Origin of Transfer Faults in the Fars Folded Belt, Zagros Mountains

Transfer Fault describes a broad category of structures that accommodate lateral variations of deformation. They form in various scales and in different tectonic setting. In the southeastern part of the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt of Iran number of transfer faults, ranging from a few to tens of Kilometers has been identified. These transfer faults in which all accommodate the lateral variation of shortening as a result of continental collision along the northeastern margin of Arabian Plate interpreted as oblique/lateral ramps and have various modes of origin. The development of these fault zones in the sedimentary cover, their relation to the inherited and active basement faults and their importance in the hydrocarbon exploration is discussed. Based on evidences presented in this paper we have argued that probably most of the transfer faults in the Fras Folded Belt are not basement origin as was suggested previously.