Geoscience Outreach
Volume 32, Issue 3 , September 2022, Pages 1-12
Original Research Paper
Economic Geology
Nima Rahimi; Shojaeddin Niroomand; Mohammad Lotfi; Mojtaba Rahimi Shahid
Abstract
The Janja Cu-Mo porphyry deposit is located at 70 km south of the Nehbandan, Sistan suture zone, Eastern Iran. The porphyry mineralization in the Janja deposit is temporally and spatially associated with the diorite to quartz diorite and granodiorite granular to porphyry stocks that intruded in the Cretaceous ...
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The Janja Cu-Mo porphyry deposit is located at 70 km south of the Nehbandan, Sistan suture zone, Eastern Iran. The porphyry mineralization in the Janja deposit is temporally and spatially associated with the diorite to quartz diorite and granodiorite granular to porphyry stocks that intruded in the Cretaceous flysch units. The Janja intrusions are represented by a Calc-alkaline and metaluminous geochemical affinity, and belong to the I-type granitoid series and subduction-related magmas in composition. Hydrothermal alterations in the area have been completely influenced by the Janja intrusion and as a result of the activity of these hydrothermal fluids, various types of potassic, propylitic, argillic and rarely phyllic alteration zones have been formed. In this deposit, three mineralization styles have been recognized including disseminated, vein-veinlet and stockwork which mineralization is mainly associated with potassic alteration. Mineralization zones in porphyry systems, including the supergene, enriched and hypogene zone, have been identified in the Janja deposit, which are the result of changes in the water table, weathering and erosion effects. The main sulfide minerals consist of chalcopyrite, pyrite, covellite, chalcocite, molybdenite, bornite, and oxide minerals including magnetite, hematite, goethite and hydro carbonate minerals including malachite and azurite. Fluid inclusion studies showed a homogenization temperature range from 301 to 540 ˚C and a mean salinity of 19 wt%NaCl for two-phase inclusions and a homogenization temperature range between 254 and >550 ˚C and mean salinities of 54 wt % NaCl for multiphase fluid inclusions. The results of these studies show that mixing processes have taken place in the Janja deposit and have caused the deposition of Cu-Mo-(Au) mineralization. Eventually, according to the various characteristics of the Janja deposit, including tectonic environment, host rock, mineralogy, ore-forming fluid, metal ore assemblage, mineralization and alteration patterns, and comparison of these characteristics with other porphyry deposits, it can be concluded that mineralization in Janja deposit is comparable with continental margin-type porphyry Cu-Mo-(Au) deposits.
Original Research Paper
Economic Geology
Shahram Mobaser; Taher Farhadinejad; Abbas Asgari; Mohammad Ali Ali Abadi; Shirin Fatahi
Abstract
The Barzavand copper deposit with Oligocene age located in 30 Km northeast of Zefreh along a tension fault with W-E trend and developed within basaltic lava with stratabound form. Alterations mainly include: pyritization, propylitization, zeolitization, silicification, saussuritization and uralitization ...
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The Barzavand copper deposit with Oligocene age located in 30 Km northeast of Zefreh along a tension fault with W-E trend and developed within basaltic lava with stratabound form. Alterations mainly include: pyritization, propylitization, zeolitization, silicification, saussuritization and uralitization of basaltic lava. Furthermore geochemical studies in Barzavand show enrichment of SiO2, Al2O3, K2O, Na2O, P2O5, TiO2, ∑REE, Ag, As, Ba, Be, Bi, Cd, Cs, Cu, Li, Mo, Nb, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, Sn, Sr, Ta, Tl, Te, Th, U, W, Y, Zn and Zr, enrichment- depletion of CaO, Fe2O3, MnO, Hf, Sc and V and depletion of S, Ni, Cr, MgO and Co during alteration. The positive correlation between (La/Lu)N, (La/Yb)N, (La/Sm)N and (La/Y)N and CaO (r= 0.70 to 0.96) indicate propylitization of host rock basalt and increase in pH of fluid responsible for mineralization that play important role in differentiation of lanthanides in study area. Ore minerals include chalcopyrite, bornite, covellite, azurite, malachite, hematite, goethite and pyrite. Copper is transported by means of chloride complexes into oxidized brines water related to late diagenesis stage and precipitated by substitution within pyrites formed during the volcanism process. It seems that the Barzavand copper deposit has submarine volcanism, early and late diagenesis, burial metamorphism and weathering stages during its evolution. According to alteration properties, mineralogy and the whole rock geochemistry, the Barzavand copper deposit is most similar to Manto type copper deposits.
Original Research Paper
Economic Geology
Monireh Sakhdari; Mehrdad Behzadi; Mohammad Yazdi; Nematollah Rashidnejad-Omran; Morteza Sadeghi Naeini
Abstract
The Godar Sorkh area is located in the central part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, 20 km southwest of the Muteh region. Gold mineralization at Godar Sorkh occurs in quartz-sulfide veins that hosted in metasedimentary rocks. Veins of mineralization typically formed along normal faults. Rock sequences ...
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The Godar Sorkh area is located in the central part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, 20 km southwest of the Muteh region. Gold mineralization at Godar Sorkh occurs in quartz-sulfide veins that hosted in metasedimentary rocks. Veins of mineralization typically formed along normal faults. Rock sequences are affected by several deformation phase, gold mineralization occurs in ductile to ductile-brittle shear zones and had been under poly-phase metamorphism. The main alterations are Sulfidation, carbonization, silicification, chloritization, and sericitization. Ore-mineral assemblages include pyrite and chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and Fe-oxide. Mean homogenization temperature in gold-bearing quartz range between 275oC and 300oC. Fluid inclusions in quartz veins are dominated by CO2-H2O-NaCl fluid. Salinity ranges from 9 to 17 wt. % NaCl equivalent. Corresponding to a depth of <2 km, Godar Sorkh deposit is formed in epizonal environment. Measured δ18O values for the gold-bearing quartz range between 12.7 to 14.3 permil, estimated δ18Ofluid values range from +6.4 to +7.3 permil, δ34S values range from –16 to +5 permil, and estimated δ34Sfluid values range from +4.2 to -17.3 permil. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope studies on ore-bearing quartz-sulfide veins indicating the major role of metamorphic fluids. Gold derived from metasedimentary rocks. Gold mineralization in the Godar sorkh deposit classified as an orogenic gold deposit.
Original Research Paper
Economic Geology
Kiamars Hosseini; Majid Shahpasandzadeh; Roghayeh zabihi khargh
Abstract
The Sangan Mining District (SMD) in the north of the Cenozoic magmatic belt of eastern Iran is constituted of predominantly acidic to intermediate volcanic and pyroclastic rocks, intruded by the Eocene granitoids. In the Baghak Fe skarn deposit, these granitoids are composed of pre-mineralization ...
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The Sangan Mining District (SMD) in the north of the Cenozoic magmatic belt of eastern Iran is constituted of predominantly acidic to intermediate volcanic and pyroclastic rocks, intruded by the Eocene granitoids. In the Baghak Fe skarn deposit, these granitoids are composed of pre-mineralization biotite quartz monzonite, biotite syenite to biotite syenogranite, alkali feldspar quartz syenite to alkali feldspar granite and syn-mineralization quartz alkali syenite and quartz syenite. These I type granitoids have a magnesian metaluminous, calcalkaline, high K alkaline to shoshonitic nature. The granitoids show enrichment of LREE/HREE and LILE/HFSE with negative anomalies of Eu,Sr,Ta,Th and Ti, posetive anomalies of U, K, Ba, and Rb together with high La values and Zr/Nb, Nb/Th, Nb/U, and Nb/La ratios which suggest not only their slab-derived mantle source, but also crustal mixing in evolution of the magma. The Sm/Yb versus La/Sm, Sm/Yb versus Sm and Dy/Yb versus La/Yb show derivation of the primary melt from low partial melting (2-5 %) of a garnet-spinel lherzolite at depth of ~66-68 kilometers of the upper mantle, affected by continental crust melts. According to this research, the tectono-magmatic setting of the granitoids is suggested syn- to post-orogenic magmatic arc.
Original Research Paper
Exploration and Mining
Keytash Moshtaghian; Seyed Mohammad Abtahi Forooshani; Hooshang Asadi Harooni; Mohammad Hajheidari; Ghazal Janghorban
Abstract
The Dalli porphyry Copper-Gold deposit consists of two northern and southern indexes located on the Urmia-Dokhtar Volcanic Belt in Markazi province. Due to the presence of magnetite beneath the potassic alteration zone in the center of porphyry mineralization, a magnetometric survey was performed ...
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The Dalli porphyry Copper-Gold deposit consists of two northern and southern indexes located on the Urmia-Dokhtar Volcanic Belt in Markazi province. Due to the presence of magnetite beneath the potassic alteration zone in the center of porphyry mineralization, a magnetometric survey was performed in the region. In the current study in the northern index, first, we extracted the local anomaly via removing the regional and aliasing effects from the magnetic data. Then, using three-dimensional inverse modeling of the reducted data illustrates the presence of a body with high magnetic susceptibility, in the depth range of 40 to 640 meters of the study area. A comparison between geochemical analysis of two exploratory core drilling with the depth variational model of the estimated magnetic susceptibility in the study area indicates a spatial correlation between increases in the grades of copper and gold and large variations of the magnetic susceptibility. Also, comparison between the magnetic susceptibility model and resistivity and chargeability models estimated from IP/RS data of three parallel profiles indicates a relation between sulfidic and altered mineralized zones and magnetic susceptibility variations. Therefore, the current study shows a high potential for the copper-gold mineralization in the northern Dalli index.
Original Research Paper
Geophysics
Hamidreza Samadi; Roohollah Kimiaefar; Alireza Hajian
Abstract
One of the most important issues in seismology is to accurately determine the epicenter of earthquake, mainly because the accuracy of dependent studies such as seismic risk analysis, fault mechanism, depends on the accuracy of mentioned parameter. Double difference method is one of the conventional relative ...
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One of the most important issues in seismology is to accurately determine the epicenter of earthquake, mainly because the accuracy of dependent studies such as seismic risk analysis, fault mechanism, depends on the accuracy of mentioned parameter. Double difference method is one of the conventional relative earthquake relocation methods which is used vastly by seismological centers and it is used as the basis of an algorithm that relocates earthquake events about 0.004 second. In the proposed method, Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) is trained based on the former relocated events and generalized for new earthquakes. In the training procedure, the hypocentral information, for the main event and the nearest one (determined by K nearest neighbor search), and the velocity model of the region are considered as inputs and hypocentral information are set as target for the network. Here, with reference to the information of about 8000 earthquakes, as the training events, 490 earthquakes were relocated in about 0.1 (s) where RMS for predicating latitude and longitude of the events were 0.002 and for the depth parameter, RMS was 0.45. It is concluded that the proposed method could be considered as a powerful algorithm for near real time relocation of earthquakes.
Original Research Paper
Tectonics
Mohammad Reza Mazinani; Ali Yassaghi; Reza Nozaem
Abstract
The E-W trending Faghan fault system with >180 km in length located in the northern part of the Lut Block and south of the Dorouneh Fault in central Iran. The fault cut through basement rocks and all other younger units from Cambrian to Cenozoic. Kinematic and dynamic analyses of the Faghan fault ...
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The E-W trending Faghan fault system with >180 km in length located in the northern part of the Lut Block and south of the Dorouneh Fault in central Iran. The fault cut through basement rocks and all other younger units from Cambrian to Cenozoic. Kinematic and dynamic analyses of the Faghan fault system is crucial for understanding the tectonic framework of the northern part of the Lut Block. These field based investigation analyses of the Faghan fault system indicates the E-W trending dextral strike- slip shear kinematics for the fault system and as Principal Deformation Zone (PDZ) along which minor sinistral, dextral and dip slip faults have also formed as second order riedel shears. Therefore, like the Kuh-e-Sarhangi fault zone, the Faghan fault system is considered as one of the fundamental fault zone in the north of the Lut Block caused the deformation partitioning in the block during Late Cenozoic. Accordingly, the Faghan fault system divorces the Bardacan-Kashmar and Gonabad micro-blocks from each other and transfers the deformation from the main Lut Block into its northern micro-blocks by Intraplate escaping tectonics.
Original Research Paper
Stratigraphy and Palaeontology
Parinaz Rasolui Ghadi; Mehdi Sarfi; Seyed Mohsen Aleali; Zahra Maleki
Abstract
Identification of key sequence stratigraphic surfaces is a crucial task in geological characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The uppermost Jurassic–lower Cretaceous carbonate successions of the Manifa member and Fahliyan Formation are as an important oil reservoir of Northwestern Persian Gulf. ...
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Identification of key sequence stratigraphic surfaces is a crucial task in geological characterization of hydrocarbon reservoirs. The uppermost Jurassic–lower Cretaceous carbonate successions of the Manifa member and Fahliyan Formation are as an important oil reservoir of Northwestern Persian Gulf. This study addresses the application of GR D-INPEFA curve to discriminate and correlate key stratigraphic surfaces and sequences of the studied carbonates in five wells a giant oil field of the Persian Gulf. To achieve this goal, identified key stratigraphic surfaces of core and thin sections were compared with interpretation of GR D-INPEFA curve. From sequence stratigraphic point of view and based on the results from geological studies, the Late Tithonian-Neocomian sequence has been discriminated into four third-order sequences which are described and interpreted. The top sequence boundary of the Manifa carbonate corresponds to a significant discontinuity that associated with evidence of karstification and distinct facies variation above and below this key surfaces. Based on the applied D-INPEFA curve, the identified sequence can be effectively discriminated and correlated in the field scale.
Original Research Paper
Economic Geology
Mohammad Ali Rajabzadeh; Mohammad Amini
Abstract
This is the first report on the presence of podiform chromititeLenses associated with the Marivan ophiolite. These ore deposits with granular massive fabric are hosted by dunite and harzburgite occurred in south Marivan city. Chemistry of chromian spinel in the chromite Lenses indicated that Cr# for ...
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This is the first report on the presence of podiform chromititeLenses associated with the Marivan ophiolite. These ore deposits with granular massive fabric are hosted by dunite and harzburgite occurred in south Marivan city. Chemistry of chromian spinel in the chromite Lenses indicated that Cr# for two ore occurrences is high (0.85) with very low TiO2, but for the other ore occurrence is lower (0.67) with higher TiO2 (0.05). The finding shows that the chromite ore Lenses and consequently their host ophiolite were developed in two different geotectonical settings. Geochemical data indicated that some of the studied ore deposits occurred during the opening of oceanic crust in a Mid Oceanic Ridge setting from a tholeiitic magma while the others were fractionated form a boninitic melt in a Supra Subduction Zone. Formation of these ore Lenses and the host rocks occurred in response to the very fast divergence and then convergence of Neo-Tethys oceanic crust. A wide range of gabbros including coarse-grained gabbro, melagabbro and microgabbro host ilmenite, magnetite and titanite in three regions at the northwest of Kamyaran (Yakhtekhan village), the east of Sarvabad (Mianeh village) and the south of Marivan (Dragashikhan-Vyseh villages). Ilmenite is found in all the three regions, but magnetite and titanite are only found in the east of Sarvabad. Plagioclase (andesine-labradorite) and diopside, the main rock-forming minerals with minor augite, olivine and amphibole are the minerals of the host rocks. The chemical composition of the ilmenites showed that the average concentration of TiO2 increases from Kamyaran (43.19 wt.%) to Sarvabad (46.09 wt.%) and then to Marivan (47.42 wt.%). These minerals occur as interstitial fine to medium grains (up to 1.5 mm) and often in the amoeboid, anhedral and to a lesser extent as subhedral forms. Based on textural and mineral chemistry evidence, mineralization of titanium occurred as the result of magma oxidation. The oxidation of magma resulted in the formation of iron-titanium immiscible liquid droplets, following the plagioclase crystallization.
Original Research Paper
Mojgan Salehi Yazdi; Mansour Ghorbani; Nima Nezafati; Mansour Vossoughi Abedini
Abstract
Takab-Mahneshan's metallogenic area is essential in gold mineralization, and it is a part of the northern Urmia-Dokhtar magmatic belt. The northern Urmia-Dokhtar has two distinctive features. It contains the Precambrian basement, and the young Mio-Pliocene magmatism rocks overlie its Precambrian basement. ...
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Takab-Mahneshan's metallogenic area is essential in gold mineralization, and it is a part of the northern Urmia-Dokhtar magmatic belt. The northern Urmia-Dokhtar has two distinctive features. It contains the Precambrian basement, and the young Mio-Pliocene magmatism rocks overlie its Precambrian basement. Precambrian basement has two different compositions, oceanic and continental crusts (gneiss, granite, mica-schist, greenschist, amphibolite, serpentinite, marble). The Young rocks are composed of hyaloclastite, acidic tuff, andesitic-basaltic, acidic to intermediate intrusions (diorite, granite), limestone, and marl of Qom formation. We categorized the Young rocks into four phases based on their age and positions. The mutual effect of the basement and young magmatism --in the latest phase --creates hydrothermal solutions in the form of a heat engine. The heat engine has caused rotation and variety, increasing mineralization in the area. As a result, there are mines, deposits, gold indications, and some associated gold elements, including Tuzlar, Bayche Bagh, Baghcheh at Mahneshan area, Zarshuran, Agh-darreh, and Ay-Qalesi in Takab. The Tuzlar and Baghcheh deposits with gold mineralization are in a Silicic-argillic zone, including pyrite, gold-bearing silica, argillic and ferrous hydroxides minerals. The Ay-Qalesi polymetallic deposits often contain zinc and lead. The Zarshuran and Agh-darreh deposits are the gold types that the first one has a variety of mineralization of sulfides and sulfosalts. The second one has simple gold mineralization, and finally, the Bayche Bagh deposit with polymetallic type includes chalcopyrite, pyrite, rutile, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, bornite, smaltite, chloanthite, azurite, and malachite minerals.
