Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Elsevier
Résumé : International audience
The Iranian plateau is a flat ~ 1.5–2 km high plateau thought to result from the collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates since ~ 30 ± 5 Ma, and may represent a young analogue to the so far better studied Tibetan plateau. In order to constrain the exhumation history of the internal Zagros and of the Iranian plateau, we herein present apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) and apatite (AFT) and zircon fission-track (ZFT) data on plutonic rocks from the Sanandaj–Sirjan Zone (SSZ), Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc (UDMA), Central Iran and Kopet Dagh. Thermochronologic data show that the SSZ was exhumed early in the collision process (essentially before 25–20 Ma), with a likely acceleration of cooling during the late Eocene, from 0.04 to 0.3 mm/year. Results suggest that cooling of the internal Zagros migrated from the SSZ to the UDMA during a more mature stage of the continental collision, after ~ 17 Ma (i.e., coeval with the outward propagation of deformation and topography fronts in the external Zagros). Constant exhumation rates in the UDMA (~ 0.3 mm/year) suggest that no significant variation of erosion rates occurred since the onset of continental collision. In Central Iran, the overlap of ZFT, AFT and AHe ages from gneissic samples points to rapid cooling during the late Eocene (~ 42 °C/Myr), which is consistent with previous reports on the formation of Eocene metamorphic core-complexes.
ISSN: 0024-4937

hal-01115691
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01115691
DOI : 10.1016/j.lithos.2014.07.021

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Wiley-Blackwell
Résumé : International audience
P>Tehran is one of the largest cities in the world (12 million people) facing seismic hazard. Standing at the foothills of Alborz Mountains, the capital of Iran is exposed to potential earthquakes associated with several nearby active faults. Classically mentioned as active features, the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps cross the town itself and would be the sources of several destructive historical earthquakes. However, the nature of these topographic scarps remains uncertain. To assess whether these features correspond to active faults, we carried out a morphological and stratigraphic study. Our results show that the three scarps define horizontal scarp lines that follow contour lines matching ancient shorelines further East. This point, associated with other morphological characteristics such as the flatness of the upper and the lower surfaces, the long and regular streams that incised the upslope upper surfaces and the fact that the deposits are horizontal and without deformations, suggests in fact that the Kahrizak, the North Rey and the South Rey scarps correspond most likely to ancient shore lines and are not fault scarps.
ISSN: 0954-4879

hal-00496390
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00496390
DOI : 10.1111/j.1365-3121.2010.00938.x

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Résumé : International audience
This paper presents a synthetic view of the geodynamic evolution of the Zagros orogen within the frame of the Arabia-Eurasia collision. The Zagros orogen and the Iranian plateau preserve a record of the long-standing convergence history between Eurasia and Arabia across the Neo-Tethys, from subduction/obduction processes to present-day collision (from ~ 150 to 0 Ma). We herein combine the results obtained on several geodynamic issues, namely the location of the oceanic suture zone, the age of oceanic closure and collision, the magmatic and geochemical evolution of the Eurasian upper plate during convergence (as testified by the successive Sanandaj-Sirjan, Kermanshah and Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arcs), the P-T-t history of the few Zagros blueschists, the convergence characteristics across the Neo-Tethys (kinematic velocities, tomographic constraints, subduction zones and obduction processes), together with a survey of recent results gathered by others. We provide lithospheric-scale reconstructions of the Zagros orogen from ~ 150 to 0 Ma across two SW-NE transects. The evolution of the Zagros orogen is also compared to those of the nearby Turkish and Himalayan orogens. In our geotectonic scenario for the Zagros convergence, we outline three main periods/regimes: (1) the Mid to Late Cretaceous (115-85 Ma) corresponds to a distinctive period of perturbation of subduction processes and interplate mechanical coupling marked by blueschist exhumation and upper-plate fragmentation, (2) the Paleocene-Eocene (60-40 Ma) witnesses slab break-off, major shifts in arc magmatism and distributed extension within the upper plate, and (3) from the Oligocene onwards (~ 30-0 Ma), collision develops with a progressive SW migration of deformation and topographic build-up (Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone: 20-15 Ma, High Zagros: ~12-8 Ma; Simply Folded Belt: 5-0 Ma) and with partial slab tear at depths (~10 Ma to present). Our reconstructions underline the key role played by subduction throughout the whole convergence history. We finally stress that such a long-lasting subduction system with changing boundary conditions also makes the Zagros orogen an ideal natural laboratory for subduction processes.
ISSN: 0016-7568

insu-00616582
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00616582
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00616582/document
https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-00616582/file/692.full.pdf
DOI : 10.1017/S001675681100046X