Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences

Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences

Geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis of Garmab sodium sulfate deposit, East of Semnan

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors
Mehdi Ghosipoor
Masood Alipour-Asll
Mahmood Sadeghian
Department of Petrology and Economic Geology, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
10.22071/gsj.2024.445096.2135
Abstract
The geological rock units in the Garmab area include the Eocene pyroclastic, lava flow, sedimentary, evaporite, and Oligocene- Miocene sedimentary-evaporite sequences. The sodium sulfate-bearing stratigraphic units include shale, siltstone, marl and gypsiferous marls with upper Eocene age, among which the dark gray shale unit has the most association with sodium sulfate. The amounts of MgO, CaO, and Na2O in the Garmab shales are higher than the North American Shale Composition (NASC), which indicates their deposition in a shallow and closed marine environment. The Garmab sodium sulfate was deposited under hot and dry climate conditions at the latitude of 25o to 40o N and the action of hydrothermal fluids related to Eocene volcanic activities reached to the basin floor through oblique-slip active faults. Based on the mineralogy of Garmab deposit (glauberite, anhydrite, gypsum, and halite), seawater brines are rich in calcium, sodium, chlorine and sulfate. The sedimentary-evaporite layers were most likely deposited in the post-rift stage and in the marginal parts of the subduction-related intracontinental basins and or in the central parts of the shallow rift basins when the basin floor was uplifted. The Garmab sodium sulfate is classified in the category of marine evaporite deposits, which was formed in a shallow intracontinental basin.
Keywords
Shallow intracontinental basins
Marine evaporites
Upper Eocene
Sodium sulfate
Garmab
Semnan

Subjects

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Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences
Volume 34, Issue 4 - Serial Number 134
Winter 2024, Vol. 34, Issue 4, Serial No. 134
Autumn 2024
Pages 1-22