THRUST FAULT TECTONICS IN THE DUHOK REGION (HIGH FOLDED ZONE, N IRAQ)

The Alpine thrust and associated fold structures of the Duhok region (High Folded Zone, N Iraq) are interpreted in terms of thin skinned tectonics, with dominate northward and southward transport direction. A 5 Km thick sequence of Mesozoic-Tertiary rocks was deformed by continuous squeezing between Arabian plate and Iranian-Anatolian plates, the thrust planes on the layer boundaries developed. These thrust system includes an imbricate fan and a duplex. The thrust surfaces have an irregular map outcrop pattern due to the existence of a set of folds. A strike -normal balanced cross section illustrates the geometry of the thrusts and their related folds. The minimum value of accumulated transport is about 23.17 Km. Folding are related to frontal hanging?wall ramps