Neotectonic Activity Using Geomorphological Features in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region

• Published in: Geotechnical and geological engineering 2020-10, Vol.38 (5), p.4889-4904
• Main Authors: Sissakian, Varoujan K., Al-Ansari, Nadhir, Abdullah, Lanja H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Active fault; Alluvial fans; Civil Engineering; Deformation; Deformation mechanisms; Direction; Dissected alluvial fan; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Geological time; Geomorphology; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Geoteknik; Hydrogeology; Mountains; Neotectonic; Neotectonics; Object recognition; Original Paper; Plates; Plates (tectonics); Pleistocene; Pleistocene faults; Pliocene; Rock; Rocks; Satellite imagery; Soil Mechanics; Spaceborne remote sensing; Tectonics; Terrestrial Pollution; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Water gap; Wind gap
• ISSN: 0960-3182; 1573-1529; 1573-1529
• DOI: 10.1007/s10706-020-01334-1

Iraqi Kurdistan Region is located in the northeastern part of the Arabian Plate which is colliding with the Eurasian (Iranian) Plate and is located within the Zagros Foreland Basin. This collision, which is still active with convergent type of tectonic boundary, has caused deformation of the rocks in the Zagros Foreland Basin with different intensities. The deformation intensity decreases southwest wards since the exerted stresses from the collision is in a NE–SW direction. Depending on the deformation intensity and many other factors, the tectonic framework of the region which is part of the main tectonic frame of Iraq is divided into three main tectonic units among them only two units are within Kurdistan Region. The two zones are from NE–SW direction: (1) Shalair Terrane, and (2) Outer Platform. In the current study, evidences about Neotectonic activities are presented from different parts of Kurdistan Region depending on different geomorphological and structural features. Among those features are: abnormal trends of valleys, dislocated and dissected alluvial fans, regional lineaments, water and wind gaps, faulted rocks of Pliocene–Pleistocene age, active faults. The Neotectonic evidences were recognized using satellite images and the existing Neotectonic data, and validated in the field.