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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
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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

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