The Earth’s Crust Structure of the Persian Gulf According the Results of Deep Seismic Sounding

Abstract

The article presents the results of seismic work performed by the DSS method in the Persian Gulf. Bottom analog type seismographs and seismic airgun sources were used in the works. The bottom seismographs were placed and the shooting was carried out according to three regional profiles with a length from 100 to 250 km. The main result of these studies was to obtain velocity-depth model of the sedimentary cover and the Earth’s crust up to Moxo boundary, which was revealed at a depth of about 43 km in the water area. Given that the thickness of the upper crust is only 4–5 km, and the speed characteristics of the remaining layers, the crust type can be attributed to the subcontinental Archean type. This situation (complete absence or drowning of the upper layer of the Earth’s crust) is typical for the waters closest to the Persian Gulf: the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. A structure was found in the Earth’s crust of the studied area, which may be a brachianticline having an isometric dome-shaped shape, which corresponds to the folding of the platform type in the areas of salt-dome tectonics. No faults have been found in the Earth’s crust of the Persian Gulf water area adjacent to the Bushehr Peninsula.