Structural and Aeromagnetic Evidence for Formation of the Shusf Hidden Fault in East Neh-Esmaeilabad Restraining Stepover (Eastern Iran)

An array of en-echelon strike-slip faults in eastern Iran results in the formation of releasing and restraining bends or stepovers, within which some faults are hidden in the extensional and contractional parts of the structures. This is investigated in the East Neh-Esmaeilabad left-stepping restraining stepover. Transpressional deformation in the transverse structure associated with the stepover is expressed as folding and uplifting in the Late Neogene, Quaternary and recent deposits, revealing the Shusf fault as a hidden and blind thrust. Processing of magnetic anomaly maps shows the existence of the Shusf magnetic lineament, which consistently well correlates with the Shusf fault and its hidden segments. Also the hidden part of the fault was investigated by the differential GPS profiles constructed perpendicular to the trend of the Shusf fault scarp. In this study, we used surface morphology surveys, fan median method and satellite images to calculate the cumulative horizontal and vertical offsets related to the Late Quaternary active tectonics along the Shusf fault, measuring mean values of 92 and 4.25 m, respectively. Analysis of the velocity vector recorded in the Nehbandan geodynamic station across the Shusf fault indicates the present-day evolution of the stepover expressed as uplift and left-lateral displacement.