A Magnetotelluric Survey of Ophiolites in the Neyriz area of southwestern Iran

A wide band magnetotelluric study of the ophiolitic zone of the Zagros orogenic belt was conducted in the Neyriz area of southwestern Iran. The purpose of the study was to image subsurface structures electrically and relocate the main Zagros thrust fault in the region. The thrust fault has a complex structure with obscure behavior and is believed to be located within a zone of ongoing continental plate convergence. The fault zone with a NW-SE geological trend is parallel to the Zagros orogenic belt and separates the Neyriz ophiolite assemblage from the adjacent Sanandaj-Sirjan metamorphic zone. Magnetotelluric data were collected along a SW-NE profile across the geologic strike; the study included 18 stations and modeling was performed using a 2-D inversion scheme. Analysis of both modes of magnetotelluric data (TE and TM) clarifies the signatures of large resistivity variation in the study area. Due to the presence of a high contrast in resistivity between the ophiolites and neighboring rocks, we are able to discern two sharp boundaries as faulting planes and borders of the ophiolite-radiolarite zone in the north-eastern and southwestern parts of the 2-D resistivity models, respectively.