Present-day crustal deformation and plate kinematics in the Middle East constrained by GPS measurements in Iran and northern Oman

Abstract

A network of 27 GPS sites was implemented in Iran and northern Oman to measure displacements in this part of the Alpine-Himalayan mountain belt. We present and interpret the results of two surveys performed in 1999 September and 2001 October. GPS sites in Oman show northward motion of the Arabian Plate relative to Eurasia slower than the NUVEL-1A estimates (e.g. 22 2 mm yr -1 at N8 5 E instead of 30.5 mm yr -1 at N6 E at Bahrain longitude). We define a GPS Arabia-Eurasia Euler vector of 27.9