Systematic variations in the intensity of deformation in the Hinterland of the Zagros Orogenic Belt, Iran

The Zagros orogen is an important collisional belt in the central part of the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic chain between the southern margin of the Iranian continent and the northern margin of the Arabian plate. One of the main discrepancies about this collisional belt is the location and number of suture zones between the Iranian and the Afro-Arabian continents. In this study, different structures comprising thrust, strike-slip and normal faults, macroscopic and mesoscopic folds, first- to fourth-order duplex structures, foliations and shear zones and the structures within them, have been considered to gather evidence about the variation in the intensity of deformation in the Zagros Hinterland Fold-and-Thrust Belt (ZHFTB). This study shows a systematic increase in deformation intensity toward the SW of the ZHFTB which is incompatible with the hypothesis of the existence of one main suture zone in the NE of the ZHFTB (i.e. the NE of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone).

Keywords:

Tectonic influence , deformation intensity , Eurasia-Gondwana Suture Zone , Zagros Suture Zone , Zagros orogenic belt , Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone