Controversy Coseismic Surface Faulting in the Zagros Orogenic Belt of Iran: Evidence from Tracking the Mining Pollution Indicators

Abstract

The Zagros Orogenic Belt of Iran accommodates roughly one third of 25mm -1 north – south convergence between the Arabian and Eurasia plates. There is a strong belief that due to the presence of incompetent layers at the base or within the sedimentary covers, earthquake faults in the Zagros Orogenic Belt of Iran do not intersect the Earth’s surface. Geological field works and tracking of the mining pollution indicators have revealed that contrary to what was widely believed before cosciesmic faults of the moderate – sized ( up to M W 5-6 ) earthquakes in this region extend to the Earth’s surface provided, They have sufficient system energy to power rupture propagation. It seems that lack of coseismic surface rupture in the Zagros Orogenic Belt is due to insufficient strain energy released during smaller events.