Kinematics of the Mezaijaan salt glacier based on InSAR data in the interior Fars of the Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt, Iran

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Geology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Earth Sciences, Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS), Zanjan, Iran

Abstract

The study of subaerial salt diapirs kinematics plays an important role in exploiting them as a host of resources, the objective of engineering operations or preventing the risks associated with them, The Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt (ZFTB) is a well-known host of salt diapirs across the world provided natural examples for exploring the interaction between internal forces driving salt extrusion, surface processes and climate which vanish them. The Mazaayjaan (MZJ) subaerial salt dome as one of the active subaerial salt dome which located in a near flat region, with an arid climate and sparse vegetation was selected as a unique candidate to investigate by Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar, therefor the Sentinel 1A SLC images in ascending and descending orbits were processed by the StaMPS algorithm to extract surface displacement time-series, then jointly analyzed with geomorphic properties and weather records to clarify the relation between them, The results show a maximum of 15 mm/year in the vertical and 30 mm/year in the horizontal for MZJ surface deformation; the observed uplift rates in conjunction with other lines of evidence suggest that active shortening across the belt plays the main role in salt extrusion while sedimentation has a negligible role, at the surface, the gravity spreading which facilitated by the weakening effects of meteoric waters is the main vanishing factor, the entire body of MZJ shows a strong seasonality in which its displacement accelerates or decelerates by wet and dry periods while temperature fluctuation has no noticeable effect.

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Article Title [Persian]

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