An international team of researchers from the University of Göttingen found a massive rift extending 1,500 kilometers beneath Turkey, stretching from southeastern Turkey to northwestern Iran.
The team identified that a remnant of the prehistoric Neotethys Ocean, which once separated the Arabian plate from the Eurasian plate, is still attached to the Arabian plate. The ancient oceanic plate is pulling the Earth's crust downward beneath the Zagros Mountains, creating a deep, sediment-filled depression. "This plate continues to pull the region down and is creating space for more sediment accumulation," said Dr. Renas Koshnaw, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Structural Geology and Geothermics at the University of Göttingen, as reported by Münchner Merkur.
The researchers developed a geodynamic model simulating these processes, including the curvature or sinking experienced by the Earth's surface due to the load exerted by the Zagros Mountains. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Solid Earth.
The Zagros Mountains, stretching over 1,500 kilometers from eastern Turkey to southeastern Iran towards the Gulf of Oman, are the result of the collision that occurred in ancient times between the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
"Towards Turkey, the depression becomes much shallower, indicating that the oceanic plate has torn in the area and its pulling force has diminished," Dr. Koshnaw explained. He compared the rift's spread to "when a page is torn off a calendar," describing it as a "slow but continuous separation."
"This research helps to understand how the Earth's rigid outer shell works," said geoscientist Professor Jonas Kley. "Understanding these events occurring in the Earth's crust can help in predicting possible major earthquakes in advance," he added.
Scientists are closely monitoring how the plate tearing is affecting geological movements in Turkey and the surrounding regions.
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq