Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-cjp7w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-29T22:24:11.789Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Genesis of meta-gabbroic crustal xenoliths found in Neogene/Quaternary alkali olivine basalt, northeastern Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 September 2022

Saeed Saadat Open the ORCID record for Saeed Saadat [Opens in a new window]  and
Charles R. Stern
Saeed Saadat*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Petroleum Engineering, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran
Charles R. Stern
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Saeed Saadat, Email: saeed.saadat@colorado.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Rounded to angular granoblastic textured mafic xenoliths, ranging from ∼1 to 6 cm in dimension, occur together with mantle peridotite xenoliths in a small Neogene/Quaternary alkali basalt cone in northeastern Iran. These crustal xenoliths consist of plagioclase feldspar, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene and minor olivine, spinel, titanomagnetite and apatite. Their bulk compositions are similar to tholeiitic basalts and they are interpreted as meta-gabbroic rocks derived from mid- to lower crustal depths of 18 to 30 km. Rb–Sr dating suggests an age of c. 457 ± 95 Ma for these crustal xenoliths, and their geochemistry shows some similarities to Ordovician gabbros that crop out ∼20 km to the west. The data suggest that the gabbroic proto-lithologies of the xenoliths formed by intrusion of mafic magmas into the mid- to lower crust, possibly during extension and magmatism related to the opening of the Hercynian Palaeotethys ocean that separated central and eastern Iran from the Eurasian plate during the Late Palaeozoic.

Keywords

meta-gabbroic crustal xenolithsalkali basaltsOrdovician gabbrosNE Iran
Type
Original Article
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 160 , Issue 2 , February 2023 , pp. 260 - 273
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alavi, M (1979) The Virani ophiolite complex and surrounding rocks. Geologische Rundschau 68, 334–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aoki, KI and Shiba, I (1973) Pyroxenes from lherzolite inclusions of Itinome-Gata, Japan. Lithos 6, 41–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azizi, H and Whattam, SA (2022) Does Neoproterozoic-Early Paleozoic (570–530 Ma) basement of Iran belong to the Cadomian Orogeny? Precambrian Research 368, 106474.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bagherzadeh, RM, Karimpour, MH, Farmer, GL, Stern, CR, Santos, JF, Rahimi, B and Heidarian Shahri, MR (2015) U–Pb zircon geochronology, petrochemical and Sr–Nd isotopic characteristic of late Neoproterozoic granitoid of the Bornaward complex (Bardaskan-NE Iran). Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 111, 54–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baker, JA, Menzies, MA, Thirlwall, MF and MacPherson, CG (1997) Petrogenesis of Quaternary intraplate volcanism, Sana’a, Yemen: implications for plume–lithosphere interaction and polybaric melt hybridization. Journal of Petrology 38, 1359–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beard, BL and Johnson, CM (1997) Hafnium isotope evidence for the origin of Cenozoic basaltic lavas from the southwestern United States. Journal of Geophysical Research 102, 20149–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, RS, O’Nions, RK and Dawson, JB (1984) Isotope geochemistry of xenoliths from East Africa: implications for development of mantle reservoirs and their interaction. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 68, 209–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farmer, GL (2003) Continental basaltic rocks. Treatise on Geochemistry 3, 1–39.Google Scholar
Farmer, GL, Broxton, DE, Warren, RG and Pickthorn, W (1991) Nd, Sr, and O isotopic variations in metaluminous ash-flow tuffs and related volcanic rocks at the Timber Mountain/Oasis Valley Caldera, Complex, SW Nevada: implications for the origin and evolution of large-volume silicic magma bodies. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology 109, 53–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farmer, GL, Glazner, AF and Manley, CR (2002) Did lithospheric delamination trigger late Cenozoic potassic volcanism in the southern Sierra Nevada, California? Geological Society of America Bulletin 114, 754–68.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frey, FA and Prinz, M (1978) Ultramafic inclusions from San Carlos, Arizona: petrologic and geochemical data bearing on their petrogenesis. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 38, 129–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gautheron, C, Moreira, M and Allègre, C (2005) He, Ne and Ar composition of the European lithospheric mantle. Chemical Geology 217, 97–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geological Survey of Iran (GSI) (1984) Kariz-Now, Geological Map, 1:100000. Tehran: Geological Survey of Iran.Google Scholar
Ghazi, AM, Hassanipak, AA, Tucker, PJ, Mobasher, K and Duncan, RA (2001) Geochemistry and 40Ar-39Ar ages of the Mashhad Ophiolite, NE Iran: a rare occurrence of a 300 Ma (Paleo-Tethys) oceanic crust. AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts, V12C-0993.Google Scholar
Golonka, J (2004) Plate tectonic evolution of the southern margin of Eurasia in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Tectonophysics 381, 235–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haase, KM, Stoffers, P and Garbe-Schönberg, CD (1997) The petrogenetic evolution of lavas from Easter Island and neighboring seamounts, near-ridge hotspot volcanoes in the SE Pacific. Journal of Petrology 38, 785–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassanzadeh, J, Stockli, DF, Horton, BK, Axen, GJ, Stockli, LD, Grove, M, Schmitt, AK and Walker, JD (2008) U-Pb zircon geochronology of late Neoproterozoic–Early Cambrian granitoids in Iran: implications for paleogeography, magmatism, and exhumation history of Iranian basement. Tectonophysics 451, 71–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hibbard, MJ (1995) Petrography to Petrogenesis. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 587 pp.Google Scholar
Homam, S (2015) Petrology and geochemistry of Late Proterozoic hornblende gabbros from southeast of Fariman, Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. Journal of Economic Geology 7, 91–109.Google Scholar
Horton, BK, Hassanzadeh, J, Stockli, DF, Axen, GJ, Gillis, RJ, Guest, B, Amini, AH, Fakhari, M, Zamanzadeh, SM and Grove, M (2008) Detrital zircon provenance of Neoproterozoic to Cenozoic deposits in Iran: implications for chronostratigraphy and collisional tectonics. Tectonophysics 451, 97–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kempton, PD, Harmon, RS, Hawkesworth, CJ and Moorbath, S (1990) Petrology and geochemistry of lower crustal granulites from the Geronimo Volcanic Field, southeastern Arizona. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 54, 3401–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Koornneef, JM, Davies, GR, Döpp, SP, Vukmanovic, Z, Nikogosian, IK and Mason, PR (2009) Nature and timing of multiple metasomatic events in the sub-cratonic lithosphere beneath Labait, Tanzania. Lithos 112, 896–912.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumar, S and Pundir, S (2021) Tectono-magmatic evolution of granitoids in the Himalaya and Trans-Himalaya. Himalayan Geology 42, 213–46.Google Scholar
Langmuir, CH, Klein, EM and Plank, T (1992) Petrological systematics of mid-ocean ridge basalts: constraints on melt generation beneath ocean ridges. Geophysical Monograph 71, 183–280.Google Scholar
Maniar, PD and Piccoli, PM (1989) Tectonic discrimination of granitoids. Geological Society of America Bulletin 101, 635–43.2.3.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mazhari, SA, Klötzli, U and Safari, M (2019) U-Pb geochronology, petrogenesis and tectonomagmatic evolution of uppermost Neoproterozoic-lower Cambrian intrusive rocks in Kaboodan area, NE of Iran. International Geology Review 62, 1971–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middlemost, EAK (1994) Naming materials in the magma/igneous rock system. Earth Science Reviews 37, 215–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, C (1982) Geochemical constraints on the origin of xenolith-bearing alkali basaltic rocks and megacryst from the Hoggar, central Sahara. Geochemical Journal 16, 225–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nasir, S, Al-Sayigh, A, Alharthy, A and Al-Lazki, A (2006) Geochemistry and petrology of Tertiary volcanic rocks and related ultramafic xenoliths from the central and eastern Oman Mountains. Lithos 90, 249–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oinam, G, Singh, AK, Joshi, M, Dutt, A, Singh, MR, Singh, NL and Singh, RB (2020) Continental extension of northern Gondwana margin in the Eastern Himalaya: constraints from geochemistry and U–Pb zircon ages of mafic intrusives in the Siang window, Arunachal Himalaya, India. Comptes Rendus Geoscience 352, 19–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Partovifar, F (2012) The petrology and geochemical studies of granitic rocks, of Chahak village, Kariz-Now area (southeast of Fariman, Khorassan-e-Razavi), Iran. MS thesis, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran (in Persian with English summary).Google Scholar
Pearce, JA (2008) Geochemical fingerprinting of oceanic basalts with applications to ophiolite classification and the search for Archean oceanic crust. Lithos 100, 14–48.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putirka, KD (2008) Thermometers and barometers for volcanic systems. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 69, 61–120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putirka, KD, Mikaelian, H, Ryerson, F and Shaw, H (2003) New clinopyroxene-liquid thermobarometers for mafic, evolved, and volatile-bearing lava compositions, with applications to lavas from Tibet and the Snake River Plain, Idaho. American Mineralogist 88, 1542–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranjbar Moghadam, F, Masoudi, F, Homam, M, Kerfo, F and Mohajel, M (2018) Introducing Ordovician plutonism as a result of Caledonian orogeny from North East of Iran. Iranian Journal of Crystallography and Mineralogy 25, 871–8 (in Persian with English summary).Google Scholar
Rudnick, RL (1992) Xenoliths – samples of the lower continental crust. In Continental Lower Crust (eds Fountain, DM, Arculus, R and Kay, RW), pp. 269–316. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Rudnick, RL and Fountain, DM (1995) Nature and composition of the continental crust: a lower crustal perspective. Reviews of Geophysics 33, 267–309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saadat, S, Karimpour, MH and Stern, CR (2010) Petrochemical characteristics of Neogene and Quaternary alkali olivine basalts from the western margin of the Lut block, eastern Iran. Iranian Journal of Earth Sciences 2, 87–106.Google Scholar
Saadat, S and Stern, CR (2012) Petrochemistry of a xenolith-bearing Neogene alkali olivine basalt from northeastern Iran. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 225–226, 13–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Samadi, R, Torabi, G, Dantas, EL, Morishita, T and Kawabata, H (2022) Ordovician crustal thickening and syn-collisional magmatism of Iran: Gondwana basement along the north of the Yazd Block (Central Iran). International Geology Review 64, 2151–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schnetzler, CC and Philpotts, JA (1970) Partition coefficients of rare-earth elements between igneous matrix material and rock-forming mineral phenocrysts-II. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 34, 331–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selverstone, J and Stern, CR (1983) Petrochemistry and recrystallization history of granulite xenoliths from the Pali-Aike volcanic field, Chile. American Mineralogist 68, 1102–12.Google Scholar
Sepidbar, F, Moghadam, HS, Li, C, Stern, RJ, Jiantang, P and Vesali, Y (2020) Cadomian magmatic rocks from Zarand (SE Iran) formed in a retro-arc basin. Lithos 366, 105569.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shabanian, E, Acocella, V, Gioncada, A, Ghasemi, H and Bellier, O (2012) Structural control on volcanism in intraplate post collisional settings: Late Cenozoic to Quaternary examples of Iran and Eastern Turkey. Tectonics 31. doi: 10.1029/2011TC003042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafaii Moghadam, H, Li, XH, Griffin, WL, Stern, RJ, Thomsen, TB, Meinhold, G, Aharipour, R and O’Reilly, SY (2017a) Early Paleozoic tectonic reconstruction of Iran: tales from detrital zircon geochronology. Lithos 268–271, 87–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafaii Moghadam, H, Li, XH, Santos, JF, Stern, RJ, Griffin, WL, Ghorbani, G and Sarebani, N (2017b) Neoproterozoic magmatic flare-up along the N. margin of Gondwana: the Taknar complex, NE Iran. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 474, 83–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shahabpour, J (2005) Tectonic evolution of the orogenic belt in the region located between Kerman and Neyriz. Asian Earth Sciences 24, 405–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shand, SJ (1943) The Eruptive Rocks. New York: John Wiley, 444 pp.Google Scholar
Shojaee kaveh, N (2014) Petrology and geochemistry of granitoid rocks in the north and northwest of Torbat-e Jam (Northeast of Iran). MS thesis, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran (in Persian with English summary).Google Scholar
Stampfli, GM and Borel, GD (2002) A plate tectonic model for the Paleozoic and Mesozoic constrained by dynamic plate boundaries and restored synthetic oceanic isochrons. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 196, 17–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stampfli, GM, Marcoux, J and Baud, A (1991) Tethyan margins in space and time. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 87, 373–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, CR, Kilian, R, Olker, B, Hauri, EH and Kyser, TK (1999) Evidence from mantle xenoliths for relatively thin (∼100 km) continental lithosphere below the Phanerozoic crust of southernmost South America. Lithos 48, 217–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Su, BX, Chung, SL, Zarrinkoub, MH, Pang, KN, Chen, L, Ji, WQ, Brewer, A, Ying, JF and Khatib, MM (2014) Composition and structure of the lithospheric mantle beneath NE Iran: constraints from mantle xenoliths. Lithos 202, 267–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, C (2018) Partitioning and partition coefficients. In Encyclopedia of Geochemistry (ed White, WM), pp. 1186–97. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-39312-4_347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sun, SS and McDonough, MF (1989). Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes. In Magmatism in the Ocean Basins (eds AD Saunders and MJ Norry), pp. 313–45. Geological Society of London, Special Publication no. 42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, SR and McLennan, SM (1985) The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 312 pp.Google Scholar
Thirlwall, MF, Upton, BG and Jenkins, C (1994) Interaction between continental lithosphere and the Iceland plume Sr–Nd–Pb isotope geochemistry of Tertiary basalts, NE Greenland. Journal of Petrology 35, 839–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar