Determination of crustal velocity structure of northeastern Iran from local earthquakes travel time inversion

The northward motion of the Arabian Shield related to the Eurasia at a rate of ~22 mma−1 is primarily accommodated across the Iranian Plateau and results in different styles of deformation in various parts of this continental collision zone. The deformation is concentrated in the Zagros, Alborz, and Kopeh Dagh mountains and shear zones surrounding Central Iran that behaves more or less as a relatively rigid block. The deformation in northeastern Iran is concentrated in the Kopeh Dagh and Binalud mountain ranges and the boundary between Alborz–Binalud and the Kopeh Dagh mountain ranges run along the Atrak River. In this study, we determine an optimum one-dimensional (1-D) velocity model of upper crust for northeastern Iran from local earthquakes travel time inversion.