Scientists Find 2 Giant Tears in Arabian Plate Beneath Iran, Exposing 450-km Subduction Split
Updated
Updated · ScienceAlert · Nov 7
Scientists Find 2 Giant Tears in Arabian Plate Beneath Iran, Exposing 450-km Subduction Split
3 articles · Updated · ScienceAlert · Nov 7
Summary
A Chinese Academy of Sciences-led team identified two giant tears in the Arabian tectonic plate beneath southeastern Iran, mapping one horizontal rupture and a smaller, shallower vertical one.
Sixty-nine seismic stations traced vibrations from distant earthquakes and showed a density mismatch driving the damage: heavier oceanic lithosphere in Makran subducts to at least 450 km, while continental lithosphere in Zagros reaches no deeper than 300 km.
The study, published in Nature Geoscience, says one tear formed where the Zagros collision zone meets the Makran subduction zone, while the other likely began near the Makran Trench and a transform boundary.
Models suggest the ruptures have been advancing for several million years and may eventually merge, with magma already appearing to fill some of the gaps.
Researchers say the rare coexistence of both tearing modes offers an unusual snapshot of the shift from oceanic subduction to continental collision, helping explain how the Neo-Tethys Ocean disappeared in the Wilson Cycle.