Department of Earth Sciences
Institute for Advanced Studies in Basic Sciences (IASBS)
No. 444, Yousef Sobouti Blvd
P. O. Box 45195-1159, Zanjan, Iran
Postal Code 45137-66731
My main field of research in recent years has been focused on seismic studies of crustal and upper mantle structure in the Iranian plateau. In collaboration with my colleagues at IASBS we have set up and operated five temporary seismic networks in western and southeastern Iran consisting of medium and broadband seismometers. These networks cover the Talesh and western Alborz Mountains, the western Zagros collision zone and the Makran subduction zone in the southeast. We have employed receiver functions, surface wave measurements and tomography techniques to obtain seismic images from the crust and mantle in Iran. We have used core-refracted and crustal shear phases to calculate shear wave splitting parameters to study crustal and subcrustal seismic anisotropy in western and southeast Iran.
I am also interested in numerical modeling of the deformation of the lithospheric and mantle. My interest in this field is focused on the role of rheology in shaping the structure of mantle flow and deformation in the collisional and subduction zones.
Publications
Akbarzadeh Aghdam, M., R. Ghods, F. Sobouti, K. Motaghi, M. Enayat, and K. Priestly, (2024). Seismicity around the boundary between eastern and western Makran, Asian Journal of Earth Sciences, 259, 105926, doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2023.105926.
Sadeghi Bagherabadi, A., L. Margheriti, A. Aoudia, P. Baccheschi, F.P. Lucente, and F. Sobouti, (2023). Anisotropic gradients in Iran: Quasi-Love waves illuminate the deep structure and deformation style of the Zagros, Alborz, and Kopet Dagh, Journal of Geodynamics 157, 101989, doi.org/10.1016/j.jog.2023.101989.
Irandoust, M. A., K. Priestley, and F. Sobouti, (2022). High-Resolution Lithospheric Structure of the Zagros Collision Zone and Iranian Plateau, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127, e2022JB025009, doi.org/10.1029/2022JB025009.
Wang, X., L. Chen, M. Talebian, A. Yinshuang, M. Jiang, H. Yao, Y. He, A. Ghods, F. Sobouti, B. Wan, Y. Chu, G. Hou, Q. Chen, S. Chung, W. Xiao, F. Wu, and R. Zhu, (2022). Shallow Crustal Response to Arabia-Eurasia Convergence in Northwestern Iran: Constraints From Multifrequency P-Wave Receiver Functions, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127, e2022JB024515, doi.org/10.1029/2022JB024515.
Priestley, K., F. Sobouti, R. Mokhtarzadeh, M. Ahmadzadeh, A. Ghods, K. Motaghi, and T. Ho, (2022). New Constraints for the On-Shore Makran Subduction Zone Crustal Structure, Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127, e2021JB022942, doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022942.
Arvin, S., F. Sobouti, K. Priestley, A. Ghods, K. Motaghi, F. Tilmann, and T. Eken, (2021). Seismic anisotropy and mantle deformation in NW Iran inferred from splitting measurements of SK(K)S and direct S phases, Geophysical Journal International, 226, 1417–1431, doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab181.
Veisi, M., F. Sobouti, S. Chevrot, M. Abbassi, and S. Shabanian, (2021). Upper mantle structure under the Zagros collision zone; insights from 3D teleseismic P-wave tomography, Tectonophysics, 819, Article 229106, doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2021.229106.
Sadeghi Bagherabadi, A., F. Sobouti, S. Pachhai, and A. Aoudia, (2020). Estimation of geometrical spreading, quality factor and kappa in the Zagros region, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 133, Article 106110, doi.org/10.1016/j.soildyn.2020.106110.
Maheri-Peyrov, M., A. Ghods, S. Donner, M. Akbarzadeh-Aghdam, F. Sobouti, K. Motaghi, M. Hassanzadeh, G. Mortezanejad, M. Talebian, and L. Chen, (2020). Upper crustal structure of NW Iran revealed by regional 3-D Pg velocity tomography, Geophysical Journal International, 22, 1093–1108, doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggaa236.
Rahmani, M., K. Motaghi, A. Ghods, F. Sobouti, M. Talebian, Y. Ai, and L. Chen, (2019). Deep velocity image of the north Zagros collision zone (Iran) from regional and teleseismic tomography, Geophysical Journal International, 219, 1729-1740, doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggz393.
Sadeghi Bagherabadi, A., L. Margheriti, A. Aoudia, and F. Sobouti, (2018). Seismic Anisotropy and Its Geodynamic Implications in Iran, the Easternmost Part of the Tethyan Belt, Tectonics, 37, 4377-4395, org/10.1029/2018TC005209.
Sadeghi Bagherabadi, A., F. Sobouti, A. Ghods, K. Motaghi, M. Talebian, L. Chen, M. Jiang, Y. Ai, and Y. He, (2018). Upper Mantle anisotropy and deformation beneath the major thrust-and-fold belts of Zagros and Alborz and the Iranian plateau, Geophysical Journal International, 214, 1913–1918, doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggy233.
Motaghi, K., A. Ghods, F. Sobouti, E. Shabanian, M. Mahmoudabadi, and K. Priestley, (2018). Lithospheric seismic structure of the West Alborz – Talesh ranges, Iran, Geophysical Journal International, 215, 1766–1780, org/10.1093/gji/ggy372 .
Penney, C., F. Tavakoli, A. Saadat, H.R. Nankali, M. Sedighi, F. Khorrami, F. Sobouti, Z. Rafi, A. Copley, J. Jackson, and K. Priestley, (2017). Megathrust and accretionary wedge properties and behavior in the Makran subduction zone, Geophysical Journal International, 209, 1800-1830, org/10.1093/gji/ggx126.
Esmaeili, S., S. Rasouli, and F. Sobouti, (2016). Design and Construction of a Seismometer Based on the Moire Technique; Detailed Theoretical Analysis, Experimental Apparatus and Primary Results. International Journal of Optics and Photonics, 10, 3-10.
Bavali, K., K. Motaghi, K., F. Sobouti, A. Ghods , M. Abbasi, K. Priestley, G. Mortezanejad, and M. Rezaeian, (2016). Lithospheric structure beneath NW Iran using regional and teleseismic travel-time tomography, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 253, 97-107, org/doi.org/10.1016/j.pepi.2016.02.006.
Maheri-Peyrov M., A. Ghods , M. Abbasi, E. Bergman, and F. Sobouti, (2016). ML Shear Wave Velocity Tomography for the Iranian Plateau, Geophysical Journal International, 205, 179–191, org/10.1093/gji/ggv504.
Ahmadzadeh, M., F. Sobouti, and H. Rahimi, (2016). Variations of Qc coda in the Zagros of Iran. Journal of Seismology.19, 197-211, org/10.1007/s10950-015-9520-1.
Aziz Zanjani, A, A. Ghods , F. Sobouti, E. Bergman, G. Mortezanejad, K. Priestley, S. Madanaipour and M. Rezaeian, (2013). Seismicity in the western coast of the South Caspian Basin and the Talesh Mountains, Geophysical Journal International, 195, 799-814, doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggt299. (pdf)
Esmaeili, S., S. Rasouli, F. Sobouti, and S. Esmaeili, (2012). Moiré micro strain gauge (MMSG), Optics Communications, 285, 2243-2246, org/10.1016/j.optcom.2011.12.006.
Asaadi, N., N. Ribe, and F. Sobouti, (2011). Inferring nonlinear mantle rheology from the shape of the Hawaiian swell, Nature, 473, 501-504, org/10.1038/nature09993.
Askari, R., A. Ghods, and F. Sobouti, (2009). Calibration of an Ml scale in the Alborz region, northern Iran, Bulletin of Seismological Society of America, 99, 268-276. (pdf)
Nankali, H.R., B. Vossoughi, F. Sobouti, and K. Hesami, (2009). Preliminary results for long-term strength in the Zagros mountains of Iran: insight from numerical modeling, Earth Sciences Research Quarterly, 18, 3-10.
Nankali, H.R., F. Sobouti, B. Vosoughi, K. Hessami, M. Talebian, A. Walpersdorf, and F. Tavakoli, (2008). Mechanical Modeling of the GPS Velocity Field Along the Main Recent Fault and Kazerun Fault (Zagros, Iran), Journal of Seismology and Earthquake Engineering, 10, No. 2, 69-80.
Ghods, A., and F. Sobouti, (2005). Quality assessment of seismic recording: Tehran seismic telemetry network, Asian Journal of Earth Sciences, 25, 687-694. (pdf)
Sobouti, F., and J. Arkani-Hamed, (2002). Thermo-mechanical modeling of subduction of continental lithosphere, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 131, 185-203.
Sobouti, F., A. Ghods, and J. Arkani-Hamed, (2001). A New Numerical Method for the Advection of Material Interfaces in Geodynamic Problems, Journal of Geodynamics,31, 459-480. (pdf)
Ghods, A., F. Sobouti, and J. Arkani-Hamed, (2000). An improved second moment method for solution of pure advection problems, J. Numer. Methods Fluids, 32(8), 959-977. (pdf)
Sobouti, F., and J. Arkani-Hamed, (1996). Numerical modeling of the deformation of the Iranian plateau, Geophysical Journal International, 126, 805-818.
Teaching and student supervision
Courses taught
Fluid mechanics
Tectonophysics
Geodynamics
Theory of elastic wave propagation
Seismology
Gravity and geomagnetism
Geo-electrics and EM methods
Seismic exploration methods
Time series analysis and digital filters
Introductory Geology
Numerical methods
Mathematics
All of the courses I teach are at graduate level.
I have supervised about 25 MSc and 10 PhD theses in the last 16 years. Most of them have been related to various topics in seismology, and some related to application of gravity and geomagnetic data in geological problems at local, as well as regional scales. I also supervise theses on numerical modeling of mantle and lithospheric deformation processes. Currently, I am the supervisor of 5 PhD students.
Professional memberships
Member of the National Geophysical Society of Iran
Member of the American Geophysical Union
Invited member, Academy of Sciences, Islamic Republic of Iran, Geology branch, since 2016
