Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences

Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences

Geology, mineralogy, geochemistry, and genesis of Mohammadabad titanium paleoplacer deposit, Sabzevar, NE Iran

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors
1 Petrology and Economic Geology Department, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
2 Shahrood University of Technology
3 Petrology and Economic Geoloy Department, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
10.22071/gsj.2026.573793.2244
Abstract
Mohammadabad titanium paleoplacer deposit is located in the Sabzevar subzone, NE Iran. This deposit occurs as a stratiform within the ore-bearing sandstone horizon of Middle-Late Eocene marly- conglomerate- limestone- sandstone sequences. Oxide minerals observed as stratiform, lenses, and disseminated forms. Oxide mineral assemblages comprise titanomagnetite, ilmenite, and magnetite. Mineral chemistry of the oxide minerals yields TiO2 in the range of 12.87–20.75 wt.% and Fe2O3 from 39.99–64.68 wt.%, values. Comparison of geochemical patterns of elements in sandstones with same patterns in Late Cretaceous mafic-intermediate intrusions of the region, along with the presence of significant amounts of titanomagnetite and magnetite in the mineral composition of these igneous rocks, indicates that the Late Cretaceous monzogabbro, diorite, and monzodiorite intrusions, aged 100 to 75 million years ago, are the probable source rocks of the oxide minerals in the sandstones of southern Sabzevar. These intrusive rocks are outcropped in the form of sill within the Late Cretaceous volcanic-sedimentary sequences in the southern Sabzevar region. The Mohammadabad titanium deposit is a paleoplacer that originated from the weathering and erosion of Late Cretaceous outcropped rocks, and was deposited in the shallow fluvial and coastal environments of the foreland of the Sabzevar ocean basin during Eocene
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Articles in Press, Corrected Proof
Available Online from 22 June 2026