Abstract

Iranian Plateau reflects several different tectonic styles of collision, and large-scale strike-slip faults. We calculate a high-resolution 2-D M_L shear velocity map for the Iranian Plateau to detect lateral crustal thickness changes associated with different tectonic boundaries. The M_L velocity is very sensitive to strong lateral variations of crustal thickness and varies between the velocity of Lg and Sn phases. Our data set consists of 65 795 M_L amplitude velocity measurements from 2531 precisely relocated events recorded by Iranian networks in the period 1996–2014. Using a constrained least-squares inversion scheme, we inverted the M_L velocities for a 2-D shear velocity map of Iran. Our results show that the Zagros and South Caspian Basin (SCB) have shear wave velocities close to the Sn phase, and are thus Lg-blocking regions. High velocities in the High Zagros and the Simply Folded Belt imply significant crustal undulations within these zones. We note that in the central and south Zagros, the velocity border between the Zagros and central Iran is not coincident with the Zagros suture line that marks underthrusting of the Arabian plate beneath central Iran. The low plains of Gilan and Gorgan to the south of the Caspian Sea show high shear velocities similar to the SCB, implying that they are either underlain by an oceanic type crust or a transitional crust with a strong lateral crustal thickness gradient. The Lut block is an Lg-passing block implying that it is not surrounded by any sudden crustal thickness changes along its borders with central Iran. In the Alborz, NW Iran, Kopeh-Dagh, Binalud and most of the central Iran, low shear velocity near the Lg velocity is attributed to smooth or minor Moho undulations within these regions.