TY  - JOUR
A1  - Cifelli, Francesca
A1  - Ballato, Paolo
A1  - Alimohammadian, Habib
A1  - Sabouri, Jafar
A1  - Mattei, Massimo
T1  - Tectonic magnetic lineation and oroclinal bending of the Alborz range: Implications on the Iran-Southern Caspian geodynamics
JF  - Tectonics
N2  - 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).
KW  - oroclinal bending
KW  - magnetic fabric
KW  - Alborz range
KW  - Southern Caspian Basin
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/2014TC003626
SN  - 0278-7407
SN  - 1944-9194
VL  - 34
IS  - 1
SP  - 116
EP  - 132
PB  - American Geophysical Union
CY  - Washington
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ballato, Paolo
A1  - Cifelli, Francesca
A1  - Heidarzadeh, Ghasem
A1  - Ghassemi, Mohammad R.
A1  - Wickert, Andrew D.
A1  - Hassanzadeh, Jamshid
A1  - Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume
A1  - Balling, Philipp
A1  - Sudo, Masafumi
A1  - Zeilinger, Gerold
A1  - Schmitt, Axel K.
A1  - Mattei, Massimo
A1  - Strecker, Manfred
T1  - Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the northern Iranian Plateau: insights from middle-late Miocene foreland-basin deposits
JF  - Basin research
N2  - 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.
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/bre.12180
SN  - 0950-091X
SN  - 1365-2117
VL  - 29
SP  - 417
EP  - 446
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -