Anisotropic gradients in Iran: Quasi-Love waves illuminate the deep structure and deformation style of the Zagros, Alborz, and Kopet Dagh

We investigate the presence of the quasi-Love wave (qL) at 51 seismic stations of a temporary seismic network across the western Arabia-Eurasia collision zone. We quantify the intensity of the qL observations from the April 12, 2014 Solomon Islands earthquake by calculating the peak-to-peak amplitude ratios of the qL and Love waves, and compare them with predicted qL intensities from previous shear-wave splitting results. We determine the polarity, timing, and period-dependence of the qL observations within the period range of 50–100 s. Our analysis reveals that the qL observations at stations in the Zagros and Alborz mountain belts exhibit opposite characteristics. In contrast to the Alborz stations, the intensity of qL observations at the Zagros stations exhibits relatively negligible dependence on the period, while their receiver-scatterer distances are considerably period-dependent. We approximately locate the anisotropic gradients that generate the qL waves. Our results suggest that a lithospheric gap is responsible for the shallow and abrupt variation in the belt-parallel trend of fast-axis orientations in the westernmost part of the Zagros. Additionally, the period/depth dependence of the anisotropic gradients along the boundary between the central Zagros and central Iran provides insight into the variation in the downward dip of the Arabian lithosphere. The anisotropic gradient located to the north of the Doruneh fault in eastern Iran indicates its role as a major shear zone and lithospheric boundary. Finally, we observe that the spatial distribution of the anisotropic gradient in northeastern Iran matches the higher strain-rate areas in the Kopet Dagh Mountains, suggesting coupling between the lithospheric mantle and crust in that region.