The Kashafrud Basin (NE Iran) during the Jurassic: A key for understanding the post-collisional history of the Iran Plate

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The boundary between the Koppeh Dagh and the Binalud Mountains in northeastern Iran corresponds to the suture of the Palaeothethys, an ocean which, in the area of present-day Iran, had been completely subducted below the Turan Plate in the north towards the end of the Triassic. At this boundary between the Turan Plate as part of Eurasia and the Iran Plate as part of the so-called Cimmerian Microcontinent Collage, a strongly subsiding basin formed during the Middle Jurassic, which became infilled with a thick (up to 2,000 m) pile of sediments, ranging from fluvial to deep-marine turbidites (Kashafrud Formation). Aim of the study is the reconstruction of the depositional environments of the basin and of their temporal-spatial pattern based on integrated stratigraphic, sedimentological, ichnological and palaeoecological investigatons. Combined with a provenance and subsidence analysis these integrated data will elucidate the origin, type, evolution, and geodynamic context of the Kashafrud Basin. The expected results will significantly enhance our understanding of the complex geological events that affected the Iran Plate after its collision with Eurasia.