The geological provinces of Iran can be divided into different zones based on different geological and structural units. Central Alborz Zone (CAZ) is one of the most important zone among them, which extended along the southern coast of the Caspian Sea from Sepidrud valley to Firoozkuh valley. The CAZ comprises a range of industries and a high concentration population, which has the importance to provide material resources and create the necessary infrastructure for this massive population. The materials produced in different industries have different characteristics and parameters. For this purpose, various studies should be carried out based on the type of materials and their application. The CAZ has a large variety in rock formations and facies, which facilitates extensive expansion in the production of rock materials and resources. One of the major materials in the CAZ is the existence of a wide variety of carbonate rocks such as limestone, dolomite, etc. Therefore, recognizing the geological and engineering geological characteristics of carbonate rocks is important for proper use in the direction of its intended use and therefore increases efficiency. The novelty of the present work is the extensive and comprehensive engineering geological study of a vast area (about 2900 km2) of an important geological zone of Iran, which has not been done yet. As already done by other researchers such as Rozos et al. 2004 (in Greece), Faccini et al., 2012 (in Italy), and Bednarik et al., 2014 (in Austria) as well as the presence of carbonate rocks in a certain range of characteristics anywhere, we found similar results in drawing engineering geological map by integrating geological, engineering geological, geomorphological, and joint study information of carbonate rocks. Results showed that in physical tests all formations classified as moderate to very high density (2450-2830 kg/m3), and very low (0.98%) to medium (8.06%) porosity. Also, uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) results showed that all formations fall within the Moderate strength (20-60 MPa) to High strength (60-200 MPa) based on the ISRM (1981), and very high strength (3-10 MPa) for Point Load Index (PLI) based on the Broch and franklin (1972) classification. According to these works an engineering geological map for carbonate formations of the CAZ is presented in this paper.
