Seismic imaging of the lithospheric structure of the Zagros mountain belt (Iran)

International audienceWe present a synthesis and a comparison of the results of two temporary passive seismic experiments installed for a few months across Central and Northern Zagros. The receiver function analysis of teleseismic earthquake records gives a high-resolution image of the Moho beneath the seismic transects. On both cross-sections, the crust has an average thickness of 43±2 km beneath the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt and the Central domain. The crust is thicker beneath the hanging wall of the Main Zagros Reverse Fault (MZRF), with a larger maximum Moho depth in Central (69±2 km) than in Northern Zagros (56±2 km). The thickening affects a narrower region (170 km) beneath the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone of Central Zagros and a wider region (320 km) in Northern Zagros. We propose that this thickening is related to overthrusting of the crust of the Arabian margin by the crust of Central Iran along the MZRF considered as a major thrust fault cross-cutting the whole crust. The fault is imaged as a lowvelocity layer in the receiver function data of the Northern Zagros profile. Moreover, the crustal-scale thrust model reconciles the imaged seismic Moho with the Bouguer anomaly data measured on the Central Zagros transect. At upper mantle depth, P-wave tomography confirms the previously observed strong contrast between the faster velocities of the Arabian margin and the lower velocities of the Iranian micro-blocks. Our higher-resolution tomography combined with surface-wave analysis locates the suture in the shallow mantle of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone beneath Central Zagros. The Arabian upper-mantle has shield-like shear-wave velocities, while the lower velocities of the Iranian upper mantle are likely due to higher temperature. But these velocities are not low enough and the low-velocity layer not thick enough to conclude on a delamination of the lithospheric mantle lid beneath Iran. The lack of a high-velocity anomaly in the mantle beneath Central Iran suggests that the Neotethyan oceanic lithosphere is probably detached from the Arabian margin

Additively Manufactured Multi-Morphology Bone-like Porous Scaffolds: Experiments and Micro-Computed Tomography-Finite Element Modeling Approaches

Tissue engineering, whose aim is to repair or replace damaged tissues by combining the principle of biomaterials and cell transplantation, is one of the most important and interdisciplinary fields of regenerative medicine. Despite remarkable progress, there are still some limitations in the tissue engineering field, among which designing and manufacturing suitable scaffolds. With the advent of additive manufacturing (AM), a breakthrough happened in the production of complex geometries. In this vein, AM has enhanced the field of bioprinting in generating biomimicking organs or artificial tissues possessing the required porous graded structure. In this study, triply periodic minimal surface structures, suitable to manufacture scaffolds mimicking bone’s heterogeneous nature, have been studied experimentally and numerically; the influence of the printing direction and printing material has been investigated. Various multi-morphology scaffolds, including gyroid, diamond, and I-WP, with different transitional zone, have been 3D printed and tested under compression; further, a micro-computed tomography (μCT) analysis has been employed to obtain the real geometry of printed scaffolds. Finite element analyses have been also performed and compared with experimental results. Finally, the scaffolds’ behavior under complex loading has been investigated based on the combination of μCT and finite element modeling

Rayleigh wave group velocities in North-West Iran: SOLA Backus-Gilbert vs. Fast Marching tomographic methods

In this study, we focus on Northwest Iran and exploit a dataset of Rayleigh-wave group-velocity measurements obtained from ambient noise cross-correlations and earthquakes. We build group-velocity maps using the recently developed SOLA Backus-Gilbert linear tomographic scheme as well as the more traditional Fast-marching Surface-wave Tomography method. The SOLA approach produces robust, unbiased local averages of group velocities with detailed information on their local resolution and uncertainty; however, it does not as yet allow ray-path updates in the inversion process. The Fast-marching method, on the other hand, does allow ray-path updates, although it does not provide information on the resolution and uncertainties of the resulting models (at least not without great computational cost) and may suffer from bias due to model regularisation. The core of this work consists in comparing these two tomographic methods, in particular how they perform in the case of strong vs. weak seismic-velocity contrasts and good vs. poor data coverage. We demonstrate that the only case in which the Fast-marching inversion outperforms the SOLA inversion is for strong anomaly contrasts in regions with good path coverage; in all other configurations, the SOLA inversion produces more coherent anomalies with fewer artefacts

Seismological evidence for crustal-scale thrusting in the Zagros mountain belt (Iran)

International audienceCrustal receiver functions computed from the records of 45 temporary seismological stations installed on a 620-km long profile across central Zagros provide the first direct evidence for crustal thickening in this mountain belt. Due to a rather short 14-km average station spacing, the migrated section computed from radial receiver functions displays the Moho depth variations across the belt with good spatial resolution. From the coast of the Persian Gulf to 25 km southwest of the Main Zagros Thrust (MZT), the Moho is almost horizontal with slight depth variations around 45 km. Crustal thickness then increases abruptly to a maximum of ~70 km beneath the Sanandaj-Sirjan metamorphic zone, between 50 and 90 km northeast of the surface exposure of the MZT. Further northeast, the Moho depth decreases to ~42 km beneath the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic assemblage and the southern part of the Central Iranian micro-continent. The region of thickest crust is located ~75 km to the northeast of the Bouguer anomaly low at –220 mgals. Gravity modelling shows that the measured Moho depth variations can be reconciled with gravity observations by assuming that the crust of Zagros underthrusts the crust of central Iran along the MZT considered as a crustal-scale structure. This hypothesis is compatible with shortening estimates by balanced cross-sections of the Zagros folded belt, as well as with structural and petrological studies of the metamorphic Sanandaj-Sirjan zone

Mantle-flow diversion beneath the Iranian plateau induced by Zagros' lithospheric keel.

Funder: German Research Foundation (DFG)Funder: Projekt DEALPrevious investigation of seismic anisotropy indicates the presence of a simple mantle flow regime beneath the Turkish-Anatolian Plateau and Arabian Plate. Numerical modeling suggests that this simple flow is a component of a large-scale global mantle flow associated with the African superplume, which plays a key role in the geodynamic framework of the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. However, the extent and impact of the flow pattern farther east beneath the Iranian Plateau and Zagros remains unclear. While the relatively smoothly varying lithospheric thickness beneath the Anatolian Plateau and Arabian Plate allows progress of the simple mantle flow, the variable lithospheric thickness across the Iranian Plateau is expected to impose additional boundary conditions on the mantle flow field. In this study, for the first time, we use an unprecedented data set of seismic waveforms from a network of 245 seismic stations to examine the mantle flow pattern and lithospheric deformation over the entire region of the Iranian Plateau and Zagros by investigation of seismic anisotropy. We also examine the correlation between the pattern of seismic anisotropy, plate motion using GPS velocities and surface strain fields. Our study reveals a complex pattern of seismic anisotropy that implies a similarly complex mantle flow field. The pattern of seismic anisotropy suggests that the regional simple mantle flow beneath the Arabian Platform and eastern Turkey deflects as a circular flow around the thick Zagros lithosphere. This circular flow merges into a toroidal component beneath the NW Zagros that is likely an indicator of a lateral discontinuity in the lithosphere. Our examination also suggests that the main lithospheric deformation in the Zagros occurs as an axial shortening across the belt, whereas in the eastern Alborz and Kopeh-Dagh a belt-parallel horizontal lithospheric deformation plays a major role

Mantle-flow diversion beneath the Iranian plateau induced by Zagros’ lithospheric keel

Previous investigation of seismic anisotropy indicates the presence of a simple mantle flow regime beneath the Turkish-Anatolian Plateau and Arabian Plate. Numerical modeling suggests that this simple flow is a component of a large-scale global mantle flow associated with the African superplume, which plays a key role in the geodynamic framework of the Arabia-Eurasia continental collision zone. However, the extent and impact of the flow pattern farther east beneath the Iranian Plateau and Zagros remains unclear. While the relatively smoothly varying lithospheric thickness beneath the Anatolian Plateau and Arabian Plate allows progress of the simple mantle flow, the variable lithospheric thickness across the Iranian Plateau is expected to impose additional boundary conditions on the mantle flow field. In this study, for the first time, we use an unprecedented data set of seismic waveforms from a network of 245 seismic stations to examine the mantle flow pattern and lithospheric deformation over the entire region of the Iranian Plateau and Zagros by investigation of seismic anisotropy. We also examine the correlation between the pattern of seismic anisotropy, plate motion using GPS velocities and surface strain fields. Our study reveals a complex pattern of seismic anisotropy that implies a similarly complex mantle flow field. The pattern of seismic anisotropy suggests that the regional simple mantle flow beneath the Arabian Platform and eastern Turkey deflects as a circular flow around the thick Zagros lithosphere. This circular flow merges into a toroidal component beneath the NW Zagros that is likely an indicator of a lateral discontinuity in the lithosphere. Our examination also suggests that the main lithospheric deformation in the Zagros occurs as an axial shortening across the belt, whereas in the eastern Alborz and Kopeh-Dagh a belt-parallel horizontal lithospheric deformation plays a major role

Microseismicity and seismotectonics of the South Caspian Lowlands, NE Iran

This paper is concerned with the microseismicity and seismotectonics of the eastern South Caspian Sea region, where the East Alborz mountains descend to meet the South Caspian Lowlands of NE Iran. To better understand the present-day tectonics and seismicity of this region, which includes the cities of Gorgan and Gonbad-e-Qabus (combined population 500 000), we installed a temporary local seismic network across the area for 6 months between 2009 and 2010. We analysed the seismicity and focal mechanisms together with data from the permanent networks of the Institute of Geophysics, University of Tehran (IGUT) and the International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES), based in Tehran. Microseismicity is focused primarily on the Shahrud fault system, which bounds the east Alborz range to the south. Relatively few earthquakes are associated with the Khazar thrust fault, which bounds the north side of the range. A cluster of shallow microseismicity (<15 km depth) occurs 40 km north of the Khazar fault (within the South Caspian Lowlands; SCL), an area typically thought to be non-deforming. This area coincides with the location of three relatively deep thrust earthquakes (M_w 5.3–5.5) which occurred in 1999, 2004 and 2005. Inversion of teleseismic body waveforms allows us to constrain the depth of these earthquakes at 26–29 km. Although significant sedimentation throughout the SCL obscures any expression of recent fault activity at the surface, focal mechanisms of well-located events from the shallow cluster of micro-seismicity show a significant component of left-lateral strike-slip motion (assuming slip occurs on NE–SW fault planes, typical of active faults in the region), as well as a small normal component. Inversion of traveltimes for well-located events in our network yields a velocity structure for the region, and a Moho depth of 41 km. The pattern of deep thrust and shallow normal seismicity could be explained by bending of the rigid South Caspian crust as it underthrusts the East Alborz mountains and Central Iran. Late Quaternary reorganization of drainage systems in the SCL may be the result of shallow normal fault activity within the SCL

Optimasi Portofolio Resiko Menggunakan Model Markowitz MVO Dikaitkan dengan Keterbatasan Manusia dalam Memprediksi Masa Depan dalam Perspektif Al-Qur`an

Risk portfolio on modern finance has become increasingly technical, requiring the use of sophisticated mathematical tools in both research and practice. Since companies cannot insure themselves completely against risk, as human incompetence in predicting the future precisely that written in Al-Quran surah Luqman verse 34, they have to manage it to yield an optimal portfolio. The objective here is to minimize the variance among all portfolios, or alternatively, to maximize expected return among all portfolios that has at least a certain expected return. Furthermore, this study focuses on optimizing risk portfolio so called Markowitz MVO (Mean-Variance Optimization). Some theoretical frameworks for analysis are arithmetic mean, geometric mean, variance, covariance, linear programming, and quadratic programming. Moreover, finding a minimum variance portfolio produces a convex quadratic programming, that is minimizing the objective function ðð¥with constraintsð ð 𥠥 ðandð´ð¥ = ð. The outcome of this research is the solution of optimal risk portofolio in some investments that could be finished smoothly using MATLAB R2007b software together with its graphic analysis