstones of ordovician silurian and devonian age are local remnants of stratigraphic units that were extensively eroded during development of several major unconformities the second group consists of two megasequences one permian and the other triassic composed of widespread transgressive basal siliciclastic rocks and overlying evaporitic carbonates of an equatorial epi pangean very shallow platformal sea the third group is composed of four megasequences formed of shallow and deep water carbonates with some siliciclastic and evaporite deposits which accumulated on a neo tethyan continental shelf during earliest jurassic through late turonian time the fourth group comprises siliciclastic and carbonate deposits of a largely underfilled nw to se trending forward and backward migrating late cretaceous to recent proforeland basin which has evolved as an integral part of the zagros orogen this last group consists of three megasequences ix x and xi with distinctive lateral and vertical facies variations which reflect specific tectonic events megasequence ix comprises uppermost turonian to middle maastrichtian prograding and retrograding siliciclastic and carbonate deposits whose accumulations reflect emplacement obduction of ophiolite slivers and subsequent collisional events in the zagros orogen megasequence x consists of uppermost maastrichtian to upper eocene siliciclastic and carbonate rocks which deposited first progradationally in front of the zagros orogenic wedge with reduced contractional tectonic activity and then retrogradationally due to intensified thrust stacking in the interior parts of the orogen megasequence xi consists of oligocene and lower miocene carbonate strata deposited retrogradationally shortly after a period of intensified late eocene thrust faulting in the deformational wedge and an overlying succession of upward coarsening northeasterly derived siliciclastic deposits of lower miocene to recent age which are composed of erosional byproducts of the southwest vergent zagros thrust sheets

cretaceous sequence of deformation in the se zagros fold thrust belt several major zones across the zagros fold thrust belt have been interpreted as indicating that orogeny took place progressively from ne to sw through discrete orogenic episodes during tertiary time this paper uses field evidence of growth onlaps and angular unconformities within the cretaceous stratigraphic column as well as existing geological maps and cross sections to indicate that deformation started as early as the late aptian and folded the whole width of the zagros belt simultaneously later events are indicated by folding at the end of the cenomanian and in the late turonian and santonian following the late cretaceous deformation phases the se zagros basin was divided into several longitudinal intra shelf basins which were separated by nw se trending cretaceous anticlines however with reference to our previous work it can be suggested that each of the sub basins was folded serially from ne to sw through a series of tectonic phases during the next episode of zagros orogeny in tertiary time the change of deformation style from concomitant to serial folding during the cretaceous and tertiary respectively is attributed to the existence of the hormuz salt and shearing at the base of the former basin and its absence at the base of the tertiary intra shelf basins

modelling role of basement block rotation and strike slip faulting on structural pattern in cover units of fold and thrust belts a series of scaled analogue models are used to study de coupling between basement and cover deformation rigid basal blocks were rotated about a vertical axis in a bookshelf fashion which caused strike slip faulting along the blocks and in the overlying cover units of loose sand three different combinations of cover basement deformations are modelled i cover shortening before basement fault movement ii basement fault movement before cover shortening and iii simultaneous cover shortening with basement fault movement results show that the effect of the basement faults depends on the timing of their reactivation pre and syn orogenic basement fault movements have a significant impact on the structural pattern of the cover units whereas post orogenic basement fault movement has less influence on the thickened hinterland of the overlying belt the interaction of basement faulting and cover shortening results in the formation of rhombic structures in models with pre and syn orogenic basement strike slip faults rhombic blocks develop as a result of shortening of the overlying cover during basement faulting these rhombic blocks are similar in appearance to flower structures but are different in kinematics genesis and structural extent we compare these model results to both the zagros fold and thrust belt in southwestern iran and the alborz mountains in northern iran based on the model results we conclude that the traces of basement faults in cover units rotate and migrate towards the foreland during regional shortening as such these traces do not necessarily indicate the actual location or orientation of the basement faults which created them

magnetostratigraphy of miocene pliocene zagros foreland deposits in the front of the push e kush arc lurestan province iran abstract the timing of the deformation in the zagros simply folded belt is poorly constrained because of the lack of an accurate absolute chronology of the syntectonic sedimentary sequences the foreland basin infill at the front of the push e kush arc is composed of fine grained fluvial plain deposits agha jari fm and coarse conglomerates at the top of the section bakhtyari fm a magnetostratigraphic study was carried out in a composite section spanning about 2800 m in order to date growth strata and to constrain the timing of the deformation in the mountain front flexure mff magnetostratigraphic correlation of the base of the agha jari fm with chron c5a yields an age of 12 8 to 12 3 ma for this base the transition to the conglomerates of the bakhtyari fm correlates with the upper gauss chron c2an at approximately 3 ma the deposition age of the top of the preserved bakhtyari fm is extrapolated around the pliocene pleistocene boundary the base of the agha jari fm growth strata and thus the beginning of the deformation in the front of the push e kush arc is dated at 8 1 7 2 ma the topmost preserved bakhtyari is folded in the ne flank of the changuleh anticline and is unconformably overlying the sw flank of the anaran anticline this indicates that the tectonic deformation in the front of the push e kush arc was active at least during 5 my the mff is a relatively long lived structure active from 8 1 to 7 2 ma to about the pliocene pleistocene boundary partly synchronous with the changuleh anticline to the foreland after mff tectonic cessation only the changuleh anticline remained active

cenozoic evolution of neotethys and implications for the causes of plate motions africa north america eurasia plate circuit rotations combined with red sea rotations and new estimates of crustal shortening in iran define the cenozoic history of the neotethyan ocean between arabia and eurasia the new constraints indicate that arabia eurasia convergence has been fairly constant at 2 to 3 cm yr since 56 ma with slowing of africa eurasia motion to 1 cm yr near 25 ma coeval with the opening of the red sea ocean closure occurred no later than 10 ma and could have occurred prior to this time only if a large amount of continental lithosphere was subducted suggesting that slowing of africa significantly predated the arabia eurasia collision these kinematics imply that africa s disconnection with the negative buoyancy of the downgoing slab of lithosphere beneath southern eurasia slowed its motion the slow steady rate of northward subduction since 56 ma contrasts with strongly variable rates of magma production in the urumieh dokhtar arc implying magma production rate in continental arcs is not linked to subduction rate

the mountain front flexure in the lurestan region of the zagros belt crustal architecture and role of structural inheritances abstract the mountain front flexure is a major structure of the zagros orogenic system and is underlain by the deeply rooted and seismically active mountain front fault system these coupled structural features divide the belt from its foreland and their trace is sinuous forming salients and recesses the origin and tectonic significance of the mountain front fault system and its sinuosity are still unclear with most of hypotheses pointing to a strong structural control exerted by geological inheritances in this work we combine interpretation of seismic reflection profiles earthquake data geomorphic analysis and geological observations to build a balanced cross section across the mountain front flexure in the lurestan region our data are suggestive of a hybrid tectonic style for the lurestan region characterised by a major and newly developed crustal ramp in the frontal portion of the belt i e the mountain front fault and by the reactivation of steeply dipping pre existing basin bounding faults along with a minor amount of shortening in the inner area specifically the integration of our results with previous knowledge indicates that the mountain front fault system developed ahead of an array of inverted jurassic extensional faults in a structural fashion which resembles that of a crustal scale footwall shortcut within this structural context the sinusoidal shape of the mountain front flexure in the lurestan area arises from the re use of the original segmentation of the inverted jurassic rift system

seismotectonics of the zagros continental collision zone and a comparison with the himalayas accurate focal depths of 16 medium to large zagros earthquakes were determined from identification of surface reflected phases by comparing observed long period p waves with synthetic seismograms all events are shallow 6 12 km and show no tendency to deepen toward the main zagros thrust geological and geophysical evidence suggests that most of these earthquakes probably occurred within the uppermost precambrian basement because the focal mechanisms of these events indicate high angle reverse faulting the events do not occur on a single detachment surface but rather reflect horizontal shortening of the basement on numerous short segmented 8 probably occurred along this detachment a comparative study of the zagros with the himalayas suggests that the active tectonics of the zagros continental collision zone and the iranian blocks arc similar to those of the himalayas and the tibetan terranes in oligocene time

structural framework of the zagros fold thrust belt iran abstract data gleaned from the literature on the zagros have been compiled and used in conjunction with new interpretations to provide a better picture of the structures sedimentation history and deformation of this hydrocarbon rich mountain belt the belt parallel mountain front the n s trending kazerun izeh and e w trending bala rud fault zones are defined as the master structural elements of the belt these fault zones divide the zagros basin into zones with different stratigraphic successions and different rheological profiles this resulted in different structural styles developing along the belt during the subsequent collision the kazerun and izeh fault zones acted as the depositional system transition zone between the lurestan and fars regions in jurassic cretaceous time and partly controlled the distribution of the kazhdumi formation one of the major source rocks by the end of the cretaceous the nw se trending mountain front fault divided the present folded belt of the zagros into a major foreland basin to the southwest and a piggyback basin to the northeast activity along other major transfer fault zones including the izeh kazerun and bala rud fault zones occurred at this time and controlled the sedimentation and subsidence of the dezful embayment the main target region for hydrocarbon exploration these fault zones controlled the thickness of the asmari formation one of the main reservoirs and also the considerable thickness and facies changes of the gachsaran formation the major seal to the asmari formation the present morphology of the mountain belt is interpreted as being mainly related to the pinning of the mountain front fault to the northwest of the dezful embayment and to the north of the strait of hormuz

variation of structural style and basin evolution in the central zagros izeh zone and dezful embayment iran abstract structural style and its relationship to sedimentary facies and the evolution of sedimentary depocenters since late cretaceous times have been studied on the basis of one regional balanced transect and several updated isopach maps in the izeh zone and the dezful embayment central zagros this study relies on fieldwork data existing geological maps seismic data and well information a new structural classification for part of the zagros sedimentary cover is presented to highlight the different mechanical behavior of the formations in the stratigraphic column it shows the existence of several local decollement levels activated during folding these decollement levels separate lithotectonic units which accommodate shortening in different ways the lower paleozoic is the basal decollement level throughout the studied area triassic evaporites albian shales eocene marls and miocene evaporites can act as intermediate decollement levels and present variable facies in the central zagros lateral facies and thickness variations the sedimentary overburden and the close relationship with inherited fault patterns influenced the wavelength amplitude and style of folding in the study area furthermore surface structures do not necessarily coincide with deeper objectives where these disharmonic levels are involved in folding the evolution of sedimentary depocenters from the late cretaceous obduction episode until early miocene collision is described based on updated isopach maps and tectonic subsidence curves this analysis shows continuous compression and movements along n s and nw se trending faults in the zagros basement which predate the neogene zagros folding and influence sedimentation history it also indicates a southwestward migration of the depocenters through time in addition to the basement involvement below some folds during the zagros orogeny

tectonics of the zagros orogenic belt of iran new data and interpretations abstract the zagros orogenic belt of iran is the result of the opening and closure of the neo tethys oceanic realm and consists from northeast to southwest of three parallel tectonic subdivisions 1 1 the urumieh dokhtar magmatic assemblage 2 2 the sanandaj sirjan zone and 3 3 the zagros simply folded belt recent detailed and reconnaissance mapping and stratigraphie structural analyses in various parts of the belt indicate that the tectonics of the sanandaj sirjan zone is dominated by either large scale composite duplex structures or low and high angle ne dipping imbricate systems these thrust systems have transported numerous horses and sheets nappes of metamorphosed and non metamorphosed phanerozoic rocks for tens or possibly hundreds of kilometers stratigraphic evidence and synorogenic conglomerates indicate that thrusting was initiated in the late cretaceous and has continued episodically since that time shear sense indicators in various parts of the zone reveal a ne sw direction of transport thrust systems generated in each episode are superimposed upon the previous structures cutting across and displacing them and producing complicated stacks of thrust sheets southwestward transport and stacking of the thrust sheets has resulted in an increase of about 10 15 km in the thickness of the continental crust in the southwestern part of this zone the so called z main zagros thrust which has been traditionally considered as the boundary between the sanandaj sirjan zone and the zagros simply folded belt is by no means a single high angle reverse fault nor is it a narrow zone of crushed rocks but a series of low angle thrusts locally cut by normal faults these thrusts are indistinguishable from those mapped in the sanandaj sirjan zone and are geometrically part of the sanandaj sirjan zone structures there is no single thrust among them that can be singled out and referred to as the main one the boundary of the sanandaj sirjan zone with the urumieh dokhtar magmatic assemblage to the northeast is characterized by a series of structural depressions formed by compression rock sequences including ophiolite complexes exposed along this boundary are strongly dismembered sheared and mylonitized shearing planes and foliations are either subvertical or dipping at high angles to the northeast this zone is suggested to be the suture between the afro arabian and the iranian plates overall the intensity of deformation increases northeastward from the persian gulf mesopotamian basin where strata are undeformed and horizontal through the zagros simply folded belt which is characterized by en echelon doubly plunging flexural slip folds gentle to open in the southwest and close to locally sw overturned in the northeast the intensity of deformation continues to increase further northeastward through the sanandaj sirjan zone where thrust faulting is dominant this pattern suggests that the deformational front has migrated through time from the northeastern part of the sanandaj sirjan zone i e the suture zone to its present position in the central portion of the persian gulf mesopotamian foreland basin

provenance of paleocene eocene red beds from ne iraq constraints from framework petrography the red bed deposits in northern iraq are situated in an active foreland basin adjacent to the zagros orogenic belt bound to the north by the iranian plate thrust over the edge of the arabian plate the red bed successions are composed of alternating red and brown silty mudstones purplish red calcareous siltstone fine to coarse grained pebbly sandstone and conglomerate the red beds in the current study can be divided into four parts showing a trend of upward coarsening with fine grained deposits at the top a detailed petrographic study was carried out on the sandstone units the clastic rocks consist mainly of calcite cemented litharenite with rock fragments volcanic metamorphic and sedimentary quartz and minor feldspar the petrographic components reflect the tectonic system in the source area laterally ranging from a mixed orogenic and magmatic arc in mawat chwarta area to recycled orogenic material rich in sedimentary rock fragments in the qandel area the cretaceous palaeogene foreland basin of northern iraq formed to the southwest of the zagros suture zone and the sanandaj sirjan zone of western iran during palaeogene time deposition of the red beds was caused by renewed shortening in the thrust sheets overlying the arabian margin with uplift of radiolarites qulqula formation resulting in an influx of radiolarian debris in addition to continuing ophiolitic detritus mixed sources including metamorphic volcanic and sedimentary terranes were present during deposition of the upper part of the red beds

discussion on dextral transpression in late cretaceous continental collision sanandaj sirjan zone western iran journal of structural geology 22 8 2000 1125 1139

structures of the zagros fold thrust belt in iran the zagros fold thrust belt in iran forms the external part of the zagros active orogenic wedge it includes a sequence of heterogeneous latest neoproterozoic phanerozoic sedimentary cover strata 7 to 12 km thick and composed of alternating incompetent and competent layers overlying precambrian crystalline basement with a complex pre zagros structural fabric balancing structures of the cover statigraphic units in the zagros fold thrust belt requires in sequence and out of sequence involvement of the precambrian basement in the deformation six detailed balanced and retrodeformable cross sections which are constructed based on geological and geophysical data across various sectors of the belt show fault bend and fault propagation folds interpreted to have formed by slip on their subjacent thrusts out of sequence basement rooted thrusts as the interpretations in the constructed cross sections suggest have breached the cover basement interface and using incompetent cover strata for propagation cut across the cover structures and have created associated new folds superimposed upon the pre existing structures this style of deformation which has resulted in structural complexity of the belt characterizes a 200 to 300 km wide zone of distributed partly synchronous deformation with along strike and across strike variations it also implies that the zagros fold thrust belt as the external part of the orogenic wedge is still in its subcritical condition with internal deformation to achieve a critical taper in creating structural complexity in addition to out of sequence thrusting mechanically weak layers evaporites and mudstones of the cover strata have played a significant role by providing several detachment horizons shortening estimates across the belt are variable based on the constructed cross sections and their restorations minimum shortening estimates range from 16 percent to 30 percent in different sectors of the belt

fire related debris flows in the iberian range spain abstract debris flows occurred three weeks after a wildfire in august 1986 in the najerilla river valley in the iberian range northern spain the flows were triggered by a brief intense rainstorm approximately 25 mm h 1 over 15 min in a small area with steep slopes covered by a thick colluvium of quartzite clasts this storm resulted in the development of several unconfined hillslope debris flows and the formation of an alluvial fan at the mouth of the pitare stream which partially blocked the najerilla river we analysed the conditions that led to the development of the debris flows and estimated the rainfall threshold for the debris flows to occur as well as the total volume of mobilised sediment four factors contributed to the debris flows i the occurrence of a rainstorm three weeks after a wildfire which had removed the plant cover from the soil ii the steep slopes in the area 30 which were the most affected by debris flows iii the presence of quartzite scarps on the hillslopes which favoured the development of a firehose effect involving channelised surface runoff and iv the low plasticity index values of the fine material of the colluvium indices of 7 to 8 which enabled rapid liquefaction estimates of rainfall intensity derived from the estimated peak flow in the pitare stream suggests that around 80 mm of rainfall fell in approximately 15 min although this is clearly an overestimated value given the high proportion of sediment load transported during the peak flow various equations estimated a rainfall threshold of approximately 25 mm h 1 considering a concentration time of 15 min the total sediment transported by the debris flows was 10 500 m3 15 750 mg 6800 mg km 2 and the pitare stream alone transported a minimum of 4000 m3 6000 mg 2500 mg km 2 these results suggest that the rainfall threshold for initiating debris flows decreases following a wildfire such that an ordinary rainstorm is able to trigger a severe erosion and sediment transport event given the absence of fresh landslide scars on the hillslopes the origin of the fire related debris flows in the najerilla river valley appears to have been directly linked to increased rates of overland flow having a greater effect than infiltration for triggering debris flows

modeling the flexural evolution of the amiran and mesopotamian foreland basins of nw zagros iran iraq the evolution of the amiran and mesopotamian flexural basins of the zagros belt is approached by coupled 2 d forward modeling of orogenic wedge formation lithospheric flexural isostasy and stream power erosion transport sedimentation thrust geometries and sequence of emplacement derived from geometric and kinematic models presented here are the inputs to our evolutionary model constrained by basin geometry sediment volume and topography modeling results confirm that the zagros flexural basins evolution is consistent with two stages of deformation 1 the obduction stage involving the kermanshah accretionary complex and a basement unit and 2 the collision stage emplacing the gaveh rud and sanandaj sirjan domains in the hinterland and forming a basement duplex in the outer part results provide quantitative insights into processes involved in mountain and basin building the lithospheric equivalent elastic thickness te changed from 20 km during the amiran stage 90 50 ma to 55 km during the mesopotamian subsidence stage last 20 myr the amiran basin results from flexure of the arabian plate below the load of the kermanshah cover and basement thrust sheets during this stage material eroded in the inner parts was enough to fill the flexural trough the mesopotamian basin formed in front of the outermost basement units flexing the arabian plate during this latter stage material eroded from the orogenic wedge was not enough to fill the mesopotamian basin an additional longitudinal sediment supply of up to 200 m myr is required to fill the flexural basin

the kapanbogazi formation a key unit for understanding late cretaceous evolution of the pontides n turkey abstract the pontides forming the south western continental margin of the black sea consist of two tectonic units the istanbul zone in the west and the sakarya zone in the central and eastern parts the sinop basin in the sakarya zone is filled from base to top by hauterivian to albian turbidites cenomanian turonian red pelagic sediments turonian campanian magmatic arc and related deposits and by the uppermost campanian to middle eocene post magmatic units developed on the southern passive margin of the black sea based on nannofossil dinoflagellate foraminifera and radiolaria data we describe the kapanbogazi formation a cenomanian turonian unit in the sinop basin represented by red calcareous siliceous pelagic shales limestones and cherts passing gradually from the albian black shales these sediments possibly represent deepest depositional conditions of the basin during the cenomanian turonian interval and also reflect the transition from an anoxic to an oxic palaeoenvironmental setting the istanbul zone to the west was emerged during the deposition of the kapanbogazi formation in the sakarya zone in the pontides red pelagic sediments were deposited at different times during the cenomanian maastrichtian interval because the kapanbogazi formation was deposited only in the sakarya zone and because it is present in limited outcrops due to structural reorganization and thick overlying volcanoclastic pile most previous authors assumed cenomanian turonian hiatus herein we describe detailed palaeontological data from this unit and discuss their importance to the interpretation of depositional history and tectonics of the black sea region as well as climatic and eustatic implications

introduction geodynamic evolution of the zagros this special issue of geological magazine presents a collection of 17 papers dealing with different aspects of the zagros orogen many though not all of these contributions were presented as part of a highly successful session devoted to the geodynamic evolution of the zagros belt at the european geosciences union general assembly 2010 in vienna austria the aim of this gathering was to assemble a broad group of earth scientists interested in the zagros orogen to discuss and disseminate new results and ideas efficiently this volume presents a collection of some of the diverse research that is currently being carried out in the zagros we believe that these studies contribute to the understanding of the geodynamic evolution of the zagros mountains in particular but in addition to orogenic processes in general

tectonic setting origin and obduction of the oman ophiolite the semail ophiolite in the oman mountains is the world9s largest and best preserved thrust sheet of oceanic crust and upper mantle 10 000 km 2 550 km long 150 km wide it was emplaced onto the arabian continental margin during late cretaceous time the ophiolite originated 96 94 ma at a spreading center above a northeast dipping subduction zone associated with initiation of immature island arc tholeiitic lavas lasail arc at the highest levels of the ophiolite simultaneous underthrusting of triassic and jurassic mid oceanic ridge basalt and alkalic volcanic rocks beneath 12 km of upper mantle depleted harzburgites produced garnet clinopyroxene amphibolites formed at temperatures of 850 c dated as 95 93 ma subduction cannot have been initiated at a mid oceanic ridge otherwise the protolith of the amphibolites in the metamorphic sole would be the same age and composition as the ophiolite volcanic rocks above in the northern part of the oman mountains in the bani hamid area united arab emirates 870 m of granulite facies rocks enstatite spinel diopside quartzites garnet diopside wollastonite calc silicate marbles clinopyroxene bearing amphibolites were formed at temperatures similar to those of the garnet diopside amphibolites of the oman sole 800 850 c but at slightly higher pressures as much as 9 kbar they are interpreted as deeper level metamorphosed continental margin sedimentary rocks exhumed by out of sequence thrusting placing granulites over mantle sequence harzburgites during the later stages of obduction subduction of the arabian continental crust beneath the obducting semail ophiolite to 78 90 km depth has been proven by thermobarometry of the as sifah eclogites to 20 23 kbar in the eastern sector in the united arab emirates the subducted continental crust began to partially melt producing unusual biotite muscovite garnet tourmaline cordierite andalusite bearing granites that intrude the uppermost mantle sequence harzburgites and lowermost crustal sequence cumulate gabbros of the ophiolite we suggest that the entire leading northeast edge of the arabian plate was subducted beneath the ophiolite during the final stages of obduction leading to eclogitization of the crustal rocks higher temperatures and pressures in the united arab emirates sector possibly due to a thicker or double thickness ophiolite section led to blueschist amphibolite and granulite facies conditions in the metamorphic sole and crustal melting in the subophiolite basement produced leucocratic granites that intruded up as dikes through the obducted ophiolite a model for ophiolite obduction is presented which accounts for all the structural and metamorphic conditions reported from the oman mountains

constraints on arabian plate motion and extensional history of the red sea analysis of the geologic and geophysical data from the western and northern margin of the arabian plate combined with data from the red sea gulf of aden leads to an interpretation of arabian plate motion that supports an episodic extensional history in the red sea and gulf of aden phase 1 extension began in medial to late eocene and was caused by the nw propagation of the reoriented central indian ridge spreading center it stretched and thinned continental crust along numerous wrench and normal faults that reactivated preexisting structures first phase extension stopped when the arabian plate terminally sutured to eurasia in the medial miocene and halted northward movement of arabia relative to africa the combined african arabian plates moved north more slowly constricting and thickening continental crust in the bitlis zagros sutures while the red sea remained technically quiescent and accumulated salt by the early pliocene continued northward movement was accommodated by lateral extrusion of large continental wedges north of the bitlis zagros sutures this allowed arabia to move northward faster than africa and reopen the red sea where phase 2 extension was expressed by seafloor spreading extension within the red sea gulf of aden rift system has been controlled by the interactions and effects of two factors 1 convergent processes between the north margin of the arabian plate and the eurasian plate to the north and 2 northwest propagation of extension associated with the medial eocene reorganization of the central indian spreading center

late cretaceous infant intra oceanic arc volcanism the central pontides turkey petrogenetic and tectonic implications abstract a tectonic slice of an arc sequence consisting of low grade metavolcanic rocks and overlying metasedimentary succession is exposed in the central pontides north of the izmir ankara erzincan suture separating laurasia from gondwana derived terranes the metavolcanic rocks mainly consist of basaltic andesite andesite and mafic cognate xenolith bearing rhyolite with their pyroclastic equivalents which are interbedded with recrystallized pelagic limestone and chert the metasedimentary succession comprises recrystallized micritic limestone with rare volcanogenic metaclastic rocks and stratigraphically overlies the metavolcanic rocks the geochemistry of the metavolcanic rocks indicates an arc setting evidenced by depletion of hfse ti p and nb and enrichment of fluid mobile lile identical trace and rare earth elements compositions of basaltic andesites andesites and rhyolites suggest that they are cogenetic and derived from a common parental magma the arc sequence crops out between an albian turonian subduction accretionary complex representing the laurasian active margin and an ophiolitic melange absence of continent derived detritus in the arc sequence and its tectonic setting in a wide cretaceous accretionary complex suggest that the kosdag arc was intra oceanic zircons from two metarhyolite samples give late cretaceous 93 8 1 9 and 94 4 1 9 ma u pb ages these ages are the same as the age of the supra subduction ophiolites in western turkey which implies that that the kosdag arc may represent part of the incipient arc formed during the generation of the supra subduction ophiolites the low grade regional metamorphism in the kosdag arc is constrained to 69 9 0 4 ma by 40 ar 39 ar muscovite dating indicating that the arc sequence became part of a wide tethyan cretaceous accretionary complex by the latest cretaceous non collisional cessation of the arc volcanism is possibly associated with southward migration of the magmatism as in the izu bonin mariana arc system

experimental modeling of role of gravity and lateral shortening in zagros mountain belt dynamically scaled analogs of the geologic structures of the zagros mountain belt are used to argue that different parts of the zagros mountains of iran record different combinations of the effects of a gravity driven overturn and a southwest northeast lateral shortening superimposed on the zagros overturn partially scaled material models have been used to simulate the zagros geodynamics which involve layer parallel compression of a 6 to 7 km thick phanerozoic carbonate cover containing a pattern of preshortening diapirs the folds in the zagros form rapidly 1 5 mm yr in a 20 to 30 km wide zone reactive some of the preshortening diapirs and generate new synshortening listric diapirs a third set of postshortening diapirs rises from the hormuz decollement behind the fold thrust front model buckle folds superimposed on diapirs or pillows tend to avoid and curve around preshortening diapirs which flatten in the synclines model profiles show that lateral shortening induces residual salt at depth to flow toward and rise through the anticlinal cores as synshortening or postshortening diapirs i suggest that any salt pillows in currently diapir free zones of the zagros fold thrust belt may surface as diapirs through the anticlines in the future in the absence of well data seismic and field observations i have used only three map pattern criteria to recognize the timing of diapirs these are locally obscured by extrusive salt sheets preshortening diapirs are generally small and elongate parallel to fold axes and are restricted to synclines synshortening diapirs are elongate perpendicular to the fold axes and are restricted to anticlines postshortening diapirs can be the same size as synshortening diapirs or larger and can be circular they are more common in the anticlines

present day crustal deformation and plate kinematics in the middle east constrained by gps measurements in iran and northern oman summary a network of 27 gps sites was implemented in iran and northern oman to measure displacements in this part of the alpine himalayan mountain belt we present and interpret the results of two surveys performed in 1999 september and 2001 october gps sites in oman show northward motion of the arabian plate relative to eurasia slower than the nuvel 1a estimates e g 22 2m m yr 1 at n8 5 e instead of 30 5 mm yr 1 at n6 e at bahrain longitude we define a gps arabia eurasia euler vector of 27 9 0 5 n 19 5 1 4 e 0 41 0 1 myr 1 the arabia eurasia convergence is accommodated differently in eastern and western iran east of 58 e most of the shortening is accommodated by the makran subduction zone 19 5 2m m yr 1 and less by the kopet dag 6 5 2m m yr 1 west of 58 e the deformation is distributed in separate fold and thrust belts at the longitude of tehran the zagros and the alborz mountain ranges accommodate 6 5 2m m yr 1 and 8 2m m yr 1 respectively the right lateral displacement along the main recent fault in the northern zagros is about 3 2m m yr 1 smaller than what was generally expected by contrast large rightlateral displacement takes place in northwestern iran up to 8 mm yr 1 the central iranian block is characterized by coherent plate motion internal deformation 2m m yr 1 sites east of 61 e show very low displacements relative to eurasia the kinematic contrast between eastern and western iran is accommodated by strike slip motions along the lut block to the south the transition zone between zagros and makran is under transpression with right lateral displacements of 11 2m m yr 1

new evidences for the formation of and for petroleum exploration in the fold thrust zones of the central black sea basin of turkey the central black sea basin of turkey is filled by more than 9 km 6 mi of upper triassic to holocene sedimentary and volcanic rocks the basin has a complex history having evolved from a rift basin to an arc basin and finally having become a retroarc foreland basin the upper triassic lower jurassic akgol and lower cretaceous caglayan formations have a poor to good hydrocarbon source rock potential and the middle eocene kusuri formation has a limited hydrocarbon source rock potential the basin has oil and gas seeps many large structures associated with extensional and compressional tectonics which could be traps for hydrocarbon accumulations exist fifteen onshore and three offshore exploration wells were drilled in the central black sea basin but none of them had commercial quantities of hydrocarbons the assessment of these drilling results suggests that many wells were drilled near the ekinveren erikli and ballifaki thrusts where structures are complex and oil and gas seeps are common many wells were not drilled deep enough to test the potential carbonate and clastic reservoirs of the inalti and caglayan formations because these intervals are locally buried by as much as 5 km 3 mi of sedimentary and volcanic rocks no wells have tested prospective structures in the north and east where the prospective inalti and caglayan formations are not as deeply buried untested hydrocarbons may exist in this area

progressive unconformities within an evolving foreland fold thrust belt zagros mountains a major angular unconformity between the bakhtyari conglomerates and the underlying agha jari formation has long been interpreted as indicating that orogeny in the zagros simply folded zone took place in plio pleistocene times this study uses field evidence of unconformities between older units in conjunction with geological maps and cross sections to argue that the front of the zagros simply folded zone has propagated in time and space these unconformities indicate that deformation started as early as end eocene in the northeast of the simply folded zone and propagated progressively to the southwest where unconformable contacts are only seen between younger units as shortening continued the southwest migration of the deformation front drove the foreland basin in front of it to its present position along the persian gulf and mesopotamia the climax of orogeny took place at end pliocene time when the most extensive unconformity in the zagros simply folded zone developed between the upper bakhtyari formation and older units active seismicity and documented present uplift imply that the simply folded zone is still propagating southwestward

the geology of the kuh e dalneshin area of southern iran and its bearing on the evolution of southern tethys the kuh e dalneshin area lay close to the northern margin of the arabian continent during mesozoic and palaeogene times recent mapping has shown that except perhaps in the late cretaceous it was inactive until it collided with central iran in the miocene the collision represented by a neogene melange zone in the ne resulted in the zagros orogeny and is expressed in the shelf sediments by folding parallel faulting and a possible arcuate sinistral shear in the late cretaceous a localized deepening of the shelf dates from the cenomanian a narrow trough in the w subsided to abyssal depths in the turonian following a period of faulting a more wide spread subsidence affected the shelf in the coniacian and santonian autochthonous cherts and associated sediments accumulated basaltic volcanics were erupted in the ne part of this basin and permian to cenomanian neritic exotic blocks were derived presumably from an uplift at the shelf edge the rocks from the outer edge of this basin slid westwards over their autochthonous counterparts probably in the campanian accompanied by further gliding of masses of earlier mesozoic cherts which had previously been emplaced on the continental margin a sheet of mantle peridotite partly serpentinized and enclosing neritic and metamorphic exotics in turn slid into the basin shelf sedimentation was renewed in the late campanian or maestrichtian but the transgression did not reach the area until the eocene the derivation and emplacement of the allochthonous rocks in the late cretaceous are still imperfectly understood alternative models are discussed one involving gliding from an aborted spreading ridge along the continental margin the other more conventionally based on subduction processes a preference is expressed for the former

significance of angular unconformities between cretaceous and tertiary strata in the northwestern segment of the zagros fold thrust belt kurdistan region ne iraq in this study two angular unconformities are found and analysed for the first time in the mesozoic cenozoic succession in the northwestern segment of the zagros fold thrust belt zftb in the kurdistan region the first unconformity exists between lower cretaceous and paleocene eocene rocks and the second between the campanian shiranish formation and the maastrichtian tanjero formation each of these unconformities is found in two different localities in the zagros imbricate zone i e the highly deformed zone immediately sw of the zagros suture of the zftb of the kurdistan region near the border with iran the study uses recent geological mapping structural and stratigraphic analyses in addition to using previous biozonation of the stratigraphic units that bound the two unconformities the first unconformity was initiated with obduction of the ophiolite and lower cretaceous radiolarite onto the passive margin of the arabian plate this unconformity formed during an early phase of the zagros orogeny which is associated with the developing of a foreland basin and resulted in the folding of the radiolarites and their uplift to form high relief land the erosion of this high relief land resulted in the formation of the paleocene eocene red bed series and their deposition on the folded radiolarite the timing of the deformation that caused this unconformity is hard to determine however its stratigraphic position may suggest that it possibly is related to post cenomanian movements the second unconformity is between the tilted campanian shiranish formation hemipelagite and tanjero formation 500 m of conglomerate in the more proximal area these unconformities indicate that deformation and uplift of the sedimentary units was variable during ophiolite obduction in this part of the zftb we argue that deformation ophiolite obduction and collision are likely to have varied in space and time along the c 2000 km long zftb

revel a model for recent plate velocities from space geodesy 1 we present a new global model for recent plate velocities revel describing the relative velocities of 19 plates and continental blocks the model is derived from publicly available space geodetic primarily gps data for the period 1993 2000 we include an independent and rigorous estimate for gps velocity uncertainties to assess plate rigidity and propagate these uncertainties to the velocity estimates the velocity fields for north america eurasia and antarctica clearly show the effects of glacial isostatic adjustment and australia appears to depart from rigid plate behavior in a manner consistent with the mapped intraplate stress field two thirds of tested plate pairs agree with the nuvel 1a geologic 3 myr average velocities within uncertainties three plate pairs caribbean north america caribbean south america and north america pacific exhibit significant differences between the geodetic and geologic model that may reflect systematic errors in nuvel 1a due to the use of seafloor magnetic rate data that do not reflect the full plate rate because of tectonic complexities most other differences probably reflect real velocity changes over the last few million years several plate pairs arabia eurasia arabia nubia eurasia india move more slowly than the 3 myr nuvel 1a average perhaps reflecting long term deceleration associated with continental collision several other plate pairs including nazca pacific nazca south america and nubia south america are experiencing slowing that began 25 ma the beginning of the current phase of andean crustal shortening

landscape maturity fold growth sequence and structural style in the kirkuk embayment of the zagros northern iraq abstract the kirkuk embayment is located in the southwest of the zagros fold and thrust belt of iraq like fold and thrust belts worldwide the zagros is conventionally understood to have grown sequentially towards the foreland here we use landscape maturity analysis to understand anticline growth in the embayment digital elevation model dem based geomorphic indices hypsometric integral hi surface roughness sr and their combination surface index si have been applied to quantify landscape maturity the results inform new ideas for the sequence of anticline growth maturity indices are highest for the qarachauq anticline in the center of the embayment then makhool himreen to the south and lastly the kirkuk anticline to the north the pattern suggests the growth sequence is not classical piggy back thrusting this result fits the exhumation record which is loosely constrained by the stratigraphic exposure level favored hypotheses for fold growth order are either i the folds have grown at different times and out of sequence qarachauq first then makhool himreen and kirkuk last or ii the growth occurred with different rates of exhumation but at broadly the same time there are few constraints from available data on syn tectonic sedimentation patterns fold growth across much of the embayment might have begun within a limited timeframe in the late miocene pliocene during the deposition of the mukdadiyah formation another hypothesis is that folds grew in sequence towards the foreland with different rates of exhumation but we consider this less likely we also construct a new cross section for the embayment which indicates limited cenozoic strain 5 shortening analysis of topography and drainage patterns shows two previously undescribed anticlines with hydrocarbon trap potential between the makhool and qarachauq anticlines

petroleum geology of the black sea abstract the black sea comprises two extensional basins formed in a back arc setting above the northward subducting tethys ocean close to the southern margin of eurasia the two basins coalesced late in their post rift phases in the pliocene forming the present single depocentre the western black sea was initiated in the aptian when a part of the moesian platform now the western pontides of turkey began to rift and move away to the south east the eastern black sea probably formed by separation of the mid black sea high from the shatsky ridge during the palaeocene to eocene subsequent to rifting the basins were the sites of mainly deep water deposition only during the late miocene was there a major sea level fall leading to the development of a relatively shallow lake most of the margins of the black sea have been extensively modified by late eocene to recent compression associated with closure of the tethys ocean gas chromatography mass spectrometry and carbon isotope analysis of petroleum and rock extracts suggest that most petroleum occurrences around the black sea can be explained by generation from an oil prone source rock of most probably late eocene age although a wider age range is possible in the basin centres burial history modelling and source kitchen mapping indicate that this unit is currently generating both oil and gas in the post rift basin a palaeozoic source rock may have generated gas condensate in the gulf of odessa in bulgarian waters the main plays are associated with the development of an eocene foreland basin kamchia trough and in extensional structures related to western black sea rifting the latter continue into the romanian shelf where there is also potential in rollover anticlines due to gravity sliding of neogene sediments in the gulf of odessa gas condensate has been discovered in several compressional anticlines and there is potential in older extensional structures small gas and oil discoveries around the sea of azov point to further potential offshore around the central azov high in offshore russia and georgia there are large culminations on the shatsky ridge but these are mainly in deep water and may have poor reservoirs there are small compressional structures off the northern turkish coast related to the pontide deformation these may include eocene turbidite reservoirs the extensional fault blocks of the andrusov ridge mid black sea high are seen as having the best potential for large hydrocarbon volumes but in 2200 m of water