Tectonic Evolution of the Alborz in Mesozoic and Cenozoic

In northern Iran the Eo-Cimmerian orogeny resulting from this collision is associated with a regional unconformity and a major change in sedimentation. From Norian to middle Bajocian (Shemshak group), 030° trending extension is indicated by syndepositional normal faults. We assign this extensional tectonics to the rifting phase preceding the oceanic opening of the South Caspian Basin. Dalichai and Lar formations, late-Bajocian to Neocomian in age, conformably cover the Shemshak in central Alborz. They are contemporaneous with the opening of the South Caspian marginal basin. In Alborz, the lower part of the Cretaceous sequence is associated with E-W to WNW-ESE trending normal fault systems associated with magmatism related to an N-S to NNE-SSW trending extension during this period. The Cretaceous-Palaeogene boundary is marked by a major regional unconformity. This unconformity is related to a major inversion of the southern margin of the South Caspian basins. During the early-middle Eocene, southern Alborz is characterized by a rapid subsidence of the Karaj basin. Syndepositional E-W to WNW-ESE trending normal faults are common in the Karaj Formation. They are associated with a well-determined N-S to NNE-SSW extension. We assign the Karaj basin to a back-arc basin related to the NE subduction of the neo-tethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath the southern margin of Eurasia.