Luminescence Dating of River Terraces along the banks of the Greater Zab River in the Northwestern Zagros Mountains in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

This dataset contains details of 15 samples of the river terraces that were collected along the banks of the Greater Zab River (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) that crosses the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt. These terraces were dated using luminescence dating including both Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) and post-IR IRSL (pIR) to determine their depositional ages. The dataset includes details about the locations, dosimetry, and determined ages of the collected samples. The ages of the dated river terraces range from c. 165 ka to c. 6 ka. The terraces were deposited at the river level. Their present-day elevation above the river is interpreted as the amount of incision by the river that occurred in response to the uplift. The uplift rates of river terraces were integrated with kinematic modeling of the fault-related fold belt in the area to calculate long-term slip rates during the Late Pleistocene to Holocene. Our results provide new insight into the rates of active faulting and folding in the area. The Zagros Mountain Front Fault accommodates about 1.46±0.60 mm a-1 of slip, while a more external basement fault further to the SW accommodates less than 0.41±0.16 mm a-1. Horizontal slip rates related to detachment folding of two anticlines within the Zagros Foothills are 0.40±0.10 and 1.24±0.36 mm a-1, respectively.