A. Ameri; N. Ashrafi; H. Karimi Gharebaba
Abstract
The study area is located about 20 km to the east of the Heris town in northwest Iran, and lies in the Alborz-Azarbaijan geological zone. The occurrence of lava domes associated with thick lava flows, volcanic breccias, and ignimbrite layers indicate an important eruptive center in the study area. The ...
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The study area is located about 20 km to the east of the Heris town in northwest Iran, and lies in the Alborz-Azarbaijan geological zone. The occurrence of lava domes associated with thick lava flows, volcanic breccias, and ignimbrite layers indicate an important eruptive center in the study area. The investigated volcanic rocks are of lower-middle Eocene time and associated with upper Eocene I-type granitoid intrusions. Hydrothermal fluids derived from the granitoid rocks, considered to be cogenetic with the volcanic rocks, led to local alteration and mineralization in the volcanic rocks. According to chemical classification, the volcanic rocks are andesite, andesitic-basalt and trachy-andesite. The textures vary from porphyry to microlitic porphyry and hyalomicrolitic and the phenocrysts are mostly plagioclase, alkali-feldspar, augite, hornblende and biotite. Sieve texture and selective alteration in some plagioclases, occurrence of biotite and hornblende with opacitic rims, associated with other disequilibrium textures are characteristic features of the rocks. Plots of the samples on the SiO2 vs. Na2O + K2O, AFM, and SiO2 vs. K2O diagrams show that, similar to the associated granitoids, the volcanic rocks are high- to medium- potassium calc-alkaline in nature. Chemical characteristics of the rocks suggest enrichments in a subduction zone or crustal contamination, rather than a within-plate enrichment trend. Plots of Rb/Ba vs. Ti/Y, and Nb/Zr vs. Nb show that the chemical composition of these rocks were controlled typically by fractional crystallization and the role of magma mixing was not significant in the evolution of the rocks. Plots of the samples on tectonic setting discrimination diagrams of basalts and andesites, based on Th, Ti, Zr, Nb, and Sr contents, indicate that the studied rocks belong to calc-alkaline volcanic arcs. Compared to andesitic rocks from typical tectonic environments, the compatible and incompatible elements patterns for the andesitic rocks from the study area are more consistent with a post-collision volcanic arc setting.
