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Kinematics and surface fracture pattern of the Anaran basement fault zone in NW of the Zagros fold–thrust belt

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Abstract

The preexisting north–south trending basement faults and their reactivation played an important role during the evolution of the Zagros fold–thrust belt. The Anaran Basement Fault (ABF) in the Lurestan region, NW of the Zagros, has been considered as a N–S trending basement lineament, although its surface structural expression is still debated. In this study, we use satellite images and field observations to identify and analyze the fractures in the sedimentary cover above the ABF. Fracture analysis demonstrates that approaching the ABF, the fracture pattern changes. The fractures association with reactivation of the deep-seated preexisting ABF can be categorized in four sets based on their directions. The mean direction for maximum compressional stress is different between the fault- and fold-related fractures within and around the ABF shear zone. We estimated an orientation of N30° ± 5° for the fault-related fractures and N45° ± 5° for the fold-related fracture sets outside of the ABF shear zone. This difference suggests that the fold-related and fault-related fracture sets have been formed in different two stages of deformation throughout the area. The axial traces of some folds, especially the Anaran anticline, demonstrate a right-lateral offset along the ABF, such that, in central part of the Anaran anticline, the fold axis of this anticline is changed from its original NW–SE trend to approximately north–south trend of the ABF.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are very grateful to Stefano Tavani and Soumyajit Mukherjee for careful and constructive reviews, which helped us to greatly improve this manuscript. We also acknowledge Wolf-Christian Dullo and Soumyajit Mukherjee for handling our manuscript and Katayoun Mobasher who introduced us some relevant articles. Moosarreza Toori is thanked for his help with the structural transect. AFS thanks the research and postgraduate office in University of Isfahan for their support. FN was funded by Swedish Research Council (VR).

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  1. Department of Geology, University of Isfahan, P.O. Code: 81746-73441, Isfahan, Iran

    M. Joudaki & A. Farzipour-Saein

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, Villavägen 16, 752 36, Uppsala, Sweden

    F. Nilfouroushan

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Joudaki, M., Farzipour-Saein, A. & Nilfouroushan, F. Kinematics and surface fracture pattern of the Anaran basement fault zone in NW of the Zagros fold–thrust belt. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 105, 869–883 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-015-1209-8

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