Neogene shortening and exhumation of the Zagros fold-thrust belt and foreland basin in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq

Koshnaw, Renas I.; Horton, Brian K.; Stöckli, Daniel F.; Barber, Douglas E.; Tamar‐Agha, Mazin Y.; Kendall, Jerry

doi:10.1016/j.tecto.2016.11.016

Cited by 79 publications

(106 citation statements)

References 180 publications

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“…However, the strike of the fault differs by about 50° with the topography orientation at the location of the earthquake. This discrepancy is explained by a major bend in the MFF at this location as it transitions between the Lurestan Arc in the south and the KE in the north (e.g., Koshnaw et al, ; Vergés et al, ). Interestingly, the fault bend between the Lorestan Arc and KE corresponds to the northern bound of the rupture (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Gombert

Duputel

Shabani

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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On 12 November 2017, a MW=7.3 earthquake struck near the Iranian town of Ezgeleh, at the Iran‐Iraq border. This event was located within the Zagros fold and thrust belt which delimits the continental collision between the Arabian and Eurasian Plates. Despite a high seismic risk, the seismogenic behavior of the complex network of active faults is not well documented in this area due to the long recurrence interval of large earthquakes. In this study, we jointly invert interferometric synthetic aperture radar and near‐field strong motions to infer a kinematic slip model of the rupture. The incorporation of these near‐field observations enables a fine resolution of the kinematic rupture process. It reveals an impulsive seismic source with a strong southward rupture directivity, consistent with significant damage south of the epicenter. We also show that the slip direction does not match plate convergence, implying that some of the accumulated strain must be partitioned onto other faults.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…These sediments are heavily folded in the forearc basin and host many large anticlines (e.g., Casciello et al, ; Kent, ). These folds are evidence for thin‐skin shortening occurring within the belt (Koshnaw et al, ). However, the slip of the 2017 earthquake occurred at larger depth, between 10 and 15 km.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Gombert

Duputel

Shabani

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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“…In the Iranian Zagros, these early Late Cretaceous (100–80 Ma) units are exposed in the Kermanshah and Neyriz ophiolitic complexes (H. Moghadam & Stern, ). These rocks were reworked into the Early Paleogene Proto‐Zagros foreland basin strata exposed in the ZFB (Homke et al, ; Koshnaw et al, ; Saura et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar discrepancies in timing and deformation style have been documented for the Arabia-Eurasia Zagros collisional zone, which involves an orogenic plateau complex often considered an active analogue for the more mature Indo-Asian system (e.g., Ballato et al, 2016;Hatzfeld & Molnar, 2010 collision to latest Middle Eocene-Late Eocene time (e.g., Hempton, 1985;Perinçek, 1979;Yiğitbaş & Yılmaz, 1996). However, it is evident from structural, stratigraphic, and thermochronometric data that accelerated orogenic exhumation, Zagros fold-thrust belt development, and coarse-clastic foreland sedimentation likely did not manifest until the Miocene Gavillot et al, 2010;Koshnaw et al, 2017;Pirouz et al, 2017). In the Zagros, a two-phase geodynamic process has been proposed to explain the 15to 25-Myr delay involving the arrival of extended transitional crust of the Arabian plate to the subduction zone in Late Eocene time followed by impingement of more buoyant, nonattenuated Arabian continental crust in the Early Miocene (Ballato et al, 2011;Madanipour et al, 2017;Mouthereau et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cenozoic Exhumation and Foreland Basin Evolution of the Zagros Orogen During the Arabia‐Eurasia Collision, Western Iran

et al. 2018

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Cenozoic exhumation patterns in the internal and external Zagros reveal a long‐term deformation record associated with geodynamic restructuring of Arabia‐Eurasia collisional zone from continental subduction to plate suturing, which can be evaluated from thermochronometric, provenance, and subsidence analyses. Thermal modeling of zircon and apatite (U‐Th)/He ages and apatite fission track data from the Sanandaj‐Sirjan Zone (SSZ) indicates exhumation and inferred uplift along the leading edge of Eurasia starting in the Late Eocene (~35 Ma), coeval with initial foreland flexural subsidence of Arabia. Together with deceleration in Arabia‐Eurasia convergence and diminished subduction‐related magmatism, these events signal the final Neotethys closure and onset of long‐term (15–20 Myr) Arabian continental subduction beneath Eurasia, facilitated by the attenuated architecture of the precollisional Arabian margin. From 35 to 20 Ma, crustal shortening was relatively subdued and restricted to areas along the Arabia‐Eurasia plate boundary and diffuse inversion structures within continental interiors. Acceleration in SSZ cooling/exhumation rates from 19 to 16 Ma was synchronous with rapid basin subsidence and clastic progradation in the Zagros foreland. These events were contemporaneous with 20‐ to 16‐Ma surge in calc‐alkaline magmatism in central Iran and may have been linked to reorganization/deflection of Arabian plate vectors during the main phase of Red Sea rifting at 19–18 Ma. Transition from continental subduction to Arabia‐Eurasia suturing by ~12 Ma forced a transfer of strain from the subduction zone to intraplate deformational structures. This was marked by rapid outward expansion of the Zagros orogen, involving a shift in exhumation from the SSZ to Zagros fold‐thrust belt and Iranian plate interior.

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“…The Zagros fold belt consists of Ediacaran-Phanerozoic Arabian sedimentary units that have been deformed by basement-cored reverse faults and movement along various stratigraphic décollement horizons (Alavi, 2007;Berberian, 1995;Emami et al, 2010;Koshnaw et al, 2017;Mouthereau et al, 2006Mouthereau et al, , 2007. Shortening occurred in two distinct phases as evidenced by growth strata and angular unconformities.…”

Section: Tectonic Configurationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Proto‐Zagros Foreland Basin in Lorestan, Western Iran: Insights From Multimineral Detrital Geothermochronometric and Trace Elemental Provenance Analysis

Barber

Stöckli

Galster

2019

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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Detrital zircon (DZ) U‐Pb geochronology is a widely used provenance tool that leverages bedrock age signatures of hinterland source terranes. However, complex sediment recycling of multicycle zircon and hinterland provinces with nondiagnostic U‐Pb ages represent possible pitfalls for provenance reconstructions. Additional biases pertain to source rock zircon fertilities and insensitivity to low‐ and medium‐grade tectonothermal events that do not result in zircon generation. To bridge these inherent biases and gaps in DZ U‐Pb provenance data sets and derive more comprehensive tectonic reconstruction, this study combined U‐Pb and trace element analyses on DZ, apatite, and rutile as well as zircon (U‐Th)/He analyses from the Proto‐Zagros foreland basin in western Iran to shed light on Late Cretaceous tectonic accretion along Arabia. Integrated multimineral, multimethod data sets record formation of a 110‐ to 85‐Ma island arc within Triassic mid‐oceanic ridge crust of the Neotethys ocean, simultaneous obduction starting in Santonian‐Early Campanian times, and inversion of the Arabian rift margin. Overall, integration of these techniques constrains provenance based on multiple independent criteria including crystallization age, cooling history, and petrogenic‐geodynamic environment. This approach not only more completely described provenance signatures but also helped avoid significant pitfalls. For example, while Triassic DZ U‐Pb ages might be mistaken as input from Eurasia, zircon trace element analysis reveals a MORB signature and attributes these DZ to Neotethyan oceanic rather than Eurasian continental origin, having fundamentally different paleogeographic/tectonic implications for the Arabia‐Eurasia collision. Moreover, detrital rutile and apatite resolve and characterize multiple Paleozoic‐Mesozoic thermotectonic events not recorded by DZ U‐Pb due to their largely amagmatic nature.

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Neogene shortening and exhumation of the Zagros fold-thrust belt and foreland basin in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq

Cited by 79 publications

References 180 publications

Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Cenozoic Exhumation and Foreland Basin Evolution of the Zagros Orogen During the Arabia‐Eurasia Collision, Western Iran

The Proto‐Zagros Foreland Basin in Lorestan, Western Iran: Insights From Multimineral Detrital Geothermochronometric and Trace Elemental Provenance Analysis

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Neogene shortening and exhumation of the Zagros fold-thrust belt and foreland basin in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq

Cited by 79 publications

References 180 publications

Impulsive Source of the 2017 MW=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Impulsive Source of the 2017 MW=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Cenozoic Exhumation and Foreland Basin Evolution of the Zagros Orogen During the Arabia‐Eurasia Collision, Western Iran

The Proto‐Zagros Foreland Basin in Lorestan, Western Iran: Insights From Multimineral Detrital Geothermochronometric and Trace Elemental Provenance Analysis

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Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake

Impulsive Source of the 2017 M_W=7.3 Ezgeleh, Iran, Earthquake