Analogue and geophysical modelling of the Garmsar Salt Nappe, Iran: constraints on the evolution of the Alborz Mountains

The Alborz Mountains are forming a 100-km-wide east-west trending orogenic belt that stretches 2000 m across northern Iran south of the Caspian Sea. The Alborz Mountains consist of salt-bearing Neogene sediments, which are folded and cut by faults. Global positioning system studies indicate N-S directed shortening across the Alborz range, which is accommodated by right and left-lateral strike-slip along ESE-WNW and ENE-WSW trending faults, respectively. A 20 km x 10 km x 03 km sheet of salt extruded over the central plateau of Iran arising at the front of the advancing Alborz Mountains. The extruded salt forms the Eyvanekey plateau between Eyvanekey and Garmsar, which is now known, as the Garmsar Salt Nappe. To get more insights in the evolution of the Garmsar Salt Nappe, analogue modelling has been carried out using PDMS as salt analogue and sand as analogue for the brittle overburden. The structures produced consist of folds and thrusts, which were formed while the salt analogue PDMS was rising up. The modelling results are compatible with our interpretation that the deformation front of the Alborz Mountains advanced SSW when overriding a salt sequence in the Garmsar area. Depth estimations using the gravity and magnetic fields suggest that the salt in the Gannsar Salt Nappe extruded from a depth less than 2000 m.