Short-time (<10 ka) denudation rates as a marker of active folding in the Zagros Fold Belt (Iran)

Coupling between tectonics and surface processes is usually ill-quantified as other factors such as climate and lithology affect the later. We provide catchment-wide ¹⁰ Be denudation rates of the Mand catchment in the Zagros Fold Belt (Iran) to infer correlations between these rates and ongoing tectonic shortening in the region. Denudation rates are generally low (~0.05–0.1 mm/a) but increase to ~1 mm/a near the Halikan anticline, where changes in precipitation, lithology or hillslope gradient are insignificant. The denudation rates upstream and downstream of the Halikan anticline are consistent with the GPS convergence rates in these areas. The sharp increase in denudation rates over the Halikan anticline denotes its growth as previously detected from terrace incision. It also reveals small wavelength coupling between crustal deformation and erosion. Denudation rates are therefore a useful and sensitive tool that helps constraining non-brittle active tectonics such as folding of a sedimentary cover.