Tectonics
M. Kouhpeyma; M. Talebian; L. Chen; A. Ghods; M. Ghorashi
Abstract
The Kopeh Dagh and Binalud-Alla Dagh mountains are important structural elements located in the northeastern boundary of Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. Due to existence of large cities with a long history of civilization, there is a relatively rich body of data on historical seismicity in this area. ...
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The Kopeh Dagh and Binalud-Alla Dagh mountains are important structural elements located in the northeastern boundary of Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. Due to existence of large cities with a long history of civilization, there is a relatively rich body of data on historical seismicity in this area. Nonetheless, little adequate instrumental seismic data were available prior to this study. In this paper, we utilized the temporary China-Iran local seismic network data deployed in the area for 13 months. Based on this data, we determined 37 focal solutions through first motion polarity approach suggesting a combination of strike-slip, reverse and normal mechanisms. There is a significant concentration of epicenters and focal mechanisms around the eastern Alborz - Kopeh Dagh boundary along the Atrak River. The southern and western boundaries of the Binalud Mountains also show relatively high seismic activities. The Local magnitude (ML) of the events ranges from 3.5 to 4.9 with depths of up to 20 km, mostly concentrated at ~10 km. The principal stress axes and slip vectors obtained from the focal mechanisms agree well with kinematic state of main faults and tectonic regime of the area, confirming the seismogenic nature of these faults. In addition, they are consistent with right-lateral component of slip along thrust faults in eastern Kopeh Dagh and Binalud and both laft- and right-lateral motions in the central Kopeh Dagh.
Geophysics
Mohammadreza Jamalreyhani; Abdolreza Ghods; Seyyed Khalil Mottaghi; Esmail Shabanian; Morteza Talebian; Beijing Chen
Abstract
One of the main issues in Zagros is the extent that basement and the thick sedimentary layer participate in the observed seismicity. During Nov. 2013, five magnitude ~5 Mw events hit a region in the western end of Lurestan arc of Simply Folded Belt (SFB) of Zagros. We used the Iran-China temporary network ...
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One of the main issues in Zagros is the extent that basement and the thick sedimentary layer participate in the observed seismicity. During Nov. 2013, five magnitude ~5 Mw events hit a region in the western end of Lurestan arc of Simply Folded Belt (SFB) of Zagros. We used the Iran-China temporary network and data from regional permanent networks to relocate the events using a multiple event relocation method, calculate regional moment tensor and centeriod depths for the five moderate events and estimate a velocity model for the two nearby seismic stations using joint inversion of the receiver functions and dispersion curves. Our results show a seismic cluster of about 30 km long and 15 km width. The moment tensor solutions of the five moderate events indicate an almost pure thrust mechanism. The aftershock cloud indicate a low angle east dipping fault plane (i.e., , dip in the range of 23 o -39 o ) as the causative fault plane. The calculated centeroid of the five moderate events are about 14 km and the focal depth of all events calculated by multiple event relocation are about 10-16 km. The results indicate that the thickness of sedimentary column is less than 8 km and thus showing the whole seismic cluster happened within the basement. This observation proves wrong the hypothesis of vertical separation of mainshock and aftershocks in Ssimply folded belt FB of Zagros (Nissen et al. 2011) and implies that in the Lurestan arc the sedimentary layers are deformed aseismically.
M. Talebian
Abstract
The north east of Iran, extending from central Alborz to Kopeh Dagh Mountains, is one of the most seismically active regions of Iran. Several large and ancient cities are located in this region and thus provide relatively reach documented history of earthquakes. Numerous active faults have been known ...
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The north east of Iran, extending from central Alborz to Kopeh Dagh Mountains, is one of the most seismically active regions of Iran. Several large and ancient cities are located in this region and thus provide relatively reach documented history of earthquakes. Numerous active faults have been known in this area, some of them have already been under geological investigations, yet many needs to be studied. However, recent geodetic measurements provide a general view about rates of strike slip and shortening across the region. This study evaluates potential of implementing geologic and geodetic data in seismic hazard assessment in this part of Iran. To achieve this, the region of study has been divided to 5 structural zones. The moment accumulating rate was then calculated for each zone using both geological and geodetic measurements. This moment has been compared with moment released by earthquakes. Comparison of seismic moment released by instrumental and historical earthquakes with moment accumulating rate along major active faults suggest that geologic and geodetic data can be considered as a reliable source of information in seismic hazard analysis, especially where there is no sufficient record of earthquakes in the catalogs.
M. Talebian; S. H. Tabatabaei; M. Fattahi; M. Ghorashi; A. Beitollahi; A. Ghalandarzadeh; M.A. Riahi
Abstract
The Iranian plateau lies between the Arabian and Eurasian plates and accommodates approximately 22 mm/yr of N-S shortening. About 9 mm/y of this shortening is taken up by folding and thrusting in the Zagros while the remaining 13 mm/yr is taken up in the Alborz and Kopeh-Dagh. The Central Iran ...
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The Iranian plateau lies between the Arabian and Eurasian plates and accommodates approximately 22 mm/yr of N-S shortening. About 9 mm/y of this shortening is taken up by folding and thrusting in the Zagros while the remaining 13 mm/yr is taken up in the Alborz and Kopeh-Dagh. The Central Iran block is relatively stable and thus moves to the north with an average velocity of about 13 mm/y. As the stable Afghanistan block lies to the east, the northward motion of Central Iran produces a right-lateral shear in eastern Iran, which is distributed mainly over a few major faults to the west (~5 mm/yr) and east (~ 8 mm/yr) of the Lut desert. Limited information is available about the slip rates of individual faults in eastern Iran; therefore in this study we try to combine all geological, geodetic and available Quaternary dating results to estimate the fault slip rates and distribution of active deformation in eastern Iran. Finally, we report the results from OSL dating of samples taken from uplifted plain deposits near the south end of the Bam-Baravat fault. These results show that this fault is growing in the vertical direction with at a rate of ~ 0.5 mmy-1. Considering geometric relation between the Bam-Baravat and the south Bam earthquake fault, we estimate a slip rate of about 2 mm/y for the south Bam earthquake fault.