Neogene Tectono‐Stratigraphic Evolution of the Intermontane Tarom Basin: Insights Into Basin Filling and Plateau Building Processes Along the Northern Margin of the Iranian Plateau (Arabia‐Eurasia Collision Zone)

The intermontane Tarom Basin of NW Iran (Arabia‐Eurasia collision zone) is located at the transition between the Iranian Plateau (IP) to the SW and the Alborz Mountains to the NE. This basin was filled by upper Cenozoic synorogenic red beds that retain first‐order information on the erosional history of adjacent topography, the vertical growth of the plateau margin and its orogen perpendicular expansion. Here, we perform a multidisciplinary study including magnetostratigraphy, sedimentology, geochronology and sandstone petrography on these red beds. Our data show that Eocene arc volcanism in the region terminated at 38‐36 Ma, while intrabasinal synorogenic sedimentation (endorheic conditions) occurred from at least 16.2 to ∼16.2 to < ∼7.6‐My‐old and are stratigraphically equivalent to the Upper Red Formation Over the last 38‐36 Ma the basin experienced alternating stages of internal and external drainage without being integrated in the plateau Deep seated processes rather than shortening and thickening are responsible for the vertical growth of the Iranian Plateau margin