My research addresses how convergence is accommodated in the Zagros continental collision zone in both crustal and lithospheric scales. The same question is going to be addressed in the Makran subduction zone. The employed tools are list below:
1. Migration and modeling of P and S receiver functions
2. Surface wave and ambient noise tomography
3. Teleseismic travel time tomography
4. Modeling of Bouguer gravity data
Publications:
A) In international refereed journals
Alipour, A., Motaghi, K., Mousavi, Z., Cheraghi, H., Saadat, S. A. (2023). Adopting normalized full gradient method for regional scale
gravity modeling: A case study for NW Iran, Geophysical Prospecting. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2478.13433
Jafari, M., Aflaki, M., Mousavi, Z., Walpersdorf, A., Motaghi, K. (2023). Coseismic and post-seismic characteristics of the 2021 Ganaveh
earthquake along the Zagros foredeep fault based on InSAR data. Geophys. J. Int., 234(2), 1125-1142.
Priestley, K., Sobouti, F., Mokhtarzadeh, R., A Irandoust, M., Ghods, R., Motaghi, K., Ho, T. (2022). New Constraints for the On‐Shore Makran Subduction Zone Crustal Structure. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127(1), e2021JB022942.
Arvin, S., Sobouti, F., Priestley, K., Ghods, A., Motaghi, K., Tilmann, F., Eken, T. (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(2), 1417-1431. https://doi.org/10.1093/gji/ggab181
Abdulnaby, W., Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Mahdi, H., Al-Shukri, H., Gök, R. (2020). Crustal structure of the Mesopotamian Plain, east of Iraq. Tectonics, 39, e2020TC006225. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020TC00622.
Amiri, M., Mousavi, Z., Atzori, S., Khorrami, F., Aflaki, M., Tolomei, C., Motaghi, K., Salvi, S. (2020). Studying postseismic deformation of the 2010–2011 Rigan earthquake sequence in SW Iran using geodetic data. Tectonophysics, 228630.
Maheri-Peyrov, M., Ghods, A., Donner, S., Akbarzadeh, M., Sobouti, F., Motaghi, K., Hasanzadeh, M., Mortezanejad, G., Talebian, M., Chen, L. (2020). Upper crustal structure of NW Iran revealed by 3D Pg velocity tomography. Geophys. J. Int., 222(2), 1093-1108.
Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Nozad-Khalil, T., (2020). Deep structure of the western coast of the Makran subduction zone, SE Iran, Tectonophysics, 776, 228314.
Dashti, F. Lucente, F.P., Motaghi, K., Bianchi, I., Najafi, M., Govoni, A., Shabanian, E. (2020). Crustal scale imaging of the Arabia – Central Iran collision boundary across the Zagros suture zone, west of Iran. Geophys. Res. Lett., 47(8). https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL085921
Rahmani, M., Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Sobouti, F., Talebian, M., Ai, Y., Chen, L. (2019). Deep velocity image of the north Zagros collision zone (Iran) from regional and teleseismic tomography. Geophys. J. Int., 219(3), 1729-1740.
Mahmoodabadi, M., Yaminifard, F., Tatar, M., Kaviani, A., Motaghi, K. (2019). Upper mantle velocity structure beneath the Zagros collision zone, Central Iran and Alborz from non-linear teleseismic tomography. Geophys. J. Int., 218(1), 414-428
Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Sobouti, F., Shabanian, E., Mahmoudabadi, M., Priestley, K., (2018). Lithospheric seismic structure of the West Alborz - Talesh ranges, Iran, Geophys. J. Int., 215(3), 1766-1780.
Vajedian, S., Motagh, M., Mousavi, Z., Motaghi, K., Fielding, E., Akbari, B., Wetzel, H.U., Darabi, A. (2018). Coseismic Deformation Field of the Mw 7.3 12 November 2017 Sarpol-e Zahab (Iran) Earthquake: A Decoupling Horizon in the Northern Zagros Mountains Inferred from InSAR Observations. Remote Sensing, 10(10), 1589.
Rastgoo, M., Rahimi, H., Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Romanelli, F., Panza, G.F., (2018). Deep structure of the Alborz Mountains by joint inversion of P receiver functions and dispersion curves, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 277, 70-80.
Sadeghi-Bagherabadi, A., Sobouti, F., Ghods, A., Motaghi, K., Talebian, M., Chen, L., Jiang, M., Ai, Y., He, Y., (2018). Upper Mantle Anisotropy and Deformation beneath the Major Thrust-and-Fold Belts of Zagros and Alborz and the Iranian Plateau, Geophys. J. Int., 214, 1913–1918.
Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Kalvandi, F., (2017). Underplating along the northern portion of the Zagros suture zone, Iran. Geophys. J. Int. 210 (1), 375–389.
Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Tatar, M., Cuffaro, M. & Doglioni, C., (2017). The south Zagros suture zone in teleseismic images, Tectonophysics, 694, 292–301.
Bavali, K., Motaghi K., Sobouti, F., Ghods, A., Abbasi, M., Priestley, K., Mortezanejad, M., Rezaeian, M. (2016) Lithospheric Structure beneath NW Iran Using Regional and Teleseismic Travel-time Tomography, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, 253, 97-107.
Motaghi, K., Tatar, M., Priestley, K., Romanelli, F., Doglioni, C., Panza, G.F. (2015) The deep structure of the Iranian Plateau, Gondwana Research, 28 (1), 407-418
Motaghi, K., Tatar, M., Shomali, H., Kaviani, A., Priestley, K. (2012) High resolution image of upper mantle beneath NE Iran continental collision zone, Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors, Vol. 208–209, p. 38–49.
Motaghi, K., Ghods, A. (2012) Attenuation of Ground Motion Spectral Amplitudes and its Variations across the Central Alborz Mountains, Bull. seism. Soc. Am, 102, No. 4, doi: 10.1785/0120100325.
Motaghi, K., Tatar, M., Priestley, K. (2012) Crustal thickness variation across the northeast Iran continental collision zone from teleseismic converted waves, J. Seismology,16: 253-260. doi:10.1007/s10950-011-9267-2
Motaghi, K., Hessami, K., Tatar, M. (2010) Pattern recognition of major asperities using local recurrence time in Alborz Mountains, northern Iran, J. Seismology, 14: 787-802. doi:10.1007/s10950-010-9201-z
H. Rahimi, Motaghi, K., Mukhopadhyay, S., Hamzehloo, H. (2010) Variation of Coda Wave Attenuation in Alborz Region and Central Iran, Geophys. J. Int., 181: 1643–1654. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04574.x
B) In national refereed journals (in Persian with English abstract)
Zeynoddini Meymand, R., Motaghi, K., Shabnian, E., (2023). Surface wave tomography of the Makran subduction zone, . Iranian Journal of
Geophysics. doi: 10.30499/ijg.2023.395954.1515
Alipour, A., Motaghi, K., Mousavi, Z. (2023). Normalized Full Gradient Study of Bouguer Gravity Anomaly Profile of NorthWestern Iran,
Earth and Space Physics, 49(2), 407-421.
Zarunizadeh, Z., Motaghi, K., & Movaghari, R. (2022). Investigation of shear wave velocity model beneath east of Iran from Rayleigh waves
tomography. Iranian Journal of Geophysics, 16(3), 161-181.
Ghorbanalizadeh, V., Motaghi, K., Sobouti, F. (2020). Lithospheric Structure of the NW Iran revealed by S Receiver Functions, Earth
and Space Physics, in press.
Andayeshgar, S.,Motaghi, K., Rezaeian, M. (2020). A new method for quality factor tomography: a case study in NW Iran, J. Res. Applied Geophysics, 6(1), 145-154.
Jamalreyhani, M., Ghods, A., Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., Talebian, M., Chen, L. (2019) Seismicity in the Lurestan Arc of Zagros Simply Folded Belt, Geoscience, 113, 13-24..
Ghaseminia, R., Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Talebian, M., Chen, L. (2018) Attenuation of Ground-Motion Spectral Amplitudes at short hypocentral distances, Iranian J. Geophysics, 12(3): 87-106.
Amiri, M., Mousavi, Z., Motaghi, K. (2018) Studying post-seismic deformation 2010 MW 6.5 Rigan earthquake in the SW Iran using InSAR, Iranian J. Geophysics, 12(2), 96-108.
Nozad Khalil, T., Motaghi, K., (2017) Geometry of deep velocity discontinuities in the coastal Makran using receiver functions, Iranian J. Geophysics, 11(3): 157-173.
Zarunizadeh, Z., Motaghi, K., Rahimi, H., Ghods, A., (2017) Estimation of Coda wave attenuation in NW Iran, Iranian J. Geophysics, 11(1): 156-170.
Feizaghaee, F., Motaghi, K., Tatar, M., Ghods, A., Moradi, A., (2017) 2D local earthquake tomography of P-wave velocity in the upper crust of NW Iran, Iranian J. Geophysics, 11(1): 33-48.
Davodian, R, Motaghi, K., Sobouti, F., Rahimi, H., Ghods, A., (2017) Inversion of Rayleigh waves group velocity to shear wave velocity structure for the north-west of Iran, Journal of the Earth and Space Physics: 43(1), 1-13.
Motaghi, K., Zarunizadeh, Z., Ghods, A., (2017) Attenuation of ground-motion spectral amplitudes in the NW Iran, Iranian J. Geophysics, 10(4): 128-141.
Kalvandi, F., Motaghi, K., Shabanian, E., (2017) Lithosphere structure in the north Zagros collision revealed by joint inversion of P receiver function and surface wave dispersion, Iranian J. Geophysics, 10(4): 48-61.
Motaghi, K., Hessami, K., Mostafazadeh, M. (2012) The Major Asperities of the Alborz tectonic region and finding the maximum probable location of future large earthquake. Geoscience , 85: 123-132.
Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Siahkoohi, H.R. (2011) Determination of ground motion attenuation relationship in the Tehran region, Geoscience, 81: 25-32
Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Siahkoohi, H.R. (2010) Visual Presentation of Seismic Attenuation Curves in the Tehran Region and Moho Thickness Estimation through the Curves, Earth and Space Physics, 36 (2): 1-16.
Motaghi, K., Ghods, A., Siahkoohi, H.R. (2009) Calculation of magnitude M1 for earthquakes in the Tehran region. Iranian J. Geophysics. 3(2): 1-11.
Awards:
Rank 64 among 100 top scientists of 2022 in Iran (funded by Iran Science Elites Federation)
Rank 37 among 100 top scientists of 2021 in Iran (funded by Iran Science Elites Federation)
Junior Associate member of International Center of Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy,
2015-2022.
Annual award of Iranian national academy of Science in Earth Sciences, 2017.
National Academy of Science ceremony, Tehran (June 2017)
Teaching Experiences:
Seismology
Gravity and Magnetic methods
Signal analysis
Geophysics lab
Advanced Seismology Class, IASBS (Jan. 2019)
Field Experience:
Installing the GURALP seismometers in four temporary passive seismic profiles in Iran. These data were gathered by our department in IASBS, independently.
Collaboration with Chinese Academy of Sciences and Geological Survey of Iran in installing 63 seismometers in the north Zagros collision zone, Iran.
Installing a seismograph in the Makran subduction zone, SE Iran (Sep. 2017)
PostDoc researchers
Farzaneh Dashti (2021-current): Study of shallow structures across Iran using harmonic variations of P receiver functions
Mohammad Veisi (2021-current): Shallow crustal structure of Iran from multifrequency P-wave receiver functions
Mohsen Ahmadzadeh Irandoust (2021-2022): Deep structure of Alborz Mountains by joint inversion of receiver function and dispersion data
Students supervised
Ph.D. students
Mohsen Rahmani (2014-2019): Deep velocity structure of the north Zagros collision zone from regional and teleseismic P- and S-wave tomography
Zahra Zarunizadeh (2015-current): High-resolution surface wave tomography of the Iranian Plateau
Farzaneh Dashti (2015-2020): Study of shallow structures across the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone using receiver functions
Reza Zeinodin Meymand (2018-current): Rayleigh wave tomography of the Makran subduction zone, SE Iran
Ali Mehrdar (2018-current): Shallow anisotropic features of the Makran subduction zone from P receiver function harmonic analysis
Sara Abbasi (2020-current): Anisotropic crustal features of western Makran subduction zone from harmonic analysis of P receiver functions
Mahjoobeh Meskaranian (2020-current): Source kinematics of Ahar-Varzaghan doublet earthquake
Ako Alipour (2021-current): 3D modeling of ground gravity data in NW Iran
M.Sc. students
Zahra Zarunizadeh (2012-2014): Estimation of coda wave attenuation in the NW Iran
Keyvan Bavali (2012-2014): Lithospheric structure of the NW Iran from regional and teleseismic P-wave tomography
Mohammad Omaraei (2012-2014): Crustal structure of the NE Iran from P Receiver Function
Farzam Feizaghaee (2013-2015): 3D Tomography of Local Earthquakes with Body Waves in the NW Iran
Forough Kalvandi (2013-2015): Crust and upper mantle structure in Zagros collision zone revealed by joint inversion of P receiver function and surface wave dispersion
Reza Davoudian (2013-2015): Inversion of Rayleigh waves group velocity to shear wave velocity structure in the NW Iran
Tayebeh Heydari (2013-2015): Determination of Shear Wave Quality Factor in the NW Iran
Vahideh Ghorbanalizadeh (2014-2016): The Study of Lithospheric Structure of NW Iran Using S Receiver Function
Tohid Nozad Khalil (2014-2016): Geometry of Deep Velocity Discontinuities in the Western Makran Using Receiver Functions
Razieh Ghaseminia (2014-2016): Attenuation of Weak Ground-Motion in Close Distances to Source
Ali Mehrdar (2015-2017): Crustal structure stratifications beneath the Zagros continental collision zone obtained from reflected P waves
Elmira Haghanifar (2015-2017): Gravity modeling of crustal structure in North West Iran
Tahereh Musavizadeh (2016-2018): Lithospheric velocity structure of the West Albroz collision zone by teleseismic travel time tomography of P and S waves
Salman Andayeshgar (2017-2018): Quality factor tomography in NW Iran with a special reference to the geology
Maryam Talebi (2017-2019): Study of shallow crustal discontinuities within the Zagros collision zone by reflected PpPp phase
Sara Dehghani Mohammadi (2017-2019): Attenuation parameters of the NW Iran from particle swarm optimization
HamidReza Momeni (2018-2019): Deep velocity structure of the Makran subduction zone from teleseismic tomography
Bekhal I. Abdullah (2020-current). Crustal Structure of the Mesopotamian Plain, East of Iraq
Maryam Hajiarab (2021-current). Investigation of intra-lithospheric interfaces in Makran subduction zone using PpPp reflected phase
With my students,Teachers day, IASBS, Zanjan (May. 2016)
