@phdthesis{Ballato2009,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo},
  title     = {Tectonic and climatic forcing in orogenic processes : the foreland basin point of view, Alborz mountains, N Iran},
  url       = {http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus-41068},
  school      = {Universit{\"a}t Potsdam},
  year      = {2009},
  abstract  = {Systeme von Vorlandbecken repr{\"a}sentieren bedeutende geologische Archive und dienen dem Verst{\"a}ndnis von R{\"u}ckkopplungen zwischen oberfl{\"a}chennahen und tektonischen Prozessen. Außerdem dokumentieren sie die Entwicklung unmittelbar angrenzender Bergketten. Die sediment{\"a}ren Abfolgen in Vorlandbecken reflektieren das Gleichgewicht zwischen tektonischer Subsidenz, der Bildung langzeitlichen Akkommodationsraumes und des Sedimenteintrages, welcher wiederum die Wirksamkeit von Erosions- und Massenneuverteilungsprozessen wiederspiegelt. Um die Effekte von Klima und Tektonik in einem solchen System zu erforschen, untersuchte ich die Oligo-Mioz{\"a}nen Sedimente in den Vorlandbecken der s{\"u}dlichen Elburs Bergkette, einem intrakontinentalen Gebirge in Nord-Iran, das im Zuge der Arabisch-Eurasischen Kontinent-Kollision herausgehoben wurde. In dieser Studie der Vorlandbeckensedimente wurden Datierungstechniken angewandt (40Ar/39Ar, (U-Th)/He Thermochronologie und Magnetostratigraphie), die Sedimente und deren Herkunft analysiert und die Tonmineralogie, sowie Sauerstoff- und Kohlenstoffisotope untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass auf einer Zeitskala von 105 bis 106 Jahren eine systematische Korrelation zwischen „coarsening upward" Zyklen und den sediment{\"a}ren Akkumulationsraten besteht. W{\"a}hrend sukzessiver {\"U}berschiebungsphasen werden die durch Hebung der Bergkette bereitgestellten groben Kornfraktionen in proximale Bereiche des Beckens geliefert und feink{\"o}rnige Fazies in distalen Beckenregionen abgelagert. Variationen in der Sedimentherkunft in Phasen gr{\"o}ßerer tektonischer Aktivit{\"a}t zeugen von erosionaler Abdeckung und/oder der Umorganisation nat{\"u}rlicher Entw{\"a}sserungsstrukturen. Außerdem zeigen die Untersuchungen an stabilen Isotopen, dass die verst{\"a}rkte tektonische Aktivit{\"a}t das Anwachsen der Topographie f{\"o}rderte und damit die Wirksamkeit einer topographischen Barriere erh{\"o}hte. Wenn aufgrund nachlassender Beckenabsenkung die grobe Kornfraktion nicht vollst{\"a}ndig im Nahbereich des Beckens aufgenommen werden kann breitet sie sich in ferne Beckenregionen aus. Im Elburs wird die verringerte Subsidenz durch eine interne Hebung des Vorlandes hervorgerufen und ist mit einer lateralen Stapelung von Flussbetten assoziiert. Dokumentiert wird dies anhand konsequenten Schichtwachstums, tektonischer Schr{\"a}gstellung und sediment{\"a}rer Umlagerung. Gleichzeitig nehmen die Sedimentationsraten zu. Die Sauerstoff-Isotope der Pal{\"a}ob{\"o}den zeigen, dass dieser Anstieg mit einer Phase feuchteren Klimas einhergeht, wodurch Oberfl{\"a}chenprozesse effizienter werden und Heraushebungssraten steigen, was eine positive R{\"u}ckkopplung erzeugt. Des Weiteren zeigen die isotopischen und sediment{\"a}ren Daten, dass seit 10-9 Millionen Jahren (Ma) das Klima durch saisonalen Anstieg der Niederschl{\"a}ge zunehmend feuchter wurde. Da bedeutende klimatische Ver{\"a}nderungen zu dieser Zeit auch im Mittelmeerraum und Asien beobachtet wurden, ist anzunehmen, dass die klimatische Ver{\"a}nderung, die im Elburs Gebirge beobachtet wird, h{\"o}chstwahrscheinlich {\"A}nderungen der atmosph{\"a}rischen Zirkulationen der n{\"o}rdlichen Hemisph{\"a}re reflektiert. Aus den Ergebnissen dieser Studie lassen sich zus{\"a}tzliche Implikationen f{\"u}r die Entwicklung des Elburs Gebirges und die Arabisch-Eurasische kontinentale Kollisionszone ableiten. Die orogen-weite Hauptdeformation propagierte nicht gleichm{\"a}ßig nach S{\"u}den, sondern seit dem Oligoz{\"a}n schrittweise vorw{\"a}rts und r{\"u}ckw{\"a}rts. Insbesondere von ~17,5 bis 6,2 Ma wurde das Gebirge durch eine Kombination aus frontaler Akkretion und interner Keildeformation in Schritten von 0,7 bis 2 Millionen Jahren herausgehoben. Dar{\"u}ber hinaus deuten die Sedimentherkunftsdaten darauf hin, dass sich noch vor 10-9 Ma die Haupteinengungsrichtung von NW-SE nach NNE-SSW ver{\"a}nderte. Regional erlaubt die Geschichte der untersuchten Becken und angrenzenden Gebirgsz{\"u}ge R{\"u}ckschl{\"u}sse auf ein neues geodynamisches Model zur Entwicklung der Arabisch-Eurasischen kontinentalen Kollisionszone. Zahlreiche Sedimentbecken des Elburs Gebirges und anderer Lokalit{\"a}ten der Arabisch-Eurasischen Deformationszone belegen einen Wechsel von einem tensionalen zu einem kompressionalen tektonischen Regime vor ~36 Ma . Dieser Wechsel k{\"o}nnte den Beginn der Subduktion von gedehnter arabischer kontinentaler Lithosph{\"a}re unter Zentral-Iran bedeuten, was zu einer moderaten Plattenkopplung und Deformation von Unter- sowie Oberplatte gef{\"u}hrt hat. Der Anstieg der Deformationsraten im s{\"u}dlichen Elburs Gebirge seit ~17,5 Ma l{\"a}sst vermuten, dass die Oberplatte, wahrscheinlich aufgrund steigender Plattenkopplung, seit dem fr{\"u}hen Mioz{\"a}n signifikant deformiert wurde. Diese Ver{\"a}nderung k{\"o}nnte der Subduktion m{\"a}chtigerer arabischer kontinentaler Lithosph{\"a}re zugeschrieben werden und den Anfang echter kontinentaler Kollision bedeuten. Dieses Model erkl{\"a}rt daher die Zeitverz{\"o}gerung zwischen der Initiation der Arabisch-Eurasischen kontinentalen Kollision (Eoz{\"a}n-Oligoz{\"a}n) and dem Beginn ausgedehnter Deformation in der Kollisionszone (Mioz{\"a}n).},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoBruneStrecker2019,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Brune, Sascha and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {Sedimentary loading-unloading cycles and faulting in intermontane basins},
  series = {Earth \& planetary science letters},
  volume    = {506},
  journal   = {Earth \& planetary science letters},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {0012-821X},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.epsl.2018.10.043},
  pages     = {388 -- 396},
  year      = {2019},
  abstract  = {The removal, redistribution, and transient storage of sediments in tectonically active mountain belts is thought to exert a first-order control on shallow crustal stresses, fault activity, and hence on the spatiotemporal pattern of regional deformation processes. Accordingly, sediment loading and unloading cycles in intermontane sedimentary basins may inhibit or promote intrabasinal faulting, respectively, but unambiguous evidence for this potential link has been elusive so far. Here we combine 2D numerical experiments that simulate contractional deformation in a broken-foreland setting (i.e., a foreland where shortening is diachronously absorbed by spatially disparate, reverse faults uplifting basement blocks) with field data from intermontane basins in the NW Argentine Andes. Our modeling results suggest that thicker sedimentary fills (>0.7-1.0 km) may suppress basinal faulting processes, while thinner fills (<0.7 km) tend to delay faulting. Conversely, the removal of sedimentary loads via fluvial incision and basin excavation promotes renewed intrabasinal faulting. These results help to better understand the tectono-sedimentary history of intermontane basins that straddle the eastern border of the Andean Plateau in northwestern Argentina. For example, the Santa Maria and the Humahuaca basins record intrabasinal deformation during or after sediment unloading, while the Quebrada del Toro Basin reflects the suppression of intrabasinal faulting due to loading by coarse conglomerates. We conclude that sedimentary loading and unloading cycles may exert a fundamental control on spatiotemporal deformation patterns in intermontane basins of tectonically active broken forelands. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoCifelliHeidarzadehetal.2017,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Cifelli, Francesca and Heidarzadeh, Ghasem and Ghassemi, Mohammad R. and Wickert, Andrew D. and Hassanzadeh, Jamshid and Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume and Balling, Philipp and Sudo, Masafumi and Zeilinger, Gerold and Schmitt, Axel K. and Mattei, Massimo and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the northern Iranian Plateau: insights from middle-late Miocene foreland-basin deposits},
  series = {Basin research},
  volume    = {29},
  journal   = {Basin research},
  publisher = {Wiley},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0950-091X},
  doi       = {10.1111/bre.12180},
  pages     = {417 -- 446},
  year      = {2017},
  abstract  = {Sedimentary basins in the interior of orogenic plateaus can provide unique insights into the early history of plateau evolution and related geodynamic processes. The northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone offer the unique possibility to study middle-late Miocene terrestrial clastic and volcaniclastic sediments that allow assessing the nascent stages of collisional plateau formation. In particular, these sedimentary archives allow investigating several debated and poorly understood issues associated with the long-term evolution of the Iranian Plateau, including the regional spatio-temporal characteristics of sedimentation and deformation and the mechanisms of plateau growth. We document that middle-late Miocene crustal shortening and thickening processes led to the growth of a basement-cored range (Takab Range Complex) in the interior of the plateau. This triggered the development of a foreland-basin (Great Pari Basin) to the east between 16.5 and 10.7Ma. By 10.7Ma, a fast progradation of conglomerates over the foreland strata occurred, most likely during a decrease in flexural subsidence triggered by rock uplift along an intraforeland basement-cored range (Mahneshan Range Complex). This was in turn followed by the final incorporation of the foreland deposits into the orogenic system and ensuing compartmentalization of the formerly contiguous foreland into several intermontane basins. Overall, our data suggest that shortening and thickening processes led to the outward and vertical growth of the northern sectors of the Iranian Plateau starting from the middle Miocene. This implies that mantle-flow processes may have had a limited contribution toward building the Iranian Plateau in NW Iran.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoCrucianiDalconietal.2005,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Cruciani, G. and Dalconi, M. C. and Fabbri, B. and Macchiarola, M.},
  title     = {Mineralogical study of historical bricks from the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors in Istanbul based on powder X-ray diffraction data},
  issn      = {0935-1221},
  year      = {2005},
  abstract  = {This study concerns the Quantitative Phase Analysis (QPA) of historical bricks coming from the complex of the Great Palace of the Byzantine Emperors in Istanbul. The studied samples are characterised by different chemical compositions (low and high calcium content), variable firing temperatures and different amounts of soluble salts as damage products. In the low-Ca samples, the decrease of the phyllosilicate content (from 23.4 to 6.9 wt\%) is associated to the increase of the amorphous fraction (from 24 to 48\%). This clear negative correlation between the phyllosilicate content and the amorphous fraction indicates that in low-Ca systems vitrification processes are overwhelming with respect to nucleation and recrystallisation processes. By contrast, high-Ca samples present newly formed Ca(Mg) silicates (diopside from 5.7 to 27.2\%; anorthite from 1.4 to 8.7\%) and aluminium silicates (gehlenite only in two samples, 6.2 and 7.7\%) associated to the decrease of quartz (from 27.7 to 11.5\%), phyllosilicate (from 6.5\% until complete break down) and amorphous (from 30 to 14\%) phase fractions. These findings support the role played by the CaO(MgO) content deriving from carbonates decomposition which reacts with Al2O3 and SiO2 oxides from dehydroxylated clay minerals and quartz grains. The above results have been obtained by X-ray powder diffraction data using the combined Rietveld refinement - internal standard method in order to estimate both the crystalline and the amorphous phase fractions. In addition, the coexistence of two distinct plagioclases in high-Ca samples was modelled as follows: a primary albite, which tends to incorporate Ca during the firing process as demonstrated by the increasing of gamma crystallographic angle, and a newly formed anorthite. Finally, by difference between the X-ray fluorescence data and the chemical compositions inferred by QPA, it proved possible to roughly estimate the residual chemical composition attributable to the amorphous fraction. On the basis of our data, we believe that Rietveld refinement combined with the internal standard method represent a powerful tool to better characterise complex polycrystalline and amorphous mixture as in the case of historical bricks},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoLandgrafSchildgenetal.2015,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Landgraf, Angela and Schildgen, Taylor F. and Stockli, Daniel F. and Fox, Matthew and Ghassemi, Mohammad R. and Kirby, Eric and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {The growth of a mountain belt forced by base-level fall: Tectonics and surface processes during the evolution of the Alborz Mountains, N Iran},
  series = {Earth \& planetary science letters},
  volume    = {425},
  journal   = {Earth \& planetary science letters},
  publisher = {Elsevier},
  address   = {Amsterdam},
  issn      = {0012-821X},
  doi       = {10.1016/j.epsl.2015.05.051},
  pages     = {204 -- 218},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {The idea that climatically modulated erosion may impact orogenic processes has challenged geoscientists for decades. Although modeling studies and physical calculations have provided a solid theoretical basis supporting this interaction, to date, field-based work has produced inconclusive results. The central-western Alborz Mountains in the northern sectors of the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone constitute a promising area to explore these potential feedbacks. This region is characterized by asymmetric precipitation superimposed on an orogen with a history of spatiotemporal changes in exhumation rates, deformation patterns, and prolonged, km-scale base-level changes. Our analysis suggests that despite the existence of a strong climatic gradient at least since 17.5 Ma, the early orogenic evolution (from similar to 36 to 9-6 Ma) was characterized by decoupled orographic precipitation and tectonics. In particular, faster exhumation and sedimentation along the more arid southern orogenic flank point to a north-directed accretionary flux and underthrusting of Central Iran. Conversely, from 6 to 3 Ma, erosion rates along the northern orogenic flank became higher than those in the south, where they dropped to minimum values. This change occurred during a similar to 3-Myr-long, km-scale base-level lowering event in the Caspian Sea. We speculate that mass redistribution processes along the northern flank of the Alborz and presumably across all mountain belts adjacent to the South Caspian Basin and more stable areas of the Eurasian plate increased the sediment load in the basin and ultimately led to the underthrusting of the Caspian Basin beneath the Alborz Mountains. This underthrusting in turn triggered a new phase of northward orogenic expansion, transformed the wetter northern flank into a new pro-wedge, and led to the establishment of apparent steady-state conditions along the northern orogenic flank (i.e., rock uplift equal to erosion rates). Conversely, the southern mountain front became the retro-wedge and experienced limited tectonic activity. These observations overall raise the possibility that mass-distribution processes during a pronounced erosion phase driven by base-level changes may have contributed to the inferred regional plate-tectonic reorganization of the northern Arabia-Eurasia collision during the last similar to 5 Ma. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoParraSchildgenetal.2018,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Parra, Mauricio and Schildgen, Taylor F. and Dunkl, I. and Yildirim, C. and {\"O}zsayin, Erman and Sobel, Edward and Echtler, H. and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {Multiple exhumation phases in the Central Pontides (N Turkey)},
  series = {Tectonics},
  volume    = {37},
  journal   = {Tectonics},
  number    = {6},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0278-7407},
  doi       = {10.1029/2017TC004808},
  pages     = {1831 -- 1857},
  year      = {2018},
  abstract  = {The Central Pontides of N Turkey represents a mobile orogenic belt of the southern Eurasian margin that experienced several phases of exhumation associated with the consumption of different branches of the Neo-Tethys Ocean and the amalgamation of continental domains. Our new low-temperature thermochronology data help to constrain the timing of these episodes, providing new insights into associated geodynamic processes. In particular, our data suggest that exhumation occurred at (1) similar to 110 to 90Ma, most likely during tectonic accretion and exhumation of metamorphic rocks from the subduction zone; (2) from similar to 60 to 40Ma, during the collision of the Kirehir and Anatolide-Tauride microcontinental domains with the Eurasian margin; (3) from similar to 0 to 25Ma, either during the early stages of the Arabia-Eurasia collision (soft collision) when the Arabian passive margin reached the trench, implying 70 to 530km of subduction of the Arabian passive margin, or during a phase of trench advance predating hard collision at similar to 20Ma; and (4) similar to 11Ma to the present, during transpression associated with the westward motion of Anatolia. Our findings document the punctuated nature of fault-related exhumation, with episodes of fast cooling followed by periods of slow cooling or subsidence, the role of inverted normal faults in controlling the Paleogene exhumation pattern, and of the North Anatolian Fault in dictating the most recent pattern of exhumation.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoStockliGhassemietal.2013,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Stockli, Daniel F. and Ghassemi, Mohammad R. and Landgraf, Angela and Strecker, Manfred and Hassanzadeh, Jamshid and Friedrich, Anke M. and Tabatabaei, Saeid H.},
  title     = {Accommodation of transpressional strain in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone new constraints from (U-Th)/He thermochronology in the Alborz mountains, north Iran},
  series = {Tectonics},
  volume    = {32},
  journal   = {Tectonics},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0278-7407},
  doi       = {10.1029/2012TC003159},
  pages     = {1 -- 18},
  year      = {2013},
  abstract  = {The Alborz range of N Iran provides key information on the spatiotemporal evolution and characteristics of the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. The southwestern Alborz range constitutes a transpressional duplex, which accommodates oblique shortening between Central Iran and the South Caspian Basin. The duplex comprises NW-striking frontal ramps that are kinematically linked to inherited E-W-striking, right-stepping lateral to obliquely oriented ramps. New zircon and apatite (U-Th)/He data provide a high-resolution framework to unravel the evolution of collisional tectonics in this region. Our data record two pulses of fast cooling associated with SW-directed thrusting across the frontal ramps at similar to 18-14 and 9.5-7.5 Ma, resulting in the tectonic repetition of a fossil zircon partial retention zone and a cooling pattern with a half U-shaped geometry. Uniform cooling ages of similar to 7-6 Ma along the southernmost E-W striking oblique ramp and across its associated NW-striking frontal ramps suggests that the ramp was reactivated as a master throughgoing, N-dipping thrust. We interpret this major change in fault kinematics and deformation style to be related to a change in the shortening direction from NE to N/NNE. The reduction in the obliquity of thrusting may indicate the termination of strike-slip faulting (and possibly thrusting) across the Iranian Plateau, which could have been triggered by an increase in elevation. Furthermore, we suggest that similar to 7-6-m.y.-old S-directed thrusting predated inception of the westward motion of the South Caspian Basin. Citation: Ballato, P., D. F. Stockli, M. R. Ghassemi, A. Landgraf, M. R. Strecker, J. Hassanzadeh, A. Friedrich, and S. H. Tabatabaei (2012), Accommodation of transpressional strain in the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone: new constraints from (U-Th)/He thermochronology in the Alborz mountains.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoStrecker2014,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Strecker, Manfred},
  title     = {Assessing tectonic and climatic causal mechanisms in foreland-basin stratal architecture: insights from the Alborz Mountains, northern Iran},
  series = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group},
  volume    = {39},
  journal   = {Earth surface processes and landforms : the journal of the British Geomorphological Research Group},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Wiley-Blackwell},
  address   = {Hoboken},
  issn      = {0197-9337},
  doi       = {10.1002/esp.3480},
  pages     = {110 -- 125},
  year      = {2014},
  abstract  = {The southern foreland basin of the Alborz Mountains of northern Iran is characterized by an approximately 7.3-km-thick sequence of Miocene sedimentary rocks, constituting three basin-wde coarsening-upward units spanning a period of 10(6)years. We assess available magnetostratigraphy, paleoclimatic reconstructions, stratal architecture, records of depositional environments, and sediment-provenance data to characterize the relationships between tectonically-generated accommodation space (A) and sediment supply (S). Our analysis allows an inversion of the stratigraphy for particular forcing mechanisms, documenting causal relationships, and providing a basis to decipher the relative contributions of tectonics and climate (inferred changes in precipitation) in controlling sediment supply to the foreland basin. Specifically, A/S>1, typical of each basal unit (17.5-16.0, 13.8-13.1 and 10.3-9.6Ma), is associated with sharp facies retrogradation and reflects substantial tectonic subsidence. Within these time intervals, arid climatic conditions, changes in sediment provenance, and accelerated exhumation in the orogen suggest that sediment supply was most likely driven by high uplift rates. Conversely, A/S<1 (13.8 and 13.8-11Ma, units 1, and 2) reflects facies progradation during a sharp decline in tectonic subsidence caused by localized intra-basinal uplift. During these time intervals, climate continued to be arid and exhumation active, suggesting that sediment supply was again controlled by tectonics. A/S<1, at 11-10.3Ma and 9-6-7.6Ma (and possibly 6.2; top of units 2 and 3), is also associated with two episodes of extensive progradation, but during wetter phases. The first episode appears to have been linked to a pulse in sediment supply driven by an increase in precipitation. The second episode reflects a balance between a climatically-induced increase in sediment supply and a reduction of subsidence through the incorporation of the proximal foreland into the orogenic wedge. This in turn caused an expansion of the catchment and a consequent further increase in sediment supply.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{BallatoUbaLandgrafetal.2011,
  author    = {Ballato, Paolo and Uba, Cornelius Eji and Landgraf, Angela and Strecker, Manfred and Sudo, Masafumi and Stockli, Daniel F. and Friedrich, Anke M. and Tabatabaei, Saeid H.},
  title     = {Arabia-Eurasia continental collision insights from late Tertiary foreland-basin evolution in the Alborz Mountains, northern Iran},
  series = {Geological Society of America bulletin},
  volume    = {123},
  journal   = {Geological Society of America bulletin},
  number    = {1-2},
  publisher = {American Institute of Physics},
  address   = {Boulder},
  issn      = {0016-7606},
  doi       = {10.1130/B30091.1},
  pages     = {106 -- 131},
  year      = {2011},
  abstract  = {A poorly understood lag time of 15-20 m.y. exists between the initial Arabia-Eurasia continental collision in late Eocene to early Oligocene time and the acceleration of tectonic and sedimentary processes across the collision zone in the early to late Miocene. The late Eocene to Miocene-Pliocene clastic and shallow-marine sedimentary rocks of the Kond, Eyvanekey, and Semnan Basins in the Alborz Mountains (northern Iran) offer the possibility to track the evolution of this orogen in the framework of collision processes. A transition from volcaniclastic submarine deposits to shallow-marine evaporites and terrestrial sediments occurred shortly after 36 Ma in association with reversals in sediment provenance, strata tilting, and erosional unroofing. These events followed the termination of subduction arc magmatism and marked a changeover from an extensional to a contractional regime in response to initiation of continental collision with the subduction of stretched Arabian lithosphere. This early stage of collision produced topographic relief associated with shallow foreland basins, suggesting that shortening and tectonic loading occurred at low rates. Starting from the early Miocene (17.5 Ma), flexural subsidence in response to foreland basin initiation occurred. Fast sediment accumulation rates and erosional unroofing trends point to acceleration of shortening by the early Miocene. We suggest that the lag time between the initiation of continental collision (36 Ma) and the acceleration of regional deformation (20-17.5 Ma) reflects a two-stage collision process, involving the "soft" collision of stretched lithosphere at first and "hard" collision following the arrival of unstretched Arabian continental litho sphere in the subduction zone.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{CifelliBallatoAlimohammadianetal.2015,
  author    = {Cifelli, Francesca and Ballato, Paolo and Alimohammadian, Habib and Sabouri, Jafar and Mattei, Massimo},
  title     = {Tectonic magnetic lineation and oroclinal bending of the Alborz range: Implications on the Iran-Southern Caspian geodynamics},
  series = {Tectonics},
  volume    = {34},
  journal   = {Tectonics},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {American Geophysical Union},
  address   = {Washington},
  issn      = {0278-7407},
  doi       = {10.1002/2014TC003626},
  pages     = {116 -- 132},
  year      = {2015},
  abstract  = {In this study we use the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and paleomagnetic data for deciphering the origin of magnetic lineation in weakly deformed sedimentary rocks and for evaluating oroclinal processes within the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. In particular, we have analyzed the Miocene Upper Red Formation (URF) from the outer curved front of the southern Central Alborz Mountains of north Iran, to test for the first time with paleomagnetic data the origin (primary versus secondary) of this orogenic arc. AMS data document the existence of a magnetic lineation parallel to the orientation of the major tectonic structures, which vary along strike from WNW to ENE. These directions are highly oblique to the paleoflow directions and hence suggest that the magnetic lineation in the URF was produced by compressional deformation during layer-parallel shortening. In addition, our paleomagnetic data document clockwise and anticlockwise rotations along vertical axis for the western and eastern sectors of the Central Alborz Mountains, respectively. Combined, our results suggest that the orogen represents an orocline, which formed not earlier than circa 7.6Ma most likely through bending processes caused by the relative motion between the rigid crustal blocks of the collision zone. Moreover, our study provides new insights into the Iran-Southern Caspian Basin kinematic evolution suggesting that the present-day SW motion of the South Caspian Basin with respect to Central Iran postdates oroclinal bending and hence cannot be as old as late Miocene to early Pliocene but a rather recent configuration (i.e., 3 to <1Ma).},
  language  = {en}
}