@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}
}
@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}
}