Tectonics
Amir Shafiei bafti
Abstract
. Kouhbanan fault system in south of central Iran is one of the most active and seismic faults, has length of nearly 200km and seismic history from B.C to the present. Epicenter of seismic activities for this fault situated often near fault zone or on the Kouhbanan fault zone branches and other attached ...
Read More
. Kouhbanan fault system in south of central Iran is one of the most active and seismic faults, has length of nearly 200km and seismic history from B.C to the present. Epicenter of seismic activities for this fault situated often near fault zone or on the Kouhbanan fault zone branches and other attached faults. Identify of ruptured and non-ruptured segments can clear the way to finding the areas that have the potential for creating earthquake. Field observation and library data were used for this purpose. According to the spatiotemporal distribution of historical and instrumental earthquakes, may be concluded, the most earthquakes are located where the fault branches or in its bend locations. Earthquake occurred in studied region, often known with absence of high magnitude earthquakes (M≥ 6.5). Interesting point is that in the period of about 160 years ago (Earthquake record time span) along of active faults, especially Kouhbanan fault zone, an area that is less a re-ruptured or be consecutive or earthquake epicenters are few. For earthquake risk assessment, we use Kijko& Sllevoll (1992) method, which show that the earthquake risk and seismicity rate is higher from other regions and earthquake have higher magnitude and less recurrence time. According to the obtained results, for earthquakes (M≥ 7) results should be used with caution.
S Ansari; F Yaminifard; M Tatar
Abstract
In this study, 23 focal mechanisms were calculated by moment tensor inversion of small regionalـlocal earthquakes in the Western Alborz and surrounding areas using wave-form inversion method. Calculated reverse-fault focal mechanisms around the Khazar and Alborz Faults in the Central Alborz, considering ...
Read More
In this study, 23 focal mechanisms were calculated by moment tensor inversion of small regionalـlocal earthquakes in the Western Alborz and surrounding areas using wave-form inversion method. Calculated reverse-fault focal mechanisms around the Khazar and Alborz Faults in the Central Alborz, considering southward-dipping nodal plane as the fault plane, are consistent with relatively low-angle thrusts. It also implies dominant compressionsl regime in the north of the Central Alborz. Focal mechanisms in 1990 Rudbar-Tarom Earthquake region show a combination of strike-slip mechanisms and a complex fault system in the middle of the Western Alborz. A major region of dominant strike-slip mechanisms is observed in the Talesh area, located in the west of the SouthCaspianBasin, and around the Masuleh, Sangavar and Bozqush faults. The only calculated focal mechanism close to the southern margin of the Western Alborz, considering the western part of the North Tehran fault as the fault nodal plane, implies leftـlateral motion in this area. In the south of the western AlborzMountains approaching the Central Iran, two calculated mechanisms indicate dominant reverse movement, similar to the 2002 Changoreh-Avaj Earthquake. Five focal solutions close to the Kushk-e Nosrat and Soltanieh Faults, considering these faults as the fault nodal planes, are consistent with right-lateral motion along them. Depth of the earthquakes in the studied region is in the range of 2 and 20 km, indicating the brittle upper crust in the region.
M Nemati; J Hollingsworth; M.R Ghassemi
Abstract
Our research focuses on the seismotectonics of the north of Eastern Alborz and southeast of the Caspian Sea. Eastern part of the Caspian fault, and seismological active plain situated in north of the area have been studied. The seismological data of microearthquakes (ML>4.5) recorded by the local ...
Read More
Our research focuses on the seismotectonics of the north of Eastern Alborz and southeast of the Caspian Sea. Eastern part of the Caspian fault, and seismological active plain situated in north of the area have been studied. The seismological data of microearthquakes (ML>4.5) recorded by the local network of the Geological Survey of Iran (installed during 2009 and 2010) and regional seismicity located by seismological networks of the Geophysics Institute of University of Tehran and International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology of Iran were used. Also geomorphological evidences in the area and dynamic parameters of the 1985 Gorgan earthquake, MS=6.0, are included for getting a better justification. Although deep thrust mechanisms of the 1999, 2004 and 2005 earthquakes indicate N-S compressional regime at depth and normal component of shallow earthquakes (ML>4.5) shows extensional regime at near surface in southeast of the Caspian Sea. The morphological evidences confirm this normal kinematics. In addition, the dynamical parameters of the 1985 Gorgan earthquake and its focal mechanism introduce the Caspian fault as the source of this thrust earthquake. All evidences confirm probable underthrusting of southeast of the CaspianBasin beneath the Eastern Alborz.
Ahmad Zamani; S. Farahi Ghasre Aboonasr
Abstract
The Iranian plateau is one of the active tectonic regions on the earth. Non-uniformly distribution of deformation and repetitive activity of faults have cause a complex pattern of tectonic and seismotectonic activity of Iran. Therefore, in order to study the seismic and geological behaviors of different ...
Read More
The Iranian plateau is one of the active tectonic regions on the earth. Non-uniformly distribution of deformation and repetitive activity of faults have cause a complex pattern of tectonic and seismotectonic activity of Iran. Therefore, in order to study the seismic and geological behaviors of different parts of the country one has to perform tectonic and seismotectonic zoning. Tectonic and seismotectonic zoning of Iran began by conventional methods in the past and developed by numerical zoning in recent years. Conventional methods aren't capable for producing detailed zoning maps. Recently numerical data and statistical and mathematical models have used for produce modern numerical maps. The advantage of numerical pattern recognition is that this method is a powerful tool for objective interpretation of massive of data. Multivariate statistical methods not only apply for tectonic zoning, but also this is useful to reveal the degree of significance and relationship between effective variables on tectonic zoning. In this paper, a large numbers of up-to-date geophysical, seismological, geological and geomorphological data have analyzed by using multivariate statistical methods to produced self-organized numerical tectonic and seismotectonic zoning of Iran. Based on this techniques a seven zoning tectonic and seismotectonic map has constructed for Iran. The role and significance of various parameters have also investigated using ANOVA method. The results indicate that some of the parameters play more important role in self-organized zoning. Based on relationships between parameters, they are been classified into 12 groups. Variables in each group present maximum correlation with each other. It is interesting to note that despite the frequent application of a- and b- values of the Gutenberg Richter magnitude frequency formula, these values show poor correlation with others and do not play a significant role in zoning.
N. Hashemi
Abstract
This paper presents a study of the spatial variation of Gutenberg-Richter seismic b-value over the Iranian region. For this purpose, based on the works carried out by investigators for tectonic and seismotectonic zoning of Iran, the region subdivided into five structural zones, namely, Alborz-Kopet Dagh ...
Read More
This paper presents a study of the spatial variation of Gutenberg-Richter seismic b-value over the Iranian region. For this purpose, based on the works carried out by investigators for tectonic and seismotectonic zoning of Iran, the region subdivided into five structural zones, namely, Alborz-Kopet Dagh zone, Azarbaijan zone, East-Central Iran zone, Makran zone, and Zagros zone. Then, the seismic b-value parameter has been computed for these five zones. The results obtained reveal that among these five mentioned zones, the Zagros zone shows the highest b-value (1.28 ± 0.03), and in contrast, the East-Central Iran zone shows the lowest value (0.84 ± 0.08). In addition, the contour map showing the spatial distribution of b-value over the region is presented. According to this map, some parts of the Iranian region such as the Central Iran and the Eastern Iran clearly act as resistant (rigid) blocks. In summary, the results of this research reveal that the study of the frequency-magnitude distribution of earthquakes can be reliably used as a tool to discover the seismic deformation patterns as well as different tectonic structures of the regions.
F. Jamali; K. Hessami Azar; M. Ghorashi
Abstract
The N-NW trending Qom-Zefreh fault system has long been recognized as one of the major faults in Central Iran. We have used observations of faulting, recognized on satellite images and aerial photos, in conjunction with field investigations, to infer fault activity along this structure ...
Read More
The N-NW trending Qom-Zefreh fault system has long been recognized as one of the major faults in Central Iran. We have used observations of faulting, recognized on satellite images and aerial photos, in conjunction with field investigations, to infer fault activity along this structure in an area between Zefreh and the north of Kashan. Right-lateral strike-slip motion along this fault can be inferred from the associated lateral offset of stream beds and alluvial fan observed on aerial photographs and on the field. Morphological features and observations of fault exposure in several places also indicate that the western block is up-thrown relative to the eastern block across reverse component of the Qom-Zefreh fault system. Using changes in fault geomorphology and fault trace orientation we have defined two segment boundaries and structurally divided the Qom-Zefreh fault system into three segments in the region, namely Zefreh, Kashan and Ravand segments. The recognition of these segments is important because it may have implication in assessment of seismic hazard for the Kashan region.
A. Zamani; M. Agh-Atabai
Abstract
The 31 March, 2006 earthquake with Mw=6.1 destroyed villages in the Darb-e-Astaneh (Silakhor) region of the Lurestan province. The epicenteral area of this earthquake lies near the Main Recent Fault (MRF) and its right lateral mechanism indicates that it belongs to this fault zone. The main shock was ...
Read More
The 31 March, 2006 earthquake with Mw=6.1 destroyed villages in the Darb-e-Astaneh (Silakhor) region of the Lurestan province. The epicenteral area of this earthquake lies near the Main Recent Fault (MRF) and its right lateral mechanism indicates that it belongs to this fault zone. The main shock was followed by relatively large number of aftershocks. In this research, the aftershock sequence of this earthquake has been studied by measuring quantitative indices of coefficient of variations (CV), the exponent of the power spectral density function, and the generalized multifractal dimensions. The results reveal the presence of fractal structure in the temporal and spatial distribution of aftershock sequence. The multifractal behavior of the aftershock sequence indicates the clustering of the earthquake activity and the degree of the heterogeneity in the seismotectonic and geodynamic processes in the focal region. The results show that the multifractal dimensions of the aftershock sequence decreases and the multifractal dimensions of aftershock epicenters increases with time. It seems that these changes in the multifractal dimensions are related to the activity of secondary and sympathetic faults and changes in the tectonic stress regime of the region. The results also indicate that the multifractal method rather than monofractal approaches is a powerful tool for quantitative analysis of aftershock process's clustering behavior.
