Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-pfhbr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-08T10:34:27.154Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Possible forced folding in the Taurus–Zagros Belt of northern Iraq

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

M. S. Ameen
M. S. Ameen
Affiliation:
Geology Department, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The folds in the Taurus–Zagros Belt of northern Iraq have generally been considered to be decollement buckle folds. This implies the presence of a decollement horizon at or near the base of the sedimentary cover, the ‘Infra-Cambrian Hormuz Salt’ and a passive role of the Precambrian basement in the tectonic evolution of the folded belt. Structural, stratigraphic, geophysical and remote sensing evidence suggests that forced folding, due to faulting in the basement, has played a significant role in the development of many of the folds in this region. This is clear from the substantial evidence of basement faulting, the lack of any convincing evidence for the presence of an extensive and regional decollement horizon (i.e. the Hormuz Salt) between the basement and the cover rocks, and the geometries of the folds and related mesostructures. The study shows that in the Taurus Foothills Zone, the folds are short, oval in plan shape, and arranged in an en echelon pattern along two sets of dislocation zones in the basement. However, the folds in the Zagros Foothills Zone are longer, linear and arcuate in plan shape. Many of the studied folds show similar features to those observed in the Rocky Mountains, U.S.A.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 128 , Issue 6 , November 1991 , pp. 561 - 584
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ala, M. A. 1974. Salt diapirism in Southern Iran. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 58, (9), 1758–70.Google Scholar
Al-Jumaily, R. & Domaci, L. 1976. Geological and tectonic position of Jebel Sassan-Jebel Ishkaft area, NW of Tel Afar, Iraq. Journal of the Geological Society of Iraq 9, 101–15.Google Scholar
Al Sakini, J. A. 1975. Usage of drainage characteristics in interpretation of subsurface structures in plains around Kirkuk fields. Journal of the Geological Society of Iraq, Special Issue 45–53.Google Scholar
Al-Sinawi, S. A. & Hassan, H. H., 1977. The gravity field at Al-Fatha area, Central Iraq. Bulletin of the College of Science 18 (1), 149–80.Google Scholar
Al-Sinawi, S. A. & Issa, A. A. 1986. The seismicity and seismotectonics of Iraq. Journal of the Geological society of Iraq 19 (2), 39–59.Google Scholar
Al-Sinawi, S. A., Rizkallah, R. I. & Al-Rawi, F. R. 1987. On the gravity field of Iraq, Part 1, The state of the art. Journal of the Geological Society of Iraq 20, 17–37.Google Scholar
Ameen, M. S. 1990. Macrofaulting in the Purbeck–Isle of Wight Monocline. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 101 (1), 31–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ameen, M. S. 1991 a. Strain pattern in the Purbeck–Isle of Wight monocline, a case study of folding due to dip- slip fault in the basement. In Characterisation and comparison of ancient (Precambrian–Mesozoic) continental margins. Proceedings of the 8th.International Conference on Basement Tectonics at Butte, Montana, U.S.A. (eds Batholomew, M. J. et al. ), Dordrecht: Kluwer (in press).Google Scholar
Ameen, M. S. 1991 b. Alpine geowarpings in the Zagros-Taurus range: influence on hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation. Journal of Petroleum Geology 14 (4) (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ameen, M. S. 1991 c. The effect of Basement Tectonics on hydrocarbon generation, migration and accumulation in Northern Iraq. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin (in press).Google Scholar
Baker, N. E. & Henson, F. R. S. 1952. Geological conditions of oil occurence in the Middle East Fields. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 36 (10), 1885–901.Google Scholar
Bellen, R. C. Van, Dunnington, H. V., Wetzel, R. & Morton, D. 1959. Lexique Stratigraphique International, Asie, Fasc. 10a. Iraq. 333 pp.Google Scholar
Beydoun, Z. R. 1988. The Middle East: regional geology and petroleum resources. Beaconsfield: Scientific Press, 292 pp.Google Scholar
Boeckh, de H. and others. 1929. Contribution to the stratigraphy and tectonics of the Iranian Ranges. In Structure of Asia, pp. 1000–2. London: Methuen and Co.Google Scholar
Dercourt, J., Zonenshain, L. P., Ricou, L. E., Kazmin, V. G., LePichon, X., Knipper, A. L., Grandjacque, C, Sbortshikov, I. M., Geyssant, J., Lepvrier, C, Pechersky, D. H., Boulin, J., Sibuet, J. C., Savostin, L. A., Sorokhtin, O., Westphal, M., Bazhenov, M. L., Lauer, J. P. & Biju-Duval, B. 1986. Geological evolution of the Tethys from the Atlantic to the Pamirs since the Lias. Tectonophysics 123, 241–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ditmar, V., Afanasiev, J., Brioussov, B. & Shaban, S. 1972. Geological conditions and hydrocarbon prospects of the Republic of Iraq, Volume 2: Southern Part. Technoexport Report, INOC Library, Baghdad, Iraq.Google Scholar
Dunnington, H. V. 1958. Generation, migration, accumulation of oil in Northern Iraq. In Habitat of Oil (ed. Weeks, L. G.), pp. 1194–251. Tulsa: American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin.Google Scholar
Dunnington, H. V. 1967. Stratigraphic distribution of oilfields in the Iraq–Iran–Arabia basin. Journal of the Institute of Petroleum 53 (520), 129–60.Google Scholar
Erslev, E. A. 1986. Basement balancing of Rocky Mountain foreland uplifts. Geology 14, 259–62.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbridge, W. & Badoux, H. 1960. Slump blocks in the Cretaceous of Northern Syria. Proceedings of the Geological Society of London no. 1581, 113–17.Google Scholar
Hart, E. & Hay, J. T. C. 1974. Structure of Ain Zalah Field, Northern Iraq. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 58 (6), 973–81.Google Scholar
Henson, F. R. S. 1951. Observations on the geology and petroleum occurrences of the Middle East. Proceedings of the 3rd World Petroleum Congress The Hague, Holland, Section 1 pp. 118–40.Google Scholar
Henson, F. R. S. 1960. The rift system and the East African Swell. Proceedings of the Geological Society of London no. 1579, 83–5.Google Scholar
Jackson, J. A. & McKenzie, D. 1984. Active tectonics of the Alpine–Himalayan Belt between Turkey and Pakistan. Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 77, 185–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamison, W. R. & Stearns, D. W. 1982. Tectonic deformation of Wingate Sandstone; Colorado National Monument. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 66 (12), 2584–608.Google Scholar
Jassim, S. Z., Al-Shaibani, K. & Ajina, T. M. 1975. Possible Middle Eocene block movements in the Derbendikhan area, Northeastern Iraq. Journal of the Geological Society of Iraq, Special Issue, 139–45.Google Scholar
Kashfi, M. S. 1976. Plate tectonics and structural evolution of the Zagros geosyncline, South-western Iran. Geological Society of America Bulletin 87, 1486–90.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kassab, I. & Jassim, S. Z. (eds) 1980. The regional geology of Iraq. Volume 1: Stratigraphy and palaeogeography Baghdad, Iraq: State Establishment of Geological Survey and Mineral Investigation, 445 pp.Google Scholar
Kassab, I. & Abbas, M. J. (eds) 1987. The regional geology of Iraq, Volume 2: Tectonism, magmatism and metamorphism. Baghdad, Iraq: State Establishment of Geological Survey and Mineral Investigation, 352 pp.Google Scholar
Kent, P. E. 1979. The emergent Hormuz Salt plugs of. Southern Iran. Journal of Petroleum Geology 2 (2), 117–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lees, G. M. 1950. Some structural and stratigraphical aspects of the oilfields of the Middle East. 18th International Geological Congress 6, 26–33.Google Scholar
Lees, G. M. 1952. Foreland folding. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 108, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lees, G. M. & Richardson, F. D. S. 1940. The geology of the oil-field belt of S.W. Iran and Iraq. Geological Magazine 77 (3), 227–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovelock, P. E. R. 1984. A review of the tectonics of the northern Middle East region. Geological Magazine 121 (6), 577–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, V. & Work, D. F. 1978. Laramide folding associated with basement block faulting along the northeastern flank of the Front Range, Colorado. Geological Society of America Memoir 151, 101–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Medina, A. M. 1975. Aspectos tectonicos en la Sierra de Altomira. Estudios Geologicos 31, 609–13.Google Scholar
Palmquist, J. C. 1978. Laramide structures and basement block faulting: Two examples from the Big Horn Mountains, Wyoming. Geological Society of America Memoir 151, 125–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powers, R. W., Ramirez, L. F., Redmond, C. D. & Elberg, F. L. 1966. Sedimentary Geology of Saudi Arabia. In Geology of the Arabian Peninsula. Professional Paper No. 560D. Washington: U.S. Geological Survey.Google Scholar
Ramsay, J. G. 1967. Folding and Fracturing of Rocks. New York: McGraw-Hill, 568 pp.Google Scholar
Rutter, E. H. 1986. On the nomenclature of mode of failure transitions in rocks. Tectonophysics 122 (3–4), 381–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sayyab, A. & Valek, R. 1968. Pattern and general properties of the gravity field of Iraq. Proceedings of the 23rd International Geological Congress, Czechoslovakia 5, 129–42.Google Scholar
Şengor, A. M. C, Gorur, N. & Saroˇlu, F. 1985. Strike-slip faulting and related basin formation in zones of tectonic escape; Turkey as a case study. In Strike-Slip Deformation, Basin Formation, and Sedimentation (eds Biddle, K. T. et al. ), pp. 227–64. Special Publication of the Society of Economic Palaeontologists and Mineralgists no. 37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibson, R. H. 1977. Fault rocks and fault mechanisms. Journal of the Geological Society of London 133, 191–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibson, R. H. 1983. Continental fault structure and the shallow earthquake source. Journal of the Geological Society of London 140, 741–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, D. W. 1971. Mechanisms of drape folding in the Wyoming province. Wyoming Geological Association,23rd Annual ConferenceWyoming Tectonic Symposium Guidebook, pp. 125–43.Google Scholar
Stearns, D. W. 1978. Faulting and forced folding in the Rocky Mountains foreland. Geological Society of America Memoir 151, 1–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stocklin, J. 1968. Structural history and tectonics of Iran. American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 52 (7), 1229–58.Google Scholar