Lithospheric structure beneath NW Iran using regional and teleseismic travel-time tomography

• Lithospheric structure beneath NW Iran was studied using travel time tomography.
• We found a high-velocity region beneath South Caspian Basin in contrast to NW Iran.
• Two shallow low-velocity zones beneath the Sahand and Sabalan volcanoes were recognized.

We compute a 2-D tomogram using the P wave arrival time readings from a temporary seismic experiment to study the seismic structure of the crust and upper mantle in NW Iran. The study area includes the western margins of the South Caspian Basin (SCB), and the Sahand and Sabalan post-collisional volcanoes in NW Iran. We invert 2780 regional and teleseismic relative P wave arrival times recorded by 23 stations along the seismic profile extending from the western shoreline of the Caspian Sea to Lake Urumieh. Our tomographic results show a higher-velocity region beneath the SCB. The observed higher velocities strongly correlate with the observed positive gravity anomalies over the southwestern margins of the Caspian Sea, suggesting an oceanic like nature for the SCB lithosphere. The tomographic results also show several lower-velocity anomalies in the crust. The Sabalan volcano is underlain by a low-velocity zone in the lower crust, which is most likely thermal in nature. In the Sahand region, the lower velocities are considerably shallower in depth and might be controlled by shallow sedimentary structures, as well as an anomalously warm upper crust. The shallow low-velocity regions are connected with deeper low-velocity zones 60–100 km deep in the upper mantle. This pattern points to a possible mantle source of post-collisional volcanism in NW Iran, i.e. the melting of a subducted slab.