Programme Darius

Participation au Programme DARIUS de l’équipe avec le projet DARING

Darius Indenting Geodynamics: Lithospheric Structure and Tectonic Evolution (DARING Project)

The project aims at constructing a 3D model of the lithospheric structure in the Darius area in terms of density and temperature distribution and integrating the result into a general geodynamic context. The principal questions to be answered are:

• What is the interaction between Arabian and Asian lithosphere in the Zagros area and its north-western and south-eastern borders? (Active subduction vs. slab break-off/delamination)

• What are the crustal structure and lithospheric thickness variations around and under the South-Caspian Sea and how did the presence of this block influence the lithosphere dynamics in this area?

• What is the crustal and lithospheric structure underneath the basins east of the Caspian Sea?

To achieve these goals, we propose in a first step to do a joint interpretation of topography, gravity, geoid and heat flow data using wherever available seismic results to constrain the models. Densities are constrained in different ways by the various data sets: topography reflects the average density of the lithosphere with respect to the underlying asthenosphere; gravity reflects mainly density variations at crustal level, whereas geoid is also sensitive to deeper lithospheric density variations. The mantle densities are modelled in a self-consistent way using the LITMOD code that integrates pressure, temperature and composition into the density models and allows in this way to make the link to the temperature distribution. Based on the obtained results, dynamic modelling will be carried out to explain the plate interactions and their resulting deformations and thermochronology studies will determine timing and amplitude of vertical movements.

Team:

Manel Fernàndez (CSIC, Barcelona, Spain) structural&thermal modelling Zagros

Jaume Vergès (CSIC, Barcelona, Spain) geodynamics

Ivone Jimenez Munt (CSIC, Barcelona, Spain) geodynamical modelling

Carole Petit (Université de Nice, France) numerical modelling-flexure

Hermann Zeyen (Université Paris-Sud 11, France) structural&thermal modelling South-Caspian and eastern basins

Jocelyn Barbarand (Université Paris-Sud 11, France), Fission track thermochronology

Peter van der Beek (Université Fourrier Grenoble, France), Fission-track thermochronology

Vahid Ebrahimzadeh Ardestani (University of Teheran, Iran) gravity data and modelling

Hani Motavalli Anbaran (doctorant, University of Teheran and Université Paris-Sud) Integrated modelling