Late Miocene Olistostrome in the Makran Accretionary Wedge (Baluchistan, SE Iran): A Short Review
Abstract
This chapter describes and interprets a chaotic sedimentary unit of exotic blocks and pebbly mudstones set in a muddy matrix. This unit is regionally distributed in the onshore Makran accretionary wedge in southeast Iran. Formerly named "colored melange," it is interpreted as a huge submarine mass flow deposit formed in Tortonian-Messinian times (between 11.8 and 9.6 Ma). Internal structures and contact with previously folded wedge sequences favor fast-rated (e.g., high-density turbidites, cohesive debris flows) rather than slow-rated (e.g., slump, creep) dominant processes. South-southwestward flow directions determined from sense-of-shear criteria indicate that the source area was an either submarine or subaerial paleo-high located to the north of the outcrops. This interpretation is consistent with the lithology of the exotic blocks. The large olistostrome represents a major sediment failure that occurred shortly after the beginning of a regional folding event. An external trigger mechanism, such as earthquakes, may have triggered the mass-wasting process. Show more
Publication status
publishedBook title
Submarine Landslides: Subaqueous Mass Transport Deposits from Outcrops to Seismic ProfilesJournal / series
Geophysical Monograph SeriesVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
American Geophysical UnionOrganisational unit
03392 - Burg, Jean-Pierre (emeritus)
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