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Crustal thickness variations in the Zagros continental collision zone (Iran) from joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion

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Abstract

Variations in crustal thickness in the Zagros determined by joint inversion of P wave receiver functions (RFs) and Rayleigh wave group and phase velocity dispersion. The time domain iterative deconvolution procedure was employed to compute RFs from teleseismic recordings at seven broadband stations of INSN network. Rayleigh wave phase velocity dispersion curves were estimated employing two-station method. Fundamental mode Rayleigh wave group velocities for each station is taken from a regional scale surface wave tomographic imaging. The main variations in crustal thickness that we observe are between stations located in the Zagros fold and thrust belt with those located in the Sanandaj–Sirjan zone (SSZ) and Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic assemblage (UDMA). Our results indicate that the average crustal thickness beneath the Zagros Mountain Range varies from ∼46 km in Western and Central Zagros beneath SHGR and GHIR up to ∼50 km beneath BNDS located in easternmost of the Zagros. Toward NE, we observe an increase in Moho depth where it reaches ∼58 km beneath SNGE located in the SSZ. Average crustal thickness also varies beneath the UDMA from ∼50 km in western parts below ASAO to ∼58 in central parts below NASN. The observed variation along the SSZ and UDMA may be associated to ongoing slab steepening or break off in the NW Zagros, comparing under thrusting of the Arabian plate beneath Central Zagros. The results show that in Central Iran, the crustal thickness decrease again to ∼47 km below KRBR. There is not a significant crustal thickness difference along the Zagros fold and thrust belt. We found the same crystalline crust of ∼34 km thick beneath the different parts of the Zagros fold and thrust belt. The similarity of crustal structure suggests that the crust of the Zagros fold and thrust belt was uniform before subsidence and deposition of the sediments. Our results confirm that the shortening of the western and eastern parts of the Zagros basement is small and has only started recently.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Iranian National Seismic Network (INSN) for kindly providing the teleseismic recordings of their broadband stations. This research is supported by the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES) under research project 5327 entitled “Lithosphere structure of Iranian plateau using receiver functions and surface waves analysis”. The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and comments. We used the computer programs in seismology (Herrmann and Ammon 2003) for data processing and GMT(Wessel and Smith, 1995) for plotting.

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  1. International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Tehran, Iran

    M. Tatar & A. Nasrabadi

  2. Kerman University of Technology for Graduate studies, Kerman, Iran

    A. Nasrabadi

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  1. M. Tatar
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Correspondence to M. Tatar.

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Tatar, M., Nasrabadi, A. Crustal thickness variations in the Zagros continental collision zone (Iran) from joint inversion of receiver functions and surface wave dispersion. J Seismol 17, 1321–1337 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10950-013-9394-z

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