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Determination of elastic thickness of the lithosphere using gravity and topography data: a case study for the Golpayegan, Arak, and the Qom Blocks

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Abstract

The elastic thickness, Te, is a measure of the strength of the lithosphere under loading and its elastic behavior. While there have been previous investigations on the nature of the lithosphere of Iran using satellite gravity and topography data, here, for the first time, using high-resolution gravity data we determine the elastic thickness for the Iranian lithosphere on a small scale, focusing on a region including Golpayegan, Arak, and Qom Blocks. The lithospheric elastic thickness is calculated using a wavelet transform method. The technique uses a superposition of two-dimensional Morlet wavelets that yields isotropic yet complex wavelet coefficients for the auto- and cross-spectra of gravity and topography data. These are subsequently applied to compute a spatially varying, isostatic coherence, from which both global and local estimates may be obtained. We applied the method to synthetic gravity and topography data generated for a thin elastic plate of uniform elastic thickness. After testing the validity of the technique on synthetic data, it was applied on real terrestrial gravity and topography data obtained from the National Cartographic Center (NCC) with grid spacing of 5 km. The average value calculated for the elastic thickness in the study area is 28 km which is in good accordance with the geological/tectonic structure of the region and previous interpretations for lithospheric strength based on geophysics and geodynamic studies.

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Acknowledgments

The National Cartographic Center of Iran is appreciated for providing the data. We use the software prepared by Prof. Jon F. Kirby. Dr. Hosein Shahnas (shahnas@es.utoronto.ca) is acknowledged for his valuable comments on this paper. The constructive comments of the Editor and Reviewers are acknowledged by authors which greatly improved the paper.

Funding

The first author’s sabbatical leave at the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Toronto, was financially supported by the University of Tehran, under Prof. Pysklywec’s supervision during the period from March 2017 to August 2017.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Samira Ghalehnovi & Vahid E. Ardestani

  2. Department of the Earth Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Russell N. Pysklywec

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  1. Samira Ghalehnovi
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  2. Vahid E. Ardestani
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  3. Russell N. Pysklywec
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Contributions

Samira Ghalehnovi: methodology, synthetic analysis, data processing, software, writing of original draft

Vahid E. Ardestani: first supervisor of Ph.D. thesis of the first author, conceptualization, validation, writing and review and editing

Russell N. Psyklywec: second supervisor of Ph.D. thesis of the first author, conceptualization, review and editing

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Correspondence to Samira Ghalehnovi.

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Ghalehnovi, S., Ardestani, V.E. & Pysklywec, R.N. Determination of elastic thickness of the lithosphere using gravity and topography data: a case study for the Golpayegan, Arak, and the Qom Blocks. Arab J Geosci 13, 1264 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-06250-5

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