| The Middle East is a tectonically active region where the interaction between crustal units produce devastating earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The region holds within its boundaries the Tethyside Orogeny and is limited to the north by the Intermediate Orogeny. The Iranian Plateau sets within the Tethyside collage and has been affected by the closure of Paleo- and Neo-Tethys Oceans during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. For instance, large oil and gas fields have formed along the sutures of these two former oceans in northeastern Iran, the Persian Gulf and the Zagros Mountains.; This dissertation involves analyzing the geodynamical processes of the Iranian Plateau by studying surface, airborne and satellite gravity and magnetic data collected across the Plateau and its surrounding regions. To provide a basis for a more accurate analysis of the region's lithospheric stresses, a high-resolution crustal thickness model is developed using spectral correlation analysis and gravity inversion. The results of this modeling suggest a thickened crust beneath the Anatolian Plateau, Sistan and Zagros Mountains, plus the Caspian Sea.; Next, a regional scale morpho-tectonic interpretation of Iran's aeromagnetic data is developed that characterizes the magnetic anomalies of the country. The results of this analysis suggest that the crust of Iran is divided into a number of small plates, with boundaries that are characterized by strong positive magnetic anomalies. Large magmatic assemblages in northern and western Iran are characterized by strong negative magnetic anomalies.; In support of the objectives of the pending GOCE gravity and SWARM magnetic low-Earth orbiting satellite missions, the theory for numerically estimating the full gravity and magnetic scalar, vector and tensor fields of the spherical prism is summarized. As an application, the gravity and magnetic fields that the GOCE satellite and SWARM constellation of satellites may observe over the tectonically active region of the Middle East, roughly centered on Iran are estimated. |
