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The Tectonic Evolution Of A Neo-Tethyan (Eocene-Oligocene) Island-Arc (Walash And Naopurdan Groups) In The Kurdistan Region Of The Northeast Iraqi Zagros Suture Zone, Sarmad Ali, Solomon Buckman, K Aswad, Brian Jones, Sabah Ismail, Allen Nutman

B. G. Jones

The Walash and Naopurdan groups are incorporated into the lower allochthonous thrust sheet in the Iraqi Zagros Suture Zone (IZSZ). 40Ar–39Ar dates on magmatic feldspar separates from both Walash and Naopurdan volcanic rocks indicate an Eocene–Oligocene age (43.01 ± 0.15 to 24.31 ± 0.60 Ma). The Walash and Naopurdan groups form a thrust sheet that is structurally overlain by an upper allochthon of Cretaceous arc-related rocks (106–92 Ma) now known as the Hasanbag igneous complex (formerly known as the Gemo–Qandil Group). The Walash and Naopurdan lower allochthon is thrust over the foreland basin Red Beds series. Volcanic and subvolcanic units …