TY - JOUR
T1 - Basin architecture and growth folding of the NW Zagros early foreland basin during the Late Cretaceous and early Tertiary
AU - Saura, Eduard
AU - Vergés, Jaume
AU - Homke, Stéphane
AU - Blanc, Eric
AU - Serra-Kiel, Josep
AU - Bernaola, Gilen
AU - Casciello, Emilio
AU - Fernández, Naiara
AU - Romaire, Indiana
AU - Casini, Giulio
AU - Embry, Jean Christophe
AU - Sharp, Ian R.
AU - Hunt, David W.
PY - 2011/1
Y1 - 2011/1
N2 - We present and use the chronostratigraphy of 13 field logs and detailed mapping to constrain the evolution of the early Zagros foreland basin, in NW Iran. Large foraminifera, calcareous nannofossil, palynological and 87Sr/ 86Sr analysis supplied ages indicating a Campanian-early Eocene age of the basin infill, which is characterizd by a diachronous, southwestward migrating, shallowing upwards, mixed clastic- carbonate succession. Growth synclines and local palaeoslope variations indicate syndepositional folding from Maastrichtian to Eocene time and suggest forelandward migration of the deformation front. We also illustrate the basin architecture with a synthetic stratigraphic transect. From internal to external areas, time lines cross the formation boundaries from continental Kashkan red beds to Taleh Zang mixed clastic-carbonate platforms, Amiran slope deposits and basinal Gurpi-Pabdeh shales and marls. The foreland basin depocentres show a progressive migration from the Campanian to Eocene (c. 83-52.7 Ma), with rates of c. 2.4 mm a -1 during the early-middle Palaeocene (c. 65.5-58.7 Ma) increasing to c. 6 mm a -1 during the late Palaeocene- earliest Eocene (c. 58.7-52.8 Ma). Coeval subsidence remained at c. 0.27 mm a -1 during the first 12.7 Ma and decreased to c. 0.16 mm a -1 during the last 4.2 Ma of basin filling. Finally, we integrate our results with published large-scale maps and discuss their implications in the context of the Zagros orogeny.
AB - We present and use the chronostratigraphy of 13 field logs and detailed mapping to constrain the evolution of the early Zagros foreland basin, in NW Iran. Large foraminifera, calcareous nannofossil, palynological and 87Sr/ 86Sr analysis supplied ages indicating a Campanian-early Eocene age of the basin infill, which is characterizd by a diachronous, southwestward migrating, shallowing upwards, mixed clastic- carbonate succession. Growth synclines and local palaeoslope variations indicate syndepositional folding from Maastrichtian to Eocene time and suggest forelandward migration of the deformation front. We also illustrate the basin architecture with a synthetic stratigraphic transect. From internal to external areas, time lines cross the formation boundaries from continental Kashkan red beds to Taleh Zang mixed clastic-carbonate platforms, Amiran slope deposits and basinal Gurpi-Pabdeh shales and marls. The foreland basin depocentres show a progressive migration from the Campanian to Eocene (c. 83-52.7 Ma), with rates of c. 2.4 mm a -1 during the early-middle Palaeocene (c. 65.5-58.7 Ma) increasing to c. 6 mm a -1 during the late Palaeocene- earliest Eocene (c. 58.7-52.8 Ma). Coeval subsidence remained at c. 0.27 mm a -1 during the first 12.7 Ma and decreased to c. 0.16 mm a -1 during the last 4.2 Ma of basin filling. Finally, we integrate our results with published large-scale maps and discuss their implications in the context of the Zagros orogeny.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84860389737&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1144/0016-76492010-092
DO - 10.1144/0016-76492010-092
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84860389737
SN - 0016-7649
VL - 168
SP - 235
EP - 250
JO - Journal of the Geological Society
JF - Journal of the Geological Society
IS - 1
ER -