QE470 : Petrology, Geochemistry and Tectonic Setting of Mafic- Ultramafic Rocks of NW to SW of Mashhad
Thesis > Central Library of Shahrood University > Geosciences > PhD > 2019
Authors:
Mohsen Mobasheri [Author], Habibolah Ghasemi[Supervisor], Behnam Rahimi [Advisor]
Abstarct: The Shandiz-Virani-Mashhad Complexe (SVMC) including assemblage of ultramafic-mafic rocks with approximate length 32 km along from the western margin of Mashhad city out to the Virani and East of Shandiz. These rocks have been interpreted as an ideal ophiolite sequence related to the closure of Paleo-Tethys. But some geological studies have provided evidence that contradicts the ophiolite nature of ultramafic- mafic rocks of this complex. Detailed studies on ultramafic rocks show that, these rocks according to petrological issues, field relationships, petrography and internal stratigraphy can be ultramafic volcanic rocks. These rocks have a wide range of volcanic facies such as sheet flow facies, ponded flow facies, pillow lavas and columnar jointing. The komatiites of this complex, according to the characteristics of lithofacies, are divided into three groups of differentiation, undifferentiated flows and pillow lavas. These rocks have been shown a wide range of textures such as random acicular pyroxene (spinifex texture), hopper and chevron olivine, hopper pyroxene, skeletal olivine, skeletal pyroxene, micrographic intergrowth of plagioclase and clinopyroxene, dendritic pyroxene, olivine harrisitic, olivine orthocumulate, olivine mesocumulate, and olivine adcumulate textures. Internal stratigraphy of differentiated and undifferentation flows suggests that both of them have a laxyered structure. Amphibole gabbro rocks is dominated in the forms of sill but somewhen they have seen in the form of dyke. These gabbros are intruded in volcanic-sedimentary sequence of SVMC. SVMC komatiites like Barberton komatiites have low values of Al2O3/TiO2 ratio and high values of Gd/YbN ratio. In this terms, these komatiites are classified in the category of Al-depleted komatiites and according to the classification Arndt et al. (2008) are in the category of komatiites of the Barberton type. The estimated minimum eruption temperatures obtained for the SVMC komatiite is about 1529 ± 30° C. The results of determining the age of these rocks in this study using U-Pb reliable method on zircon resistant minerals are very interesting, challenging and even confusing. The results are very different from past ages. All U-Pb ages obtained in this study belong to Precambrian Eon. But baxsed on field observation, geological and biostratigraphy age evidences, we believe that the SVMC ultramafic lava flows belong to the Late Paleozoic, and Precambrian-age zircons are also inherited from deeper lithospheric sources. The high Mg content in komatiites (MgO more than 30% wt.%), Extremely high eruption temperature and empirical petrological studies indicate that komatiitic parent magmas originate from hot mantle plums. But in northeastern Iran the association of komatiitic rocks originating from hot mantle plum with sediments formed in volcanic arcs, basalts, andesites and granitoid masses associated with subduction zones (Mashhad granites) is challenging. We propose a collision of a mantle plum with the Mashhad-Fariman subduction zone to explain this dichotomy. The plum-arc interaction could be the best geodynamical model to accompany the rocks formed in the mantle plum and rocks associated with subduction zones in northeastern Iran. According to this theory at the SVMC the parent melt komatiitic magma originated from a mantle plume, which collided with the Mashhad-Fariman subduction zone. In other words, a phenomenon such as the plume with this tectonic setting has resulted in features of both.
Keywords:
#Microspinifex #Harrisitic #Komatiite #Gabbro #Geochemistry #Geochronology #Mantle plum #Arc #Mashhad Link
Keeping place: Central Library of Shahrood University
Visitor: