the eastern jura relations between thin skinned and basement tectonics local and regional the thesis area of hans cloos in the eastern jura straddles the boundary between the paleogene structures of the tabular jura a part of the southeastern end of the rhine graben and the neogene folds and thrusts of the folded jura a recent reflection seismic survey in the area adjacent to the east provides new information on the subsurface structure and the relation between three superposed tectonic events the main boundary fault zones of a deep and complexly faulted late paleozoic trough trending ene were reactivated in the early tertiary faulted flexures and small folds rooted in the basement and paleozoic with an amplitude of usually 100 to 300 m were produced rather than the normal faults typical for the extensional fields of the rhine bresse graben system in the west and the bavarian molasse basin in the east this suggests their being part of a transform zone between these extensional fields during jura decollement in the neogene these inherited deeply rooted sub decollement structures remained passive their small size is kinematically incompatible with the intense subsequent thrusting and folding of the thin mesozoic tertiary skin however thrust ramps were apparently nucleated at the respective southern foot of these paleogene flexures and folds the best defined and simplest of these composite structures is the mandach structure within the tabular jura a south facing flexure of about 300 m relief developed in the paleogene by reactivation of the northern border fault zone of the paleozoic trough in the neogene a north vergent decollement thrust which is connected with the regional jura decollement in the middle triassic evaporites was initiated at its site

neotectonic deformation in central eurasia a geodynamic model approach funding was granted by the spanish government through the project mite cgl2014 59516 p and alpimed piecsic 201530e082

central zagros fold thrust belt iran new insights from seismic data field observation and sandbox modeling 1 we present five generalized cross sections across the central zagros fold and thrust belt iran these sections show that the fold geometry varies significantly both horizontally and vertically the style is closely related to the changes in the mechanical behavior of the lithostratigraphic horizons and in particular to the presence of intermediate decollements within the sedimentary pile restoration of the sections shows amounts of shortening of the same order from one section to the other however it appears to be unequally distributed suggesting variations in basal decollement shear strength analogue modeling has been performed to systematically investigate the effect of an intermediate decollement level at different depths on the style of folding the models demonstrate that the position of intermediate decollements is an important factor controlling both structural style and fold wavelength models with shallow intermediate decollement show regularly and widely spaced anticlines in these models the fold wavelength depends directly on the thickness of the dominant competent layer and short wavelength superficial structures mask broad anticlines at depth models with deep intermediate decollement are characterized by the rapid propagation of deformation with small rate of shortening along this decollement influencing localization of forthcoming anticlines in the upper levels such propagation favors the development of duplexes and multiwavelength folds on this basis fold kinematics in central zagros is discussed using the variation of structural style along different folds as an indicator of the sequence of deformation detachment folding is the main folding style at least for the initial stages of deformation and thrust faults developed only at later stages some of these faults branched on decollement levels express the progression of folding whereas others are linked to late basement faults cutting through early structures in general the decollement levels are activated sequentially from deeper horizons to shallower ones however in one case gachsaran decollement a shallow decollement is activated during the early stages of folding and then abandoned during the subsequent evolution

geological geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of the mandan and deh now bauxite deposits zagros fold belt iran the mandan and deh now bauxite deposits are located 40 km northeast of the dehdasht city in the zagros simply fold belt these deposits occur in eroded major nw se trending anticlines and occupy karst cavities near or at the boundary between the sarvak and ilam formations local uplifts at the end of the cenomanian and the mid turonian caused erosion and karstification of the sarvak formation these unconformities in the upper cretaceous favoured the formation and enrichment of bauxite deposits in the zagros fold belt the bauxite sequence in the mandan deposit consists of white gray black pisolitic red and yellow bauxites this sequence was repeated in the deh now area but without gray and black bauxites the present mineralogical studies of the sarvak formation and the mandan and deh now bauxite deposits indicate oxidizing to reducing conditions during the upper cretaceous in the zagros fold belt which had a significant effect on the compositions of the bauxites at least two phases of bauxitization can be distinguished in the study area i an oxidizing phase represented by boehmite diaspore hematite and kaolinite and ii a reducing phase represented by pyrite and chlorite geochemical data show that trace elements like zr hf nb ta th and u were enriched during bauxitization the bauxite deposits and carbonate rocks show similar ree patterns namely they are enriched in rees although the lrees are more enriched than the hrees mass change calculations demonstrate that mg mn ca k and p2o5 were leached out of the weathered system whereas al fe and si become concentrated in the residual system this study indicates that the mandan and deh now deposits are karst type bauxites formed by karstification and weathering of the sarvak formation

the continuation of the kazerun fault system across the sanandaj sirjan zone iran abstract 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

karst bauxite deposits in the zagros mountain belt iran more than 190 occurrences of bauxitic lateritic deposits were investigated in seven areas within the zagros simply folded mountain belt in southwestern of iran the bauxitic horizons are situated in eroded major nw se trending anticlines and occur in karst cavities near or at the boundary between the sarvak and ilam formations uplift in the cenomanian turanian period had exposed the sarvak limestone to karst weathering and during a period of unconformity layers of ferruginous argillaceous limestone debris developed and accumulated on its surface the ferruginous argillaceous debris was partly converted to bauxite folding and faulting in oligocene miocene time with ensuing erosion exposed the bauxitic horizons on the limbs and cores of anticlines the karst bauxite deposits are probably of authigenic origin as evidenced by their lithologic associations textural and mineralogy

structure of the mountain front flexure along the anaran anticline in the pusht e kuh arc nw zagros iran insights from sand box models this is a contribution of the group of dynamics of the lithosphere gdl financed by a collaborative project between the institute of earth sciences jaume almera csic of barcelona spain and statoilhydro tehran and statoilhydro research centre with the partial support of project team consolider ingenio 2010 no csd 2006 00041

plate tectonics and the evolution of the british isles this paper is an essay on the rationalism and difficulties of the geological corollaries of plate tectonics with illustrations particularly from the geological history of the british isles there is special emphasis on the mechanics of continental lithosphere in extension when basins are formed and in convergence whereby continental lithosphere thinned in extension is shortened and restacked to form orogenic belts an upper lithosphere stress concentrating elastic lid suffers extremely complex inhomogeneous deformations above a simpler viscoelastic lower lithosphere whose deformation drives strain and displacement in the elastic lid the very nature of plate tectonics as relative motion among a multi plate mosaic of plates provides a rational semi quantitative framework for large scale geological complexity in space and time the caledonian and hercynian history of the british isles may be explained semi quantitatively in terms of plate boundary evolution but it is not possible to define unequivocal solutions the rationalism of plate tectonics is exhibited on a smaller more direct field scale by many of the complexities of ophiolite complexes such as ballantrae scotland that can be explained as the effects of the evolution of ridge ridge transforms and by diachronous deformation and sedimentation in subduction accretion prisms such as the southern uplands deformational and sedimentary patterns in nw europe from triassic times to the present day resulted from a complex interaction of extensional events related to diachronous atlantic opening and compressional events related to sequential alpine shortening phases those widespread events are typical of intracontinental plate boundary systems and create great difficulties for the geologist wishing to decipher relative plate motion from geological sequences because huge areas much larger than the british isles must be analysed and synthesized before much sense can be extracted further difficulties arise from the palinspastic and preservation problems of convergent boundaries orogenic shortening telescopes and partially subducts facies belts most orogenic belts were assembled as a collage of displaced and rotated terrain elements that were subsequently flattened elongated and straightened to an apparent but deceiving simplicity therefore while plate tectonics provides a rational geological framework against which for example british basin evolution can be tested and explained we cannot yet use the geological effects of plate boundary evolution to reconstruct relative plate motion quantitatively

the zagros folded belt fars iran constraints from topography and critical wedge modelling summary the late miocene tectonics of the zagros folded belt fars province has for long been related solely to folding of the cover controlled by a ductile decollement between basement and the sedimentary cover however geological constraints topography analysis and seismotectonic studies reveal that basement thrusting may produce locally significant deformation in the cover to determine how the deep seated deformation in the basement may contribute to the overall topography we first examine the filtered large and short wavelengths of the topography we find that the short wavelength component of the topography 20 25 km including the zagros folds is superimposed on the differential uplift at the regional scale in other words the regional base level of folded marker horizons remains parallel to the regional topography of interest modelling reveals that the salt based wedge model alone is not able to reproduce the large wavelength component of the topography of the zagros folded belt this reveals that when a thick relatively to its overburden layer of salt forms the basal decollement it is generally too weak and cannot support the growth of significant topography we then test an alternative thick skinned crustal wedge model involving the crust of the arabian margin which is decoupled above a viscous lower crust this model satisfactorily reproduces the observed topography and is consistent with present day basement thrusting topography analyses and geological constraints we conclude that basement involved thickening and shortening is mechanically required to produce the shape of the zagros folded belt since at least 10 ma finally the involvement of the basement provides mechanical and kinematic constraints that should be accounted for cross sections balancing and further assessing the evolution of zagros at crustal or lithospheric scales

depositional environment sequence stratigraphy and geochemistry of lower cretaceous carbonates fahliyan formation south west iran abstract the fahliyan formation is a carbonate sequence of lower cretaceous berriasian hauterivian age and was deposited in the zagros sedimentary basin iran in this investigation the fahliyan formation at the type section and in the subsurface has been studied facies analysis and petrographic studies led to the recognition of 10 microfacies that were deposited in three facies belts lagoon shoal and open marine the observed facies patterns indicate a carbonate rimmed shelf depositional environment based on field observations microfacies analysis and sequence stratigraphic concepts two third order sequences in the type section and three third order sequences in the subsurface section were identified the transgressive deposits display a predominance of deep subtidal facies while highstand deposits show shallow subtidal facies some petrographic evidence such as an abundance of aragonite skeletal and non skeletal components shows that this formation was deposited in a sub tropical environment with original aragonite mineralogy geochemical evidence such as high sr na ratios also support original aragonite mineralogy 18o and 13c values suggests that alteration occurred during burial diagenesis in a closed system with low water rock interaction palaeotemperature calculation based on the heaviest oxygen isotope value in micritic samples of the fahliyan limestone shows that ambient water temperature was around 24 c during the deposition of this formation

origin of the uinta recess sevier fold thrust belt utah influence of basin architecture on fold thrust belt geometry abstract structural trends in the sevier fold thrust belt define a pronounced concave to the foreland map view curve the uinta recess in north central utah this recess separates two convex to the foreland curves the provo salient on the south and the wyoming salient on the north the two limbs of the recess comprise transverse zones fault zones at a high angle to the regional trend of the orogen that border the flanks of the east west trending uinta cottonwood arch our structural analysis indicates that the transverse zones formed during the sevier orogeny and that they differ markedly from each other in structural style the charleston transverse zone ctz on the south side of the arch initiated as a complex sinistral strike slip fault system that defines the abrupt northern boundary of the provo salient the mount raymond transverse zone mrtz on the north side of the arch represents the region in which the southeast verging southern limb of the gently curving wyoming salient was tilted northwards during the laramide phase of uplift of the uinta cottonwood arch in effect the mrtz represents an oblique cross section through a thrust belt the contrasting architecture of these transverse zones demonstrates how pre deformation basin geometry influences the geometry of a fold thrust belt analysis of isopach maps indicates that at the time the sevier fold thrust belt formed the area just north of the present site of the uinta cottonwood arch was a basement high with a gently dipping north flank and a steeply dipping south flank thus predeformational sediment thickened abruptly to the south of the high and thickened gradually to the north of the high as illustrated by sandbox models the distance that a fold thrust belt propagates into the foreland depends on the thickness of the sedimentary layer being deformed so the shape of the salient mimics the longitudinal cross sectional shape of the sedimentary basin where basins taper gradually along strike the thrust belt curves gently but where basins taper abruptly along strike the thrust belt curves so tightly that it disarticulates and becomes bounded laterally by a strike slip accommodation zone the geometry of the uinta recess provides a field example of this concept differential movement of sevier thrusts led to formation of gradually curving thrusts on the north side of the high because of the gradual slope of the high s north flank but led to the along strike disarticulation of thrusts on the south side of the high because of the steep slope of the high s south flank in effect therefore thrust belt map view geometry provides insight into predeformational basin geometry

structural style and kinematic analysis of folding in the southern dezful embayment oilfields sw iran abstract compression of a region containing multiple detachment layers produces large scale disharmonic folding where individual competent units separated by detachment fold independently within the succession here we present a case study of the kinematic evolution of three subsurface structures the karanj paranj and parsi oilfields bounded by multiple detachments located in the southern dezful embayment a major petroleum province of the zagros fold thrust belt in sw iran interpretation of seismic sections and the construction of corresponding balanced cross sections reveals different geometries along the folds and the complete decoupling of these structures from the surface geology this is controlled by the reactivation of basement faults and flow of the gachsaran incompetent units miocene as the upper detachment and the kazhdumi upper cretaceous pabdeh gurpi and dashtak formations as the middle detachments respectively detachment folding with limb rotation started in the middle miocene and continued with the migration of the basal detachment horizon equivalent hormuz series into the core of the anticlines flow of both the basal and upper detachments continued until no more material is available whereupon the shortening is accommodated by fault development the development of a decoupled disharmonic folding style was controlled by the upper detachment surface through migration from the crests of the anticlines to the synclinal areas and by the reactivation of the basement faults from nw to se part of the area the total shortening amounts are changed between 21 and 12

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

catastrophic flooding from an orographic thunderstorm in the central appalachians 1 an orographic thunderstorm system in pendleton county west virginia produced 125 150 mm of rainfall in less than 1 hour on 9 august 2003 rainfall and fluvial impacts were concentrated in the ungauged 2 1 km2 saul s run watershed despite the short duration of the event the flood produced significant fluvial impacts and abrupt changes in the extent of incision and channel widening hydrometeorological analyses of the storm are based on wsr 88d radar reflectivity observations and rain gauge observations the small multicell thunderstorms that produced the saul s run flood were not markedly different from other storms in the central appalachian region on 9 august 2003 detailed surveys of high watermarks and channel floodplain geometry are used for hydraulic analyses of the saul s run flood including estimation of peak discharge at four locations peak discharge estimates at the 1 km2 scale cluster around 18 m3 s 1 placing this event on the flood envelope curve for the mid atlantic region observed rainfall estimated peak discharge and observer notes on timing of peak discharge are used along with a distributed hydrologic model to reconstruct hydrographs at multiple locations hydrologic modeling indicates that land use effects may have significantly influenced extreme flood response in saul s run the wide range of fluvial impacts is consistent with patterns of boundary shear stress and unit stream power derived from a simulation of the saul s run flood using a 2 d depth averaged hydraulic model

accommodation of the different structural styles in the foreland fold and thrust belts northern dezful embayment in the zagros belt iran structural styles in the zagros foreland fold and thrust belt vary spatially differential lateral propagation of folds causes to create tear faults in this belt in this research tear faults are studied in northern dezful embayment tear faults have been accommodated the different structural styles in sedimentary cover during the compressional regime in the zagros fold and thrust belt different structural styles indicate a difference in intensity deformation these faults originated as the pre existing inverted reactive deep seated faults or which activate in the sedimentary strata during the compressional regime investigation of the structural style of folds in the sedimentary cover is a key point to recognize tear faults in this research the structural style of the kabood qale nar bala rud and lab e safid subsurface anticlines in the northern dezful embayment has been studied the interpretation of seismic profiles balanced cross sections restoration and 3d structural modeling is investigated to study the structural style of mentioned anticlines the area of the studied region is 92 20 km2 two tear faults with nne trending have been separated qale nar and bala rud anticlines in the central part from lab e safid and kabood anticlines in eastern and western parts respectively the intensity of deformation in the lab e safid anticline is less than the qale nar and bala rud anticlines on its western side displacement and deformation of the kabood anticline are more than the qale nar anticline in its eastern side kabood anticline is multi bend fault bend fold qale nar and bala rud are fault bend folds and lab e safid is detachment fold tear faults have been accommodated by these different structural styles in this region

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

study of hydrocarbon generation and 1d 2d modeling of hydrocarbon migration at the karanj and parsi oilfields southern dezful embayment sw iran abstract this study is a 2d basin modeling to determine the petroleum system i e cretaceous neogene play of the karanj and parsi oilfields in the southern dezful embayment sw iran this system is characterized by occurrence of source rocks of middle cretaceous late cretaceous and paleocene to eocene kazhdumi pabdeh and gurpi formation reservoirs of upper cretaceous and late oligocene early miocene ilam sarvak and asmari formations and seals of paleocene and miocene pabdeh and gachsaran formation considering temperature transformation ratio and vitrinite reflectance the maturity of source rocks kazhdumi pabdeh and gurpi formation was investigated a maturity history analysis showed that the maturity of kazhdumi pabdeh and gurpi formation started during 70 60 and 4 ma respectively generation and expulsion of hydrocarbons started 16 ma in the kazhdumi formation and 3 ma in the pabdeh formation that continued up to the present the analysis of the transformation ratio indicates transformation of significant amounts of kazhdumi source rocks for generating hydrocarbons migration of hydrocarbons from the kazhdumi formation is mainly vertically upward from pabdeh formation migration is both vertically upward to the asmari reservoir and downwards to the ilam sarvak reservoir however some local traps have formed due to the hydrocarbon accumulation above the faults our results reveal that petroleum generation migration and entrapment occurred at proper timing which facilitated the migration of hydrocarbons and their accumulation in the reservoirs

basement influence on foreland thrust and fold belt development an example from the southern urals abstract the reactivation of two sets of pre existing basement faults provided strong control on the geometric and kinematic evolution of the paleozoic south urals foreland thrust and fold belt pre existing basement faults oriented subparallel to the uralide structural grain were related to several stages of precambrian deformation reactivation focused the deformation along these earlier faults resulting in the subsequent incorporation of crystalline basement thrust sheets in the thrust belt at an early stage of its evolution pre existing basement faults oriented subperpendicular to the developing thrust belt structural grain were related to aulacogens in the archean crystalline basement that were filled by variable thickness of riphean aged sediments these influenced the localisation and development of numerous structures in the thrust belt that caused along strike structural changes related to lateral ramps recognition of these features and their influence on the geometric and kinematic evolution of the south urals foreland thrust and fold belt are important for understanding seismic reflection fabrics in the south urals thrust belt and for potential field 3 d geological and kinematic modelling

microfacies and geochemistry of the middle cretaceous sarvak formation in zagros basin izeh zone sw iran abstract the sarvak formation albian to cenomanian forming part of the bangestan group comprises a thick succession of carbonate rocks in the zagros basin of southern iran the sarvak formation forms one of the main hydrocarbon reservoirs of this region three sections in the northern 252 m thickness and southern flanks 348 m thickness of the mish and anneh anticlines 245 m thickness in the izeh zone of sw iran were selected for this study petrographic analysis led us to define 10 microfacies units deposited in four facies belts i tidal flat ii lagoonal iii shoal and iv open marine all of these form part of a platform ramp environment geochemical investigations limited to outcrops of the mish anticline aided in understanding geochemical and diagenetic characteristics of carbonate rocks from the sarvak formation variations of oxygen and carbon isotope data from limestones of the sarvak formation indicate near primary marine phreatic and partially meteoric digenesis for both flanks of the mish anticline respectively lower abundances of mn and fe suggest that the carbonates at both sites appear to have stabilized under mainly oxic conditions the sarvak carbonates from the north flank of the mish anticline indicate higher rock water interaction and a closed diagenetic system in comparison to the south flank of the mish anticline vertical and lateral variations in stratigraphic thicknesses in selected outcrops can be related to the presence of syn sedimentary faults in the zagros basin that resulted in regional instability or due to rates of sedimentation with lower rates of deposition in the basin during middle cretaceous times

crescent like large scale structures in the external zones of the western gibraltar arc betic rif orogenic wedge the external wedge of the gibraltar arc orogenic system western mediterranean is a natural case of a fold and thrust salient although at the scale of the arc a swing of the structural trend can be observed the presence of closed crescent like structures some of them more than 25 km long and scattered over an area of 3500 km 2 characterize the gibraltar arc external wedge this feature makes it very different from a classical arc shaped fold and thrust belt detailed structural maps of representative crescent like structures are presented synorogenic sediments reveal that they probably formed during a short time interval most probably during a single shortening event the crescent like structures are localized in front of a recess formed by the internal zones that acted as backstop this backstop shape and a viscous substrate essentially triassic evaporites below the fold and thrust external wedge constrain the experimental setting of an analogue model in which we were able to reproduce structures that developed originally with a highly non cylindrical shape during a single straight convergence moreover the tectonic transport directions along the thrusts are broadly comparable in the natural case and the model

insights into the velocity dependent geometry and internal strain in accretionary wedges from analogue models although the brittle material in analogue models is characterized by a linear navier coulomb behaviour and rate independent deformation the geometry and style of deformation in accretionary wedges is sensitive to shortening velocity in this study we have constructed a series of analogue models with various shortening velocities in order to study the influence of shortening velocity on the geometry and kinematics of accretionary wedges model results illustrate how shortening velocity has an important influence on the geometry and kinematics of the resulting wedge in general for models having similar bulk shortening the accretionary wedges with higher velocities of shortening are roughly steeper higher and longer as well as having larger critical wedge angles and height it accommodates a number of foreland vergent thrusts larger fault spacing and displacement rates than those of low to medium velocity shortening which indicates a weak velocity dependence in geometry of the wedge moreover models with a high velocity of shortening undergo larger amounts of volumetric strain and total layer parallel shortening than models with low to medium velocity shortening the former accommodate a greater development of back thrusts and asymmetric structures a backwards to forwards style of wedge growth therefore occurs in the frontal zone under high velocity shortening

active tectonics of the alpine himalayan belt between western turkey and pakistan summary over 80 new fault plane solutions combined with satellite imagery as well as both modern and historical observations of earthquake faulting are used to investigate the active tectonics of the middle east between western turkey and pakistan the deformation of the western part of this region is dominated by the movement of continental material laterally away from the lake van region in eastern turkey this movement helps to avoid crustal thickening in the van region and allows some of the shortening between arabia and eurasia to be taken up by the thrusting of continental material over oceanic type basement in the southern caspian mediterranean makran and black sea thus central turkey bounded by the north and east anatolian strike slip faults is moving west from the van region and overrides the eastern mediterranean at two intermediate depth seismic zones one extending between antalya bay and southern cyprus and the other further west in the hellenic trench the motion of northern iran eastwards from the van region is achieved mainly by a conjugate system of strike slip faults and leads to the low angle thrusting of iran over the southern caspian sea the seismicity of the caucasus shows predominantly shortening perpendicular to the regional strike but there is also some minor elongation along the strike of the belt as the causcasus overrides the caspian and black seas the deformation of the eastern part of this region is dominated by the shortening of iran against the stable borders of turkmenistan and afghanistan the north east direction of compression seen in zagros is also seen in north east iran and the kopet dag where the shortening is taken up by a combination of strike slip and thrust faulting large structural as well as palaeomagnetic rotations are likely to have occurred in ne iran as a result of this style of deformation north south strike slip faults in southern iran allow some movement of material away from the collision zone in ne iran towards the makran subduction zone where genuinely intermediate depth seismicity is seen within this broad deforming belt large areas such as central turkey nw iran azerbaijan central iran and the southern caspian appear to be almost aseismic and therefore to behave as relatively rigid blocks surrounded by active belts 200 300 km wide the motion of these blocks can usefully be described by poles of rotation the poles presented in this paper predict motions consistent with those observed and also predict the opening of the gulf of iskenderun ne of cyprus the change within the zagros mountains from strike slip faulting in the nw to intense thrusting in the se and the relatively feeble seismicity in se iran baluchistan this description also explains why the north south structures along the iran afghanistan border do not cut the east west ranges of the makran within the active belts surrounding the relatively aseismic blocks a continuum approach is needed for a description of the deformation even though motions at the surface may be concentrated on faults the evolution of fault systems within the active zones is controlled by geometric constraints such as the requirement that simultaneously active faults do not in general intersect many of the active processes discussed in this paper particularly large scale rotations and lateral movement along the regional strike are likely to have caused substantial complexities in older mountain belts and should be accounted for in any reconstructions of them

hydrocarbon potential and palynological study of the latest ordovician earliest silurian source rock sarchahan formation in the zagros mountains southern iran abstract source rock studies are one of the key issues of petroleum exploration activities in the supercontinent of gondwana ice ages related to the upper ordovician hirnantian and rising sea levels caused by glacial melting at the end of the ordovician and early silurian llandoverian created excellent source rocks along the margin of gondwana investigations conducted in the arabian peninsula have been indicated indicating that the lower qalibah formation the so called qusaiba member or hot shale is a good source rock for the paleozoic petroleum system in this area likewise the sarchahan formation was recently introduced as a source rock in the zagros basin of iran which is probably equivalent to the qalibah formation in the arabian peninsula in this study samples were prepared from surface and subsurface paleozoic rock units in iran s zagros basin the emphasis of the paper was on the sarchahan formation in kuh e faraghan ranging in age from the late ordovician hirnantian to lower silurian llandoverian to determine whether the high richness of organic matter in the sarchahan formation is related to the late ordovician or lower silurian the basal part of the sarchahan formation belongs to the late ordovician hirnantian because of the presence of the persculptus graptolite biozone while the remainder belongs to the lower silurian the ordovician and early llandoverian parts of the sarchahan formation contain type ii and iii kerogen with toc ranging from 2 94 to 7 19 but the rest of the sarchahan formation late llandoverian has toc ranging from 0 1 to 0 58 therefore the hot shale in iran falls within the hirnantian and early llandoverian rhuddanian and not the latest llandoverian aeronian and telychian utilizing organic petrography kerogen type was found ii iii the carbon stable isotope studies revealed that the source rock of hydrocarbons in dalan and kangan reservoirs has been the sarchahan formation based on analytical data the kerogenous shales in the lower part of the sarchahan formation are at end of gas window and the gamma ray amount is approximately 180 api this research indicates the differences between the source rocks in the southern and northern persian gulf and suggesting the hot shale should be considered in different views and used in modeling studies of sedimentary basins for future exploration targets

building the zagros collisional orogen timing strain distribution and the dynamics of arabia eurasia plate convergence he zagros mountains are the result of the arabia eurasia collision initiated at 35 ma as the rifted arabian lithosphere was underthrusted beneath the iranian plate due to its negative buoyancy the onset of crustal thickening started at 25 ma as recorded by the hinterland exhumation and foreland clastic deposition deformation throughout the arabia eurasia collision zone and the uplift of the iranian plateau occurred after 15 12 ma as a result of shortening thickening of the thin iranian crust we emphasize that only 42 of the post 35 ma convergence is partitioned by shortening within central iran tomographic constraints show ongoing slab steepening or breakoff in the nw zagros whereas underthrusting of the arabian plate is observed beneath central zagros the current subduction dynamics can be explained by the original lateral difference in the buoyancy of the distal margin that promoted slab sinking in nw zagros and underthrusting in central zagros critical wedge approach applied to the zagros favors the hypothesis of strong brittle crust detached above a viscous lower crust in contrast the weak sedimentary cover deforms by buckling of a thick multilayered cover thrust faulting associated with folding occurs in the competent layers and is responsible for most of the earthquakes there is evidence that the role of the slab pull force in driving the arabian plate motion was reduced after 12 ma large scale mantle flow induced by mantle upwelling at the afar plume appears to be the main driver of the arabia plate motion we stress that the main kinematic change in the zagros region occurred at 15 12 ma as the zagros uplifted before the arabian slab detached the zagros appears key to investigate coupling between continental rheology plate driving forces and mountain building in which the role of rift inheritance appears to be central

structural evolution of the piqiang fault zone nw tarim basin china abstract the piqiang fault is a prominent strike slip tear fault that laterally partitions the keping shan thrust belt in the nw tarim basin china in satellite images the piqiang fault appears as a sharp nw trending lineament that can be traced for more than 70 km it is oblique to the general structural trend of the thrust belt and subparallel to the thrust transport direction this paper presents a structural analysis of the piqiang fault based on satellite image interpretation and field data a net loss of late paleozoic sediment across the fault zone implies that it was initiated as a major normal fault during the early permian and corresponds to widespread extension and magmatism during this period differential erosion across the fault resulted in the subsequent removal of sediment from the east relative to the west during the middle to late cenozoic contraction of the nw tarim basin and the formation of the keping shan thrust belt resulted in reactivation of the piqiang fault as a strike slip tear fault the fault has accommodated lateral differences in thrust density and spacing which have arisen due to the abrupt pre existing change in stratigraphic thickness across it the piqiang fault provides an insight into the formation of oblique strike slip tear faults in contractional belts and demonstrates the importance of inherited basement structures in such settings

post collisional deposits in the zagros foreland basin implications for diachronous underthrusting detailed sedimentology of the neogene foreland basin deposits is investigated and classified into 11 lithofacies associations with respect to their paleo sedimentary environments the foreland deposits reveal a single coarsening upward mega sequence with continuous passage from back bulge to forebulge foredeep and wedge top sedimentary environments the gachsaran deposits form the base of the foreland strata and consist mainly of three different lithofacies associations including fluvial marine and sabkha deposits in the eastern zagros in fars and are typically dominated with evaporites toward the west in the dezful and kirkuk embayments the mishan formation has three different shallow marine lithofacies associations in a vertical succession representing foredeep deposits in the eastern zagros which tapers toward the dezful embayment and disappears in iraq the agha jari distal wedge top deposits also contain three different lithofacies associations including delta deposits mostly in the fars tidal flat deposits in dezful and mesopotamia basin and continental fluvial deposits across the entire zagros the uppermost synorogenic bakhtiari formation represents proximal wedge top deposits and consists mainly of two main lithofacies associations including shallow marine and fluvial deposits within which the fluvial succession is divided into three sub lithofacies associations with respect to distance from the mountain front and hydraulic power of the river networks synthetizing sedimentary facies association with age constraints of the old foreland deposits near the zagros suture in the high zagros area suggests that a considerable part of the arabian plate has been removed at the northern edge by underthrusting and erosion moreover preservation of the young distal foreland deposits near the suture in the western zagros implies that the magnitude and rate of removal of the proximal foreland deposits have been inconstant along strike the belt and decreases toward the east

late cenozoic partitioning of oblique plate convergence in the zagros fold and thrust belt iran the nw trending zagros fold and thrust belt is affected by two major dextral faults 1 the nw trending main recent fault that accommodates partitioning of oblique convergence at the rear of the western zagros and 2 the north trending kazerun fault located in the central zagros combined structural and fault kinematics studies and spot images analysis have shown a pliocene kinematic change accompanied by a fault pattern reorganization which has led to a modification in the accommodation of oblique convergence since the late pliocene the distributed transpressional deformation operating at the rear of the belt has become partitioned along the newly formed main recent fault this fault cuts through early pliocene nappes and transpressional structures by right laterally reactivating high angle thrusts the southeastern termination of the main recent fault connects to the northern termination of kazerun fault that consists of three fault zones that end in bent orogen parallel splay thrust faults the kazerun fault together with a series of north to nnw trending inherited basement strike slip faults define an orogen scale fan shaped fault pattern pointing toward the main recent fault kazerun fault junction this structural pattern allows slip from along the main recent fault to become distributed by transfer to the longitudinal thrust faults and folds of the zagros belt with the fan shaped fault pattern acting as a horse tail termination of the main recent fault

new field and geophysical data about transpressional deformation an improved model for the structural style of sha gou fault area in southern ningxia northeastern edge of tibetan plateau china abstract situated near the northeastern edge of the tibetan plateau the sha gou fault area sgfa represents an important area to understand cenozoic regional interactions between northeastern ne tibetan plateau and southwestern sw liupan shan basin within this region several km scale arcuate fault systems such as the lijun fault and the madong shan piedmont fault accommodate the transpressive deformation but their structural style is still controversial predecessors regarded these bow like faults as southwest dipping thrust systems with large scale nappes however this opinion is not compatible with the new field and geophysical data in this study we aim to ascertain the structural pattern of this area based on the analyses of field observation data interpretation of seismic reflection profiles and two dimensional gravity forward modeling according to the present fieldwork the structural cleavages low angle slickenlines sub vertical fault surfaces ribbon effect as well as the linear geomorphic features in plane view indicate that these faults belong to a strike slip system newly acquired seismic profiles characterized by distinct positive flower structures strongly suggest that this area is again a strike slip fault system rather than a thrusting system furthermore gravity forward modeling results show that the reverse strike slip model without large scale thrust nappes is closer to the present structural style of this area the gravity forward modeling is an effective method to identify km scale thrust nappes which could be used for reference by the structural style analysis in other similar regions based on these evidences a new transpressional shear model for the structural pattern is proposed the overall structural style of the sgfa is not characterized by large scale thrust nappes but is dominated by a transpressional shear system with significant strike slip faulting such a new model can be an additional evidence for the tectonic escape that is going on in the area north of the himalaya and is dominated by reverse strike slip deformation the stepwise morphology i e the pre cretaceous strata in the west of strike slip faults are higher than those in the east successively in this model is also caused by the uplift of the tibetan plateau furthermore the strike slip deformation indicates that the sw liupan shan basin is a continental sub basin segmented by several km scale strike slip faults rather than the imbricated style of purely contractional system in typical foreland basin

deformation and displacement of the jura cover on its basement abstract the sedimentary cover of the internal jura displaced over its basement conforms well with the model of a thin skinned thrust sheet the wedge shaped sheet which includes a thick sequence of molasse deposited ahead of the alpine front slid over the basement cover interface the alpine crustal thrust sheets created a load at the south east end of the overthrust european plate molasse was deposited on the bent plate and the internal part of the basin was progressively affected by thrusting this process also induced deformation and displacements in the foreland gravity spreading in the internal molasse and a forward motion by rigid slipping movement led to a horizontal push causing deformation by indentation in the internal jura in the plateaux of the external jura there is very little extension in the cover and minimal shortening in the basement this shortening induced a decollement under the plateaux over the bresse graben gravity sliding occurred in the form of huge landslides these contrasts in the origin of the jura structures along a median cross section from thonon to arbois are shown by geophysical data construction of a balanced cross section and calculations of realistic mechanical models for the bending of the foreland plate and for the motion of the cover sheet

northward growth of the qimen tagh range a new model accounting for the late neogene strike slip deformation of the sw qaidam basin abstract situated along the western termination of the eastern kunlun mountains the qimen tagh range represents a key area to understand the cenozoic basin range interactions between the northeastern tibetan plateau and the qaidam basin within that region several huge bow like fault systems such as the kunbei and qimen tagh fault systems accommodate the transpressive deformation but their kinematic evolution is still highly debated newly acquired seismic profiles and isopach maps of the late eocene sediments strongly suggest that the kunbei fault system consisting of the kunbei arlar and hongliuquan faults in the southwestern qadaim basin was initially a left lateral strike slip fault system rather than a thrusting system growth strata indicate an early miocene onset age for this strike slip deformation however earthquake focal mechanisms show that the present day tectonic pattern of this fault system is dominated by ne sw transpression as for the qimen tagh fault system numerous linear geomorphic features and fault scarps indicate that it was again a strike slip fault system deformed sediments within the adatan valley prove that strike slip motion prevailed during the pleistocene yet the present day deformation is marked by ne sw transpression collectively the kunbei and qimen tagh fault systems were initially left lateral strike slip fault systems that formed during early miocene and pleistocene respectively colligating with these southward younging left lateral strike slip faulting ages and the fact that these convex northward structures converge to the center segment of active kunlun fault in the east we thus considered the kunbei and qimen tagh fault systems as former western segments of the kunlun fault once located further south in the present day location of that fault these faults gradually migrated northward since the early miocene while their kinematics changed from left lateral strike slip motion to ne sw transpression

the arabian infracambrian extensional system abstract during the late precambrian and early cambrian about 600 540 ma extensive left lateral faulting along the complex nw se trending najd fault system cut across the arabian shield this tectonic episode was accompanied by nw se directed extension in northern egypt and the sinai peninsula based on these relationships stern 1985 interpreted the najd fault system as a set of transform faults emanating from a rift basin in ne egypt contemporaneous to this system in the western part of the arabian plate and northern egypt extensive evaporitic basins developed in northern pakistan southern oman and the arabian gulf and zagros mountains these basins are generally bounded by nw trending faults such as the najd hawasina and zagros faults and ne trending faults such as the ghudun khasfah and dibba faults these evaporitic basins are interpreted as rift basins such that stern s 1985 extensional model in northern egypt may be expanded regionally to include the eastern part of the arabian plate and the indian subcontinent this broader interpretation implies that after the e w directed collisional tectonics of the late precambrian in western arabia and africa which terminated around 640 600 ma the arabian plate experienced nw se directed crustal extension and continental break up

substratum transverse faults in kuqa foreland basin northwest china and their significance in petroleum geology abstract the importance of transverse faults in basin evolution and petroleum geology has been often emphasized however the transverse faults in the kuqa foreland basin the most important gas producing area in china have rarely been studied interpreted seismic sections and earthquake focal mechanism solutions as well as other geological and geophysical data allow us to identify a few widely spaced approximately ns trending transverse strike slip faults separating major structural units and to clarify the geometry and kinematics of these transverse faults hidden below thrust faults in the kuqa foreland basin two major structural domains can be distinguished transverse faults in the northern kuqa foreland basin are mainly nne trending sinistral indicating clockwise rotation of fault bounded blocks in contrast the predominant nw trending dextral faults in the southern kuqa foreland basin imply counterclockwise rotation of fault bounded blocks we propose a tectonic model in which crustal blocks are bounded by strike slip faults in a zone of simple shear rotation about vertical axis the strike slip faulting and thrust faulting in the kuqa foreland basin suggest that some of the convergence between south tianshan and tarim blocks may have been accommodated not only by obvious crustal shortening and thickening along thrust faults but also by rotation and possible lateral movement of the crust along transverse faults controlled by the remote collision of indian block with eurasian block since the miocene these reactivated substratum faults which may inherit from paleozoic deformation control various elements relevant to gas accumulation in the kuqa foreland basin which should expect to be paid more attention in the future these elements include maturity of tertiary and jurassic source rocks a difference in the regional cap of kumugelimu salt beds from east to west reservoir bed properties gas migration channels and traps formation in addition the strike slip faulting of the transverse faults may affect deformation of the sedimentary cover including making the western qiulitag structural belt to form an arcuated structure curved to the ssw

effect of snow amount on runoff soil loss and suspended sediment during periods of snowmelt in southern west siberia abstract surface runoff soil loss suspended sediment concentration ssc texture of eroded soils and suspended sediment were determined on slightly eroded chernozems mouldboard fall ploughed during years with different amounts of snow in three areas of southern west siberia predsalairye priobye and kuznetsk hollow these areas have different geomorphological and climatic characteristics and soils observations were made from 1969 to 2007 the soil loss during very low snow and low snow years did not exceed 2 t ha 1 after winters with normal amounts of snow the runoff led to slight soil loss 2 5 t ha 1 soil losses in high snow and very high snow years varied from slight to severe 4 8 15 8 t ha 1 depending on studied area the main sediment exported during intensive snowmelt and the 1 mm of runoff transported from 35 to 150 kg ha 1 of soil material the removal of soil particles

kinematics and surface fracture pattern of the anaran basement fault zone in nw of the zagros fold thrust belt the preexisting north south trending basement faults and their reactivation played an important role during the evolution of the zagros fold thrust belt the anaran basement fault in the lurestan r

basement faulting and the focal depths of the larger earthquakes in the zagros mountains iran summary the present day seismicity of the zagros seems to occur on high angle reverse faults distributed across the whole width of the belt it does not indicate activity on a single inclined thrust surface and there do not seem to have been any well located events at intermediate depths modelling of the long period teleseismic body waves of seven large earthquakes presented here shows their focal depths to be in the range 8 15 km this is thought to indicate faulting in the uppermost basement beneath the sedimentary cover though the absence of published seismic refraction results renders the sediment thickness uncertain faulting of this type and depth may occur on inherited normal faults which have subsequently been reactivated as thrusts such reactivation allows considerable shortening to take place in the early stages of continental collision without the subduction or excessive thickening of continental crust

structure and evolution of the passive margin of the eastern tethys abstract an extensive passive margin was formed in the triassic along the periphery of arabia including the tauric carbonate platform this event is related to the opening of the mesozoic tethys when a number of microcontinents split off from gondwana triassic extension and continental rifting resulted in the formation of a structural pattern which is uniform from the dinarides to oman it includes the following elements 1 1 shelf 2 2 continental slope 3 3 deep basin probably with a floor of attenuated sialic crust 4 4 inner carbonate platform in the jurassic cretaceous stable conditions prevailed influenced only by eustatic oscillations of the sea level turbidites accumulated on the continental rise while cherts and radiolarites were deposited in the deep basins hawasina pichakun antalya pindus below the ccd level sedimentation on the shelf was controlled by north northeast transverse tectonic elements which also continued across the passive margin dividing it into a number of segments collision with an island arc led to obduction of the oceanic crust deformation of the passive margin and overthrusting of its sedimentary cover onto the arabian shelf obduction and deformation lasted for about 10 m y and created a new tectonic pattern with concentric structural zones surrounding the arabian promontory these zones include 1 1 the flysch basin a remnant of the closing tethys 2 2 an uplift a site of periodical emergence and erosion corresponding to the frontal part of the ophiolitic nappes 3 3 the border furrow a depocenter of low energy calcareous marls 4 4 the arabian shield constantly emerged during the tertiary tectonic deformation of these zones caused by the collision of arabia with eurasia began prior to the early miocene and it is still going on data on afghanistan demonstrate that its central part the gelmend argandab and kabul blocks belonged during the paleozoic and early mesozoic to the continental shelf of india

controls on the geometry of fold thrust belt salients salients convex to the foreland curves in the map traces of orogens typically involve fold thrust belts formed along the foreland margin of orogens an examination of the map view shape degree of asymmetry dimensions and structural trend line patterns i e the variation in fold trend and fault strike along the length of the belt of 20 fold thrust belt salients worldwide illustrates relationships between salient geometry and the geologic setting in which the salient formed in order to understand these relationships we used simple sandbox models to simulate the formation of three of the several types of salients specifically we examined indenter controlled salients the geometry of which reflects interaction of a fold thrust belt with a hinterland indenter basin controlled salients the geometry of which reflects lateral variations in the thickness of predeformational basin fill and detachment controlled salients the geometry of which reflects lateral variations in the strength of a detachment surface our models demonstrate that thrusts in these three types of salients initiate with a curved shape and that rocks within thrust sheets on the limbs of salients can undergo a vertical axis rotation in response to simple shear without requiring major rotation of the fault trace furthermore trend line patterns distinguish basin controlled from indenter controlled salients specifically structural trend lines in basin controlled salients converge at the end points of the curve while in indenter controlled salients they diverge at the end points of the curve the asymmetry of a salient correlates with the asymmetry of the predeformational basin and or of the indenter and with the convergence direction thus our results explain geometric characteristics of individual salients and address controversies concerning paleomagnetic data in salients they also may help prioritize petroleum exploration targets in salients foreland basin oil fields concentrate at the apex of basin controlled salients because the geologic factors that generate the salient also contribute to localizing oil fields

structural variation along the zagros and the nature of the dezful embayment structure varies along strike in the zagros fold and thrust belt of iran which is a principal element in the arabia eurasia continental collision pre collision late cretaceous ophiolite nappes kermanshah neyriz and related nappes of deep marine sediments radiolarite series were emplaced next to two regions pusht e kuh arc fars which later developed a consistent structural style across the range from the high zagros fault to the foreland limit of deformation the intervening area has a zone of highly imbricated arabian plate strata the bakhtyari culmination thrust southwest towards and over a low relief low elevation region the dezful embayment there are no ophiolite nappes northeast of the bakhtyari culmination isopachs reflect these different structural patterns from late cretaceous time but not earlier in late cretaceous time the dezful embayment recorded less deposition than adjacent areas to the northwest and southeast in the palaeogene there was little net difference between the dezful embayment and its margins the dezful embayment has been a depocentre since roughly 35 ma which is the likely time of initial collision between arabia and eurasia we propose that the syn collision structure and stratigraphy of the zagros is therefore strongly influenced by the variation in late cretaceous ophiolite emplacement but the original cause of this variation is not clear

role of the kazerun fault zone in the formation and deformation of the zagros fold thrust belt iran 1 the kazerun fault is a n s trending fault zone which obliquely truncates the nw se trending zagros fold thrust belt this active fault zone is an ancient structural lineament which has controlled the structure sedimentation and subsidence of the central part of the zagros since the early cambrian and has had an influence on the formation of the hydrocarbon system of the belt the kazerun fault limited the distribution of the cambrian hormuz salt the major decollement horizon that separates the precambrian basement from the thick sedimentary cover to the west its later reactivation with other n s trending fault zones e g the izeh fault zone during the cretaceous resulted in major sedimentary thickness and facies variations along the belt this study presents a new interpretation for the evolution of the kazerun fault zone based on field evidence and a review of various published and unpublished data it is argued that at the surface the fault zone is delineated by four north south trending segments and that marked differences occur in the distribution of deformation on either side of the fault segments in the late tertiary during this time these segments acted as transfer faults lateral ramps linking different segments of the zagros deformation fronts

provenance evolution of oligocene pliocene foreland deposits in the dezful embayment to constrain central zagros exhumation history this paper presents a detailed provenance analysis of the 6 5 km thick oligocene pliocene foreland succession in the north dezful embayment in zagros iran using petrography geochemistry and palaeoflow analysis we determined three provenance shifts during the exhumation of the zagros orogen above the ahwaz sandstones sourced from the arabian craton a sharp decrease in sio2 al2o3 zr sc th sc th co and th cr within the gachsaran fm and the appearance of first cycle sands derived from metamorphic and volcanic rocks at the base of the aghajari fm characterize the onset of exhumation rising topography and denudation of the zagros orogenic system during the latest oligocene and constitute the first shift the second shift in the middle aghajari fm is marked by a distinct increase in radiolarian cherts and compatible incompatible elements indicating the exhumation of neotethyan radiolarite ophiolite allochthonous slices in the high zagros zone during the tortonian c 9 ma large quantities of carbonate clasts derived from the nearby growing izeh zone anticlines characterize the messinian c 7 ma bakhtyari conglomerates marking the third shift in conclusion a detailed hands on provenance analysis of the clastic sedimentary sequences in the north dezful embayment enabled us to determine catchment areas and shifts hitherto unstudied thus contributing to the exhumation history of the central zagros orogenic system supplementary material details of the petrography and geochemistry results are available at https doi org 10 6084 m9 figshare c 4905558