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Research interests
Research interests
My research seeks to understand how Earth’s interior processes interact with surface systems to shape mountain belts, sedimentary basins, and evolving landscapes.
I am particularly interested in how deep geodynamic processes, such as subduction, slab tearing, mantle flow, and lithospheric deformation, are recorded at the surface through basin subsidence, sediment routing, crustal shortening, exhumation, and changes in depositional environments.
Deep-Earth controls on the NW Zagros foreland basin subsidence
Research question
Why is the NW Zagros foreland basin deeper than expected from nearby mountain loading alone?
Key finding
This study reveals a two-stage basin evolution driven by both surface topography and deep-Earth processes. During the early Miocene, subsidence resulted from the combined effects of mountain loading and the sinking Neotethys slab. During the middle Miocene, a horizontal tear in the Neotethys slab triggered asthenospheric mantle flow, reshaping basin architecture and amplifying subsidence in the southeastern part of the basin.
Why it matters
This work shows that foreland basin evolution cannot always be explained by mountain loading alone. Deep lithospheric processes, including slab sinking, slab tearing, and mantle flow, can strongly influence basin architecture and subsidence patterns.
Published in
Tectonic evolution of the Zagros collisional zone
Research question
What type of basin formed along the Zagros suture zone, and how does its sedimentary record document the transition from subduction to collision since the Paleocene?
Key finding
This study identified the basin type of the suture-zone sediments, constrained the maximum age of Arabia-Eurasia collision, and reconstructed the tectonic evolution of the Zagros collisional zone since the Paleocene using detrital zircon U-Pb and zircon (U-Th)/He double dating.
Why it matters
The suture-zone sedimentary record helps reconstruct the transition from Neotethys subduction to Arabia-Eurasia collision and provides constraints on plate motions, paleogeography, paleoclimate, and mountain-building processes.
Published in
Timing of Arabia-Eurasia collision in the NW Zagros
Research question
What do the oldest synorogenic deposits on the Arabian plate reveal about the timing of Arabia-Eurasia collision in the NW Zagros?
Key finding
This study documented the detrital zircon provenance and depositional age of the Red Beds Series, the oldest synorogenic deposits on the Arabian plate in the NW Zagros of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The results show that collision had begun by ~26 Ma, implying that the Neotethys oceanic plate had been completely subducted between Arabia and Eurasia by that time.
Why it matters
This provides a direct regional constraint on the minimum age of Arabia-Eurasia collision and helps define when the Zagros system shifted from oceanic subduction to continental collision.
Published in
Hybrid thin‐ and thick‐skinned mode of shortening in the NW Zagros
Research question
What controls the transition from thin-skinned to thick-skinned deformation in the NW Zagros orogenic belt?
Key finding
Based on field observations, balanced cross sections, and apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology, this study documented that the Zagros fold-thrust belt evolved from a thin-skinned system to a hybrid thin- and thick-skinned belt. This transition was marked by regional out-of-sequence, basement-involved shortening during the late Miocene.
Why it matters
The results show that deformation style in the NW Zagros was controlled by the interaction between basement discontinuities and mechanically weak stratigraphic levels, and may have been influenced by thermomechanical effects related to slab breakoff behind the orogen.
Published in
Tectonics
Foreland basin architecture and sediment routing in the NW Zagros
Research question
How did fold-thrust belt growth influence foreland basin architecture, depositional environments, and sediment routing in the NW Zagros?
Key finding
This study identified changes in depositional environment, stratigraphy, sediment provenance, and sediment routing through time in the NW Zagros foreland basin. Field and detrital zircon provenance data show an early phase of sediment supply from distal sources in eastern Anatolia, followed by a later phase of sediment arrival from northwestern Iran.
Why it matters
The results show that NW Zagros foreland basin filling does not follow the classic model of progressive fold-thrust belt advance in a single direction. Instead, the basin-fill history reflects the influence of oblique collision and diachronous uplift of sediment source regions across the Turkish-Iranian plateau.
Published in
Shortening, Synorogenic Erosion, and Sedimentation
Research question
How did out-of-sequence thrusting, erosion, and sedimentation interact during the growth of the NW Zagros fold-thrust belt?
Key finding
This study documented an out-of-sequence thrusting history for the Mountain Front Flexure, the most prominent structural feature of the northwestern Zagros fold-thrust belt in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The work combined apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry, detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology, and basin analysis.
Why it matters
The results clarify the timing and style of Cenozoic deformation in the Zagros and highlight the roles of syntectonic exhumation, mechanical stratigraphy, and inherited structures in controlling fold-thrust belt advance into the foreland basin.
Published in
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