Contribution of ultramafic rocks in central Sanandaj-Sirjan zone to the characterizing of physio-chemical condition during initiation of subduction

In the central part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone, there is an ultramafic rock exposure (hornblendite and pyroxenite) adjacent to Molataleb felsic complex completely located between Azna and Aligoodarz towns. The ultramafic rocks are actually cumulates derived from boninitic magma. During Upper Triassic-Lower Jurassic time the boninitic magma has been originated from mantle wedge as the result of initiation of Neo-Tethys subduction. Later, when subduction was proceeding, the felsic rocks crystallized in Middle Jurassic. Major elements composition of olivine, pyroxene, amphibole and minor plagioclase from the ultramafic rocks reveals crystallization from a sub-alkaline to calc-alkaline magma in a subduction zone setting. Primary minerals have chemical characteristics typical of those derived from a magma with low oxygen fugacity. Different methods for minerals thermobarometry indicate that amphiboles crystallized in relatively low temperature (880°C) but crystallization condition of other minerals corresponds to higher temperatures (1000-1200°c). They were crystallized at pressure condition equal to 5.85 kbar corresponding to the depth of ~17 km. It is not common that a mantle wedge at the depth of ~17 km to be affected by such high thermal gradient during the normal subduction process. Asthenospheric flow around the subducting slab edge during subduction initiation can explain high thermal gradient prevailed the infant mantle wedge. This mechanism corresponds to the boninitic nature of the ultramafic rocks

The evaluation of physico-chemical parameters of the Nasrand Plutonic complex by using mineral composition

Introduction Mineral composition is sensitive to variations in the composition of the magma and can be used to characterize the physical conditions of crystallization such as temperature, pressure, oxygen fugacity and water content. The studies have demonstrated that geobarometery by amphibole provides a tool for determining the depth of crystallization and knowledge of the depth of crystallization of hornblende through to solidification of calc-alkaline plutons (Anderson and Smith, 1995). The composition of pyroxene can be used as crystallization pressure and temperature indicators of pyroxene too. Anlytical methods The mineral compositions of the Nasrand intrusion were determined by electron microprobe, with special emphasis on the amphibole, feldspar, and pyroxene at the Naruto University, Japan, the EPMA (Jeol- JXA-8800R) was used at operating conditions of 15 kV, 20 nA acceleration voltage and 20s counting time. Results The Nasrand intrusion (33°13'–33°15' N, 52°33'–52°34'E) with an outcrop area of about 40 km2 is situated in the Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic belt, SE of Ardestan. It is composed of granite and granodiorite and various dikes of diorite and gabbro which are intruded in it. It is intruded into Eocene volcanic rocks, including andesite, rhyolite, and dacite. The petrographical studies indicate that the granitic and granodioritic rocks contain major minerals such as quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, and amphibole, which are in an approximate equilibrium state. The gabbroic-dioritic dikes usually show microgranular porphyric texture. They mainly consist of plagioclase, amphibole, and pyroxene. The plagioclase shows variable composition from albite to oligoclase in the granitoid rocks and from oligoclase to bytownite in dioritic and gabbroic dikes (Deer et al., 1991). The amphiboles are calcic and their composition varies from hornblende to actinolite, whereas the composition of the basic dikes is inclined to hastingsite (Leake et al., 1997). Actinolitic probably crystallized as a subsolidus phase. Pyroxene in the dikes is clinopyroxene with augite- diopside composition (Morimoto, 1988). Discussion The total Al content of hornblende is a sensitive linear function of crystallization pressure and temperature (Schmidt 1992; Holland and Blundy, 1994). However, the computed pressure may reflect the level at which the hornblende crystallizes rather than the pressure at which the granite consolidates. Therefore, Al content in hornblende geobarometer is only applicable in the presence of quartz and plagioclase; alkali feldspars, biotite, hornblende, clearly limit compositional influences (Ague, 1997). Oxygen fugacity has a marked effect on the mineral system, so only hornblendes with Fe/(Fe+Mg) < 0.65, Si ≤7.5 and Ca ≥1.6 were used for geobarometry and are not applicable to subsolidus actinolite (Stein and Dietl, 2001). The average formation pressure in the intrusive rocks is evaluated to be 1.54 kbar by Schmidt (Schmidt, 1992) and Anderson and Smith (Anderson and Smith, 1995) equations, which is consistent with a depth of 5.9 Km, whereas the average pressure of amphibole crystallization in the dioritic dikes is calculated to be about 2.96 Kbar by the Ridolfi equation (Ridolfi et al., 2010), indicating 11.4 Km depth. The estimated pressure for clinopyroxene crystallization in the dikes is calculated to be about 4–8 kbar by the Soesoo (Soesoo, 1997) and Putirka (Putirka, 2008) equations which is reflecting the initial crystallization pressure of pyroxene from magma which corresponds to depths of about 15-30 km. The average formation temperature of the intrusive rocks and amphiboles in dioritic dikes is estimated to be 700 and 940 °C respectively, by the Holland and Blundy (Holland and Blundy, 1994), Vyhnal et al. (Vyhnal et al., 1991), and Ridolfi et al. (Ridolfi et al., 2010) equations. The highest temperatures from pyroxene thermometry in the dikes is about 1150 – 1250 °C by Soesoo (Soesoo, 1997) and Putirka (Putirka, 2008) equations which are assumed to reflect the actual temperature of initial pyroxene crystallization and are usually higher than temperatures obtained by hornblende-plagioclase thermometry. Oxygen fugacity in the granitoid rocks and dioritic dikes is above the Ni-NiO buffer and it is indicated to be -12.9 and 10.5 bars, respectively, by the Ridolfi et al. (Ridolfi et al., 2010) equation. Water contents in the granitoid rocks and dikes are calculated to be about 3.6 and 4.6 wt. % respectively, by the Ridolfi et al. (Ridolfi et al., 2010) equation, i.e. for typically subduction - related environments. References Ague, J.J., 1997. Thermodynamic calculation of emplacement pressures for batholithic rocks, California: Implications for the aluminum-in-hornblende barometer. Geology, 25(6): 563-566. Anderson, J.L. and Smith, D.R., 1995. The effects of temperature and ƒO2 on the Al-in-hornblende barometer. American Mineralogist, 80(5-6): 549-559. Deer, W.A., Howie, R.A. and Zussman, J., 1991. An introduction to the Rock forming minerals. Longman, London, 969 pp. Holland, T. and Blundy, J., 1994. Non-ideal interactions in calcic-amphiboles and their bearing on amphibole-plagioclase thermometry. Contribution to Mineralogy and Petrology, 116(4): 433-447. Leake, B.E., Woolly, A.R., Arps, C.E.S., Birch, W.D., Gilbert, M.C., Grice, J.D., Hawthorne, F.C., Kato, A., Kisch, H.J., Krivovichev, V.G., Linthout, K., Laird, J., Mandarino, J., Maresch, W.V., Nickel, E.h., Rock, N.M.S., Schmucher, J.C., Smith, D.C., Stephenson, N.C.N, Unungaretti, L., Whittaker, E.J.W. and Youzhi G., 1997. Nomenclature of Amphiboles, Report of the Subcommittee on Amphiboles of the International Mineralogical Association Commission on New Minerals Names. Europian Journal of Mineralogy, 9(3): 623-651. Morimoto, N., 1988. Nomenclature of pyroxenes. Fortschr mineral, 66(2): 237–252. Putirka, K.D., 2008. Thermometers and Barometers for Volcanic Systems. Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry, 69(1): 61-120. Ridolfi, F., Renzulli, A. and Puerini, M., 2010. Stability and chemical equilibrium of amphibole in calc-alkaline magmas: an overview, new thermobarometric formulations and application to subduction-related volcanoes. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 160(1): 45–66. Schmidt, M.W., 1992. Amphibole composition in tonalite as a function of pressure an experimental calibration of the Al-hornblende barometer. Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 110(2-3): 304-310. Soesoo, A., 1997. A multivariate statistical analysis of clinopyroxene composition: empirical coordinates for the crystallisation PT-estimations. Geological Society of Sweden, 119(1): 55-60. Stein, E. and Dietl, E., 2001. Hornblende thermo barometry of granitoids from the central Odenwald (Germany) and their implication for the geotectonic development of the Odenwald. Mineralogy and Petrology, 72(1-3): 185-207. Vyhnal, C.R., Mcsween, H.Y. and Speer, J.A., 1991. Hornblende Chemistry in Southern Appalachian Granitoids: implications for aluminum hornblende thermo barometry and magmatic epidote stability. American Mineralogist, 76(1-2): 176-188

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Feshark intrusion (NE Isfahan city)

Introduction Granitic rocks are the most abundant rock types in various tectonic settings and they have originated from mantle-derived magmas and/or partial melting of crustal rocks. The Oligo-Miocene Feshark intrusion is situated in the northeast of the city of Isfahan, and a small part of Urumieh–Dokhtar Magmatic Arc is between 52º21' E to 52º26'E and 32º50' N to - 32º53' N. The pluton has intruded into lower Eocene volcanic rocks such as rhyolite, andesite, and dacite and limestone. Analytical methods Fifteen representative samples from the Feshark intrusion were selected on the basis of their freshness. The major elements and some trace elements were analyzed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) at Naruto University in Japan and the trace-element compositions were determined at the ALS Chemex lab. Results The Feshark intrusion can be divided into two phases, namely granodiorite with slightly granite and tonalite composition and quartz diorite with various quartz diorite and quartz monzodiorite abundant enclaves according to Middlemost (1994) classification. The quartz diorite show dark grey and are abundant at the western part of the intrusive rocks. Granodiorite are typically of white-light grey in color and change gradually into granite and tonalite. The granodiorite and granite rocks consist of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, biotite, and amphibole, whereas in the quartz diorites the mineral assemblages between different minerals are very similar to those observed in the granodiorite. However, amphibole and plagioclase are more abundant and quartz and K-feldspar modal contents are lower than in the granodiorite whereas pyroxene occurs as rare grains. They are characterized as metaluminous to mildly peraluminous based on alumina saturation index (e.g. Shand, 1943) and are mostly medium-K calc-alkaline in nature (Rickwood, 1989). Discussion In the Yb vs. La/Yb and Tb/Yb variation diagrams (He et al., 2009), the studied samples show small variations in La/Yb and Tb/Yb ratios, suggesting fractional crystallization. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns (Sun and McDonough, 1989) of all the samples essentially have the same shape with light REE (LREE) enrichment, flat high REE (HREE) and significant negative Eu anomalies. All of the samples exhibit similar trace element abundance patterns, with enrichment in large ion lithophile elements (LILE) and negative anomalies in high field strength elements (HFSE; e.g. Ba, Nb, Ta, P, and Ti) compared to primitive mantle (Sun and McDonough, 1989). The enrichment of LILE and LREE relative to the HFSE and HREE along with Nb, Ta, and Ti anomalies display close similarities to those of magmatic arc granites (Pearce et al., 1984) and also negative Nb–Ti anomalies are thought to be related to the fractionation of Ti-bearing phases (titanite, etc.). Moreover, these are the typical features of arc and / or crustal contamination (Kuster and Harms, 1998), while the negative P anomalies should result from apatite fractionation. The increasing of Ba and slightly decreasing Sr with increasing Rb, indicate that plagioclase fractionation plays an important role in the evolution of the studied intrusion. Tectonic environment discrimination diagrams such as Nb vs. Y, Nb vs. Yb+Ta (Pearce et al., 1984) and Th/Yb vs. Ta/Yb (Pearce, 1983) with enrichment in the LILE and LREE relative to HFSE and HREE and negative anomaly in the Nb, Ti and Eu indicate that their initial magma is generated in the subduction zone related to an active continental margin setting. ‏The rocks genesis determining diagrams such as Nb vs. Nb/U (Taylor and McLennan, 1985), Ti vs. Ti/Zr (Rudnick et al. 2000), (La/Sm)cn vs. Nb/U (Hofmann et al., 1986), and Sr/Y vs. Y (Sun and McDonough, 1989) show that the magma was probably generated by partial melting of amphibolitic continental crust. References He, Y., Zhao, G., Sun, M. and Han, Y., 2009. Petrogenesis and tectonic setting of volcanic rocks in the Xiaoshan and Waifangshan areas along the southern margin of the North China Craton: Constraints from bulk-rock geochemistry and Sr-Nd isotopic composition. Lithos, 114(1-2): 186-199. Hofmann, A.W., Jochum, K.P., Seufert, M. and White, W.M., 1986. Nb and Pb in oceanic basalts: new constraints on mantle evolution. Earth and Planetary Science Letters ,79(1-2): 33-45. Kuster, D. and Harms, U., 1998. post – collisional potassic granitoids from the southern and northwestern parts of the late neoporterozoic East African Orogen: a review. Lithos. 45(1-4):177-195. Pearce, J.A., 1983. The role of sub-continental lithosphere in magma genesis at destructive plate margins. In: C.J. Hawkesworth and M.j. Norry (Editors), continental basalts and mantle xenoliths. Shiva Publications, Nantwhich, pp. 230-249. Middlemost, E.A.A. 1994. Naming materials in the magma/igneous rock system. Earth- Science Review. 37(3-4): 215–224. Pearce, J.A., Harris, N.B.W. and Tindle, A.G., 1984. Trace element discrimination diagrams for the tectonic interpretation of granitic rocks. Journal of Petrology, 25(4): 956 – 983. Rickwood, P.C., 1989. Boundary lines within petrologic diagrams which use of major and minor element. Lithos, 22(4): 247-263. Rudnick, R.L., Barth, M., Horn, I. and McDonough, W. F., 2000. Rutile-Bearing Refractory Eclogites: Missing Link Between Continents and Depleted Mantle. Science, 287(5451): 278-281. Shand, S.J., 1943. The Eruptive Rocks. 2nd edition. John Wiley, New York, 444 pp. Sun, S.S. and McDonough, W.F., 1989. Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 42, pp. 313-345. Taylor, S.R. and McLennan, S.M., 1985. The continental crust: its compositions and evolution. Blackwell, Oxford, 312 pp

Petrogenesis of Middle-Eocene granitoids and their Mafic microgranular enclaves in central Urmia-Dokhtar Magmatic Arc (Iran): Evidence for interaction between felsic and mafic magmas

Whole rock major and trace element geochemistry together with zircon U-Pb ages and Sr-Nd isotope compositions for the Middle Eocene intrusive rocks in the Haji Abad region are presented. The granitoid hosts, including granodiorite and diorite, yielded zircon U-Pb ages with a weighted mean value of 40.0 ± 0.7 Ma for the granodiorite phase. Mafic microgranular enclaves (MMEs) are common in these plutons, and have relatively low SiO2 contents (53.04–57.08 wt.%) and high Mg# (42.6–60.1), probably reflecting a mantle-derived origin. The host rocks are metaluminous (A/CNK = 0.69–1.03), arc-related calc-alkaline, and I-type in composition, possessing higher SiO2 contents (59.7–66.77 wt.%) and lower Mg# (38.6–52.2); they are considered a product of partial melting of the mafic lower crust. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the MMEs and granitoid hosts are characterized by LREE enrichment and show slight negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.60–0.93). The host granodiorite samples yield (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios ranging from 0.70498 to 0.70591, positive εNd(t) values varying from +0.21 to +2.3, and TDM2 ranging from 760 to 909 Ma, which is consistent with that of associated mafic microgranular enclaves (87Sr/86Sr)i = 0.705111–0.705113, εNd(t) = +2.14 to +2.16, TDM2 = 697–785 Ma). Petrographic and geochemical characterization together with bulk rock Nd-Sr isotopic data suggest that host rocks and associated enclaves originated by interaction between basaltic lower crust-derived felsic and mantle-derived mafic magmas in an active continental margin arc environment. Keywords: Geochemistry, U-Pb geochronology, Granitoid, Haji Abad, Low angle subduction, Urumieh-Dokhtar Magmatic Ar