N Etemad-Saeed; M. H Adabi; A. Sadeghi; M. Hosseini- Barzi
Abstract
This work is focused on tectonic provenance of the Late Neoproterozoic Kahar Formation in the northern Iran. KaharMountain (type locality) provides valuable information on tectonic events during this time. The Kahar Formation in this area is a well preserved sedimentary sequence and consists of about ...
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This work is focused on tectonic provenance of the Late Neoproterozoic Kahar Formation in the northern Iran. KaharMountain (type locality) provides valuable information on tectonic events during this time. The Kahar Formation in this area is a well preserved sedimentary sequence and consists of about 1000 meters of predominantly fine grained siliciclastic rocks and minor sandstones, conglomerates and dolomitized stromatolites. Kahar lithic arkose sandstones with low compositional and textural maturity, contain abundant feldspar (plagioclase and K feldspar), quartz, and volcanic lithic fragments and have an average composition of Q38F40L22, Qt39F40L21, Qm32F40Lt28,Qp27Lvm60Lsm13 and Qm44P33K23 suggesting a proximal source and a dissected arc setting. The type of lithic fragments in the sandstones show andesitic and felsic volcanic rock sources. Heavy mineral analysis (abundant metastable and unstable minerals such as biotite, and pyroxenes) indicate that Kahar sandstones were derived from unroofing of arc-type magmatic rocks. The low diversity of heavy mineral assemblages in the Kahar sandstones indicates that the source rocks were uniform and localized. Considering the two common tectonic views regarding the Late Neoproterozoic condition of Iran (rift-passive margin and magmatic arc-subduction zone), the results of this study which confirm the magmatic arc tectonic setting of Alborz-Iran at that time seems critical.
