Early Neogene foreland of the Zagros, implications for the initial closure of the Neo-Tethys and kinematics of crustal shortening

Pirouz, Mortaza; Avouac, J. P.; Hassanzadeh, Jamshid; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Bahroudi, Abbas

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.07.046

Cited by 125 publications

(125 citation statements)

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“…New geological evidence based on magnetostratigraphy and strontium isotope analyses of sedimentation in the High Zagros points to a slightly older origin of this land bridge, probably in the mid‐Oligocene, c . 27 Ma (Pirouz et al , ). According to H 1 , the closure of the eastern part of the Tethys Ocean (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The collision of the rifting Indian plate with the Asian plate in the Paleocene (Hu et al , ), triggered the orogeny of the Himalayas (Zhang et al , ), and connected the relic Gondwanan stock with the Laurasian biota. The closure of the Tethyan Ocean in the Oligocene (Pirouz et al , ) triggered the orogeny of the Zagros mountain chain along the Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt, thereby connecting African and Asian biotas by a land bridge (i.e. the Gomphotherium land bridge; Rögl, ) through the Arabian Peninsula (Harzhauser et al , ; Berra & Angiolini, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neotethys) that once separated Africa and Asia, closed as a result of the Arabian plate moving northwards and colliding with the Asian plate in the Oligocene c . 27 Ma, engendering the orogeny of the Zagros mountain chain in the process (Pirouz et al , ). A third hypothesis is derived from the ‘boreotropical dispersal hypothesis’.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Out of the Orient: Post‐Tethyan transoceanic and trans‐Arabian routes fostered the spread of Baorini skippers in the Afrotropics

Toussaint

Vila

Yago

et al. 2019

Systematic Entomology

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The origin of taxa presenting a disjunct distribution between Africa and Asia has puzzled biogeographers for more than a century. This biogeographic pattern has been hypothesized to be the result of transoceanic long‐distance dispersal, Oligocene dispersal through forested corridors, Miocene dispersal through the Arabian Peninsula or passive dispersal on the rifting Indian plate. However, it has often been difficult to pinpoint the mechanisms at play. We investigate biotic exchange between the Afrotropics and the Oriental region during the Cenozoic, a period in which geological changes altered landmass connectivity. We use Baorini skippers (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae) as a model, a widespread clade of butterflies in the Old World tropics with a disjunct distribution between the Afrotropics and the Oriental region. We use anchored phylogenomics to infer a robust evolutionary tree for Baorini skippers and estimate divergence times and ancestral ranges to test biogeographic hypotheses. Our phylogenomic tree recovers strongly supported relationships for Baorini skippers and clarifies the systematics of the tribe. Dating analyses suggest that these butterflies originated in the Oriental region, Greater Sunda Islands, and the Philippines in the early Miocene c. 23 Ma. Baorini skippers dispersed from the Oriental region towards Africa at least five times in the past 20 Ma. These butterflies colonized the Afrotropics primarily through trans‐Arabian geodispersal after the closure of the Tethyan seaway in the mid‐Miocene. Range expansion from the Oriental region towards the African continent probably occurred via the Gomphotherium land bridge through the Arabian Peninsula. Alternative scenarios invoking long‐distance dispersal and vicariance are not supported. The Miocene climate change and biome shift from forested areas to grasslands possibly facilitated geodispersal in this clade of butterflies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Out of the Orient: Post‐Tethyan transoceanic and trans‐Arabian routes fostered the spread of Baorini skippers in the Afrotropics

Toussaint

Vila

Yago

et al. 2019

Systematic Entomology

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“…Kinematic restorations (Figure ) based on the findings of this study must be reconciled with plate circuit models that require up to 700 km of arc‐normal convergence between the Arabian and Eurasian plates since 35 Ma (e.g., McQuarrie & Van Hinsbergen, ). Previous studies argued that Arabia‐Eurasia collision could not have occurred by the Late Eocene because not enough shortening was documented within the collisional zone to accommodate such large‐magnitude convergence (McQuarrie & Van Hinsbergen, ; Pirouz et al, ; Saura et al, ). Specifically, McQuarrie and Van Hinsbergen () estimated a 220‐ to 420‐km deficit in crustal shortening if the Arabia‐Eurasia collision initiated at 35 Ma.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cenozoic Exhumation and Foreland Basin Evolution of the Zagros Orogen During the Arabia‐Eurasia Collision, Western Iran

et al. 2018

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Cenozoic exhumation patterns in the internal and external Zagros reveal a long‐term deformation record associated with geodynamic restructuring of Arabia‐Eurasia collisional zone from continental subduction to plate suturing, which can be evaluated from thermochronometric, provenance, and subsidence analyses. Thermal modeling of zircon and apatite (U‐Th)/He ages and apatite fission track data from the Sanandaj‐Sirjan Zone (SSZ) indicates exhumation and inferred uplift along the leading edge of Eurasia starting in the Late Eocene (~35 Ma), coeval with initial foreland flexural subsidence of Arabia. Together with deceleration in Arabia‐Eurasia convergence and diminished subduction‐related magmatism, these events signal the final Neotethys closure and onset of long‐term (15–20 Myr) Arabian continental subduction beneath Eurasia, facilitated by the attenuated architecture of the precollisional Arabian margin. From 35 to 20 Ma, crustal shortening was relatively subdued and restricted to areas along the Arabia‐Eurasia plate boundary and diffuse inversion structures within continental interiors. Acceleration in SSZ cooling/exhumation rates from 19 to 16 Ma was synchronous with rapid basin subsidence and clastic progradation in the Zagros foreland. These events were contemporaneous with 20‐ to 16‐Ma surge in calc‐alkaline magmatism in central Iran and may have been linked to reorganization/deflection of Arabian plate vectors during the main phase of Red Sea rifting at 19–18 Ma. Transition from continental subduction to Arabia‐Eurasia suturing by ~12 Ma forced a transfer of strain from the subduction zone to intraplate deformational structures. This was marked by rapid outward expansion of the Zagros orogen, involving a shift in exhumation from the SSZ to Zagros fold‐thrust belt and Iranian plate interior.

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“…(), Pirouz, Avouac, Hassanzadeh, et al. () and Pirouz (). The sedimentary cover of the Dezful area has been dated mainly on the basis of its fossil content (Ghavidel‐Syooki, Popov, Pour, Alvaro, & Ehsani, ; James & Wynd, ; Motiei, ; Soleimani, Monjezi, & Malaki, ; Szabo & Kheradpir, ).…”

Section: Introduction and Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Folding, thrusting and diapirism: Competing mechanisms for shaping the structure of the north Dezful Embayment, Zagros, Iran

et al. 2018

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Differentiating compressional growth strata from halokinetic sequences is not straightforward in foreland fold‐and‐thrust belts where compressional and diapiric processes were coeval. Although there are numerous studies on the role of salt layers in fold‐and‐thrust belts, very few focus on syntectonic evaporites where they are thick enough to develop diapirism. The tectonic structures of the northern Dezful Embayment, along the footwall of the Zagros Mountain Front Fault, show a complex evolution interpreted in this study by the concurrence of folding, thrusting and pre‐ and syn‐shortening diapirism of the lower Miocene Gachsaran evaporites. We explore this tectonic–diapiric–sedimentary interplay by combining field studies and remote‐sensing mapping, detailed stratigraphy and sedimentology, high‐quality seismic data, and step‐by‐step balanced tectono‐sedimentary restorations. Initial diapirism occurred soon after the deposition of at least 1.5 km thick Miocene Gachsaran evaporites during the sedimentation of up to 5 km thick Aghajari, Lahbari and Bakhtyari formations, which display syntectonic mixed growth strata and halokinetic sequences. These sedimentary sequences filled salt‐related minibasins, from which the Azanak Minibasin is the deepest, limited by growing salt walls and salt anticlines (Azanak thrust‐weld and the Saland–Lali anticline). Palaeocurrents and clasts compositions document fluvial diversions and exposure and erosion of Gachsaran evaporites along the active salt walls. Although, by further shortening, the precursor salt walls squeezed and reactivated as thrust‐welds structuring a duplex of overriding minibasins. During the deposition of the middle‐late Miocene Aghajari Formation, Kazhdumi and Pabdeh source rocks were buried to oil‐expulsion depths, and Sarvak and Asmari reservoirs were mildly folded in large and open anticlines. The Gachsaran system in the northern Dezful Embayment is collated with the structures of preshortening Hormuz salt and syn‐shortening Fars salt to highlight the important role of these ductile units in the tectonic evolution of the Zagros fold belt that is compared to syn‐compressional salt‐related Pyrenees, Carpathians, Sivas and Kuga fold belts.

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Early Neogene foreland of the Zagros, implications for the initial closure of the Neo-Tethys and kinematics of crustal shortening

Cited by 125 publications

References 54 publications

Out of the Orient: Post‐Tethyan transoceanic and trans‐Arabian routes fostered the spread of Baorini skippers in the Afrotropics

Out of the Orient: Post‐Tethyan transoceanic and trans‐Arabian routes fostered the spread of Baorini skippers in the Afrotropics

Cenozoic Exhumation and Foreland Basin Evolution of the Zagros Orogen During the Arabia‐Eurasia Collision, Western Iran

Folding, thrusting and diapirism: Competing mechanisms for shaping the structure of the north Dezful Embayment, Zagros, Iran

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