Post-collisional transition from an extensional volcano-sedimentary basin to a continental arc in the Alborz Ranges, N-Iran

The Alborz Magmatic Assemblage (AMA) is an Eocene volcanic complex in northern Iran, and is situated at the site of the closure of the Tethyan basin. The magmatic rocks of the Alborz assemblage exhibit a distinct progression in style, from shallow submarine explosive eruptions to more effusive sub-aerial eruptions. Their chemical compositions indicate that they belong to the high-K calc-alkaline (shoshonitic) suite, and are related to either a subduction regime or continental collision. This conclusion is verified by major and trace element abundances, such as enrichments in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREEs) and Large Ion Lithophile Elements (LILEs) (e.g., K, U, and Sr) and depletion in High Field Strength Elements (HFSEs) (e.g., Nb, Ta, Ti, and Zr). However, HFSE plots suggest that the source region of the AMA magmas was affected by multiple processes, including deeply subducted lithosphere and the partial melts of extensional lithosphere in a back-arc environment. The isotopic composition of this suite and their trace element ratios suggest that the primary magmas were derived from a depleted mantle source and were subsequently affected by both fractional crystallization (ol + cpx in basic magmas and plg + bio ± hbl in intermediate magmas) and assimilation during magmatic evolution. Assimilation and fractional crystallization modeling, based on isotopic and trace element ratios, indicates that the ascending magmas were contaminated by approximately 40% continental crust. The petrography and geochemical composition of the Eocene Alborz magmatic assemblage indicate that it developed in a back-arc basin, in which explosive eruptions produced various pyroclastic and epiclastic deposits. A subsequent stage of volcanism then produced more effusive sub-aerial eruptions, as well as sporadic explosions that generated ignimbritic sheets. © 2012 Elsevier B.V.Abbas Asiabanha and John Fode

Globule-rich lavas in the Razjerd district, Qazvin, Iran: a unique volcanic fabric

International audienceA hypocrystalline silica-rich (63-67 wt.% SiO2, dacitic composition) lava flow (called G-lava) in the subaerial eruptive sequence of the Alborz Mountains (Razjerd district, Qazvin Province) of northern Iran, contains abundant (40-50 vol.%) 0.1- to 5.0-cm globules set in a matrix of rather similar composition and microtexture. Numerous globules have coalesced, showing triple-point junctions with 120A degrees angles. Both phases in the G-lava (globules and matrix) contain similar microphenocrysts (plagioclase, ortho- and clinopyroxene and magnetite) in a trachytic groundmass. However, their mesostasis differ in colour, in composition, in the amount of glass and their amount of volatiles and silica: in the globules the mesostasis is darker and richer in SiO2 but is volatile poor. Other volcanic materials in the same unit are very similar in composition to the G-lava. The globular fabric was formed with two phases: one poor in volatiles (the globules), the other rich in volatiles (the matrix). The globules are slightly more silicic (66.9 against 64.6 wt.% SiO2), more potassic (3.7 againt 2.8 wt.% K2O) and more viscous (of the order of 10(3) to 10(4)) than the matrix outside the globules. It seems that the two phases (globules and matrix) with different silica and volatiles contents and thus different vesicularities, viscosities and densities, were produced in the dacitic melt due to temperature and pressure drop and magmatic degassing in the volcanic conduit involved fluid-melt exsolution processes. Some of the volatile-rich melt was probably frothy during eruption, producing volcanic bombs and scoria

Globule-rich lavas in the Razjerd district, Qazvin, Iran: a unique volcanic fabric

International audienceA hypocrystalline silica-rich (63-67 wt.% SiO2, dacitic composition) lava flow (called G-lava) in the subaerial eruptive sequence of the Alborz Mountains (Razjerd district, Qazvin Province) of northern Iran, contains abundant (40-50 vol.%) 0.1- to 5.0-cm globules set in a matrix of rather similar composition and microtexture. Numerous globules have coalesced, showing triple-point junctions with 120A degrees angles. Both phases in the G-lava (globules and matrix) contain similar microphenocrysts (plagioclase, ortho- and clinopyroxene and magnetite) in a trachytic groundmass. However, their mesostasis differ in colour, in composition, in the amount of glass and their amount of volatiles and silica: in the globules the mesostasis is darker and richer in SiO2 but is volatile poor. Other volcanic materials in the same unit are very similar in composition to the G-lava. The globular fabric was formed with two phases: one poor in volatiles (the globules), the other rich in volatiles (the matrix). The globules are slightly more silicic (66.9 against 64.6 wt.% SiO2), more potassic (3.7 againt 2.8 wt.% K2O) and more viscous (of the order of 10(3) to 10(4)) than the matrix outside the globules. It seems that the two phases (globules and matrix) with different silica and volatiles contents and thus different vesicularities, viscosities and densities, were produced in the dacitic melt due to temperature and pressure drop and magmatic degassing in the volcanic conduit involved fluid-melt exsolution processes. Some of the volatile-rich melt was probably frothy during eruption, producing volcanic bombs and scoria

Post-Eocene volcanic of the Abazar district, Qazvin, Iran : mineralogical and geochemical evidence for a complex magmatic evolution

International audienceThe style of volcanism of post-Eocene volcanism in the Alborz zone of northern Iran is different to that of Eocene volcanism (Karaj Formation). Indeed, the volcanic succession of the Abazar district, located in a narrow volcanic strip within the Alborz magmatic assemblage, is characterized by distinct mineralogical and chemical compositions linked to a complex magmatic evolution. The succession was produced by explosive eruptions followed by effusive eruptions. Two main volcanic events are recognized: (1) a thin rhyolitic ignimbritic sheet underlain by a thicker lithic breccia, and (2) lava flows including shoshonite, latite, and andesite that overlie the first event across a reddish soil horizon. Plagioclase in shoshonite (An48-92) shows normal zoning, whereas plagioclase in latite and andesite (An48-75) has a similar composition but shows reverse and oscillatory zoning. QUILF temperature calculations for shoshonites and andesites yield temperatures of 1035 °C and 1029 °C, respectively. The geothermometers proposed by Ridolfi et al. (2010) and Holland and Blundy (1994) yield temperatures of 960 °C and 944 °C for latitic lava, respectively. The samples of volcanic rock show a typical geochemical signature of the continental arc regime, but the andesites clearly differ from the shoshonites, the latites and the rhyolites. The mineralogical and chemical characteristics of these rocks are explained by the following petrogenesis: (1) intrusion of a hot, mantle-depth mafic (shoshonitic) magma, which differentiated in the magma chamber to produce a latitic and then a rhyolitic liquid; (2) rhyolitic ignimbritic eruptions from the top of the magma chamber, following by shoshonitic and then latitic extrusions; (3) magma mingling between the latitic and andesitic magmas, as indicated by the occurrence of andesite clasts within the latite; and (4) andesitic effusions. The youngest volcanic events in the Alborz zone show a close chemical relationship with continental arc rocks, indicating that they formed in a continental collision setting

Post-Eocene volcanic of the Abazar district, Qazvin, Iran : mineralogical and geochemical evidence for a complex magmatic evolution

International audienceThe style of volcanism of post-Eocene volcanism in the Alborz zone of northern Iran is different to that of Eocene volcanism (Karaj Formation). Indeed, the volcanic succession of the Abazar district, located in a narrow volcanic strip within the Alborz magmatic assemblage, is characterized by distinct mineralogical and chemical compositions linked to a complex magmatic evolution. The succession was produced by explosive eruptions followed by effusive eruptions. Two main volcanic events are recognized: (1) a thin rhyolitic ignimbritic sheet underlain by a thicker lithic breccia, and (2) lava flows including shoshonite, latite, and andesite that overlie the first event across a reddish soil horizon. Plagioclase in shoshonite (An48-92) shows normal zoning, whereas plagioclase in latite and andesite (An48-75) has a similar composition but shows reverse and oscillatory zoning. QUILF temperature calculations for shoshonites and andesites yield temperatures of 1035 °C and 1029 °C, respectively. The geothermometers proposed by Ridolfi et al. (2010) and Holland and Blundy (1994) yield temperatures of 960 °C and 944 °C for latitic lava, respectively. The samples of volcanic rock show a typical geochemical signature of the continental arc regime, but the andesites clearly differ from the shoshonites, the latites and the rhyolites. The mineralogical and chemical characteristics of these rocks are explained by the following petrogenesis: (1) intrusion of a hot, mantle-depth mafic (shoshonitic) magma, which differentiated in the magma chamber to produce a latitic and then a rhyolitic liquid; (2) rhyolitic ignimbritic eruptions from the top of the magma chamber, following by shoshonitic and then latitic extrusions; (3) magma mingling between the latitic and andesitic magmas, as indicated by the occurrence of andesite clasts within the latite; and (4) andesitic effusions. The youngest volcanic events in the Alborz zone show a close chemical relationship with continental arc rocks, indicating that they formed in a continental collision setting

New U-Pb zircon geochronological data for Takestan magmatic rocks (Western Alborz) and their significance for the interpretation of Paleogene magmatism in Iran

The Takestan area is in the western part of the Alborz magmatic arc. Magmatic rocks of the area consist of plutonic rocks (e.g. granitoids), effusive volcanic, and pyroclastic rocks. Using U-Pb zircon LA ICP-MS dating, we conclude that major parts of Takestan plutonic rocks were emplaced at 41–39 Ma (Late Eocene, Bartonian), but a small part of these rocks have ages of ~37 Ma (Late Eocene, Priabonian). The dacitic rocks have an age of ~39 Ma (Late Eocene, Bartonian) and the rhyolitic rocks are the youngest part of the magmatic rocks of the region with ages of 37–35 Ma (Late Eocene, Priabonian). Old zircons are present in all of granitoid and volcanic samples, except for a dacitic sample. They are interpreted both as earlier components in a long-lived magma chamber and inherited zircons from older continental crust. The age of magmatic rocks in the western part of the Alborz magmatic arc decreases from east to west, but the ages of the majority of them are limited to Palaeogene. The studied rocks like other Palaeogene magmatic rocks of Iran were possibly formed in a subduction related tectonic environment. Indeed, the Palaeogene magmatism of Iran is akin to geodynamic events related to Neotethyan subduction beneath Iranian micro-continent at the southern part of Eurasia.</p