Plate tectonics and structural evolution of the Zagros geosyncline, southwestern Iran

Abstract

The Zagros geosyncline has been a geologic unit extending from the Turkish frontier, north of Mosul, to the entrance of the Persian Gulf at least since the beginning of Paleozoic time. The Zagros Mountains can be interpreted as being the final product of a geosynclinal cycle. In contrast, the evidence for a plate tectonic history in this region is too fragmentary to be meaningful at this time. [Fossils include Spirifer anossofi (Devonian) and S. mosquensis (Carboniferous).].