Petrology
Ali Lotfi Bakhsh
Abstract
In the north of Ardabil (from Namin to Lahroud) there are widespread sequences of Eocene and Quaternary mafic to intermediate and felsic magmatic activities with different compositions. The composition of these rocks varies from basaltic lavas as well as dacitic and rhyolitic domes in Namin to basalt ...
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In the north of Ardabil (from Namin to Lahroud) there are widespread sequences of Eocene and Quaternary mafic to intermediate and felsic magmatic activities with different compositions. The composition of these rocks varies from basaltic lavas as well as dacitic and rhyolitic domes in Namin to basalt and basaltic andesite in Lahroud area. The chemical composition of olivine from olivine basaltic lavas indicates a forsterite composition changing from 67.8 to 92.7. Clinopyroxenes show diopside composition whereas plagioclase has labradorite to bytownite composition. Garnet xenocrysts in the rhyolitic domes have an almandine composition. These rocks are characterized by the enrichment in LREEs compared to the HREEs. Mafic-intermediate rocks show shoshonitic to high-K calc-alkaline composition whereas dacitic and rhyolitic domes show adakitic signature. Geochemical and isotopic characteristics of basaltic-andesitic rocks indicate their genesis are related to the partial melting of a metasomatized mantle wedge, re-fertilized by sediments and fluids from the subducting slab in the Eocene subduction zone of Iran. The geochemical and isotopic signatures of dacitic-rhyolitic domes indicate their origin from partial melting of the lower parts of the thickened continental crust of Iran.
