Geochronology and geochemistry of exotic blocks of Cadomian crust from the salt diapirs of SE Zagros: the Chah-Banu example


Sarshar M. A., Moghadam H., Griffin W. L., Santos J. F., Stern R. J., Ottley C. J., ...More

INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW, vol.64, no.10, pp.1409-1430, 2022 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 64 Issue: 10
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/00206814.2020.1787236
  • Journal Name: INTERNATIONAL GEOLOGY REVIEW
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Aquatic Science & Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA), Geobase, INSPEC, Pollution Abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.1409-1430
  • Karadeniz Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

Cadomian calc-alkaline I-type and within-plate A-type igneous rocks are widespread in the crust of Iran where they are ascribed to a convergent margin associated with the southward subduction of Prototethyan oceanic lithosphere beneath N Gondwana. These rocks are found as unmetamorphosed magmatic rocks and their metamorphic equivalents (mafic to felsic gneisses) could have been generated in both Cadomian arcs and associated rear-arcs. Nearly all these exposures also contain metamorphosed metasediments, whereas Cadomian igneous rocks of central Iran are associated with thick sequences of unmetamorphosed terrigenous rocks. In the Zagros Fold-Thrust belt of S Iran, salt diapirs contain abundant xenoliths of Cadomian igneous and sedimentary rocks in association with evaporites, dolomites, carbonates, and banded iron-salt deposits. This paper presents new zircon U-Pb and geochemical-isotopic data from igneous clasts in the Chah-Banu salt diapir in SE Zagros. Petrographic and geochemical data indicate two different types of rock clasts; calc-alkaline, I-type dacites-rhyolites, and arc-related to E-MORB-OIB-like gabbros, basalts, and dolerites. New zircon U-Pb ages show that dacites formed at 538.2 +/- 2.2 Ma, whereas gabbros show ages of 539.0 +/- 1.8 Ma. Zircons from dacites have negative epsilon Hf(t) values of - 1.1 to - 8.3. In contrast, zircons from gabbros have higher epsilon Hf(t) values of +4.5 to +8.5, indicating crystallization from mantle-derived juvenile magmas. Bulk rock Nd-Sr isotopic data (e.g. eNd(t) = +0.3 to +4.0 and(87)Sr/Sr-86((i)) = 0.7059 to 0.70848) for gabbros, dolerites, and basalts confirm that these rocks originated from a mantle source similar to enriched parts of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle, whereas dacites and rhyolites (with epsilon Nd(t) = -3.4 to -4.1 and(87)Sr/Sr-86((i)) = 0.70806 to 0.70907) show strong interaction with, and/or re-melting of older continental crust. We suggest that the bimodal calc-alkaline and E-MORB-OIB-like magmatic rocks in salt diapirs as well as associated evaporites and sedimentary rocks formed in a retro-arc rifted basin behind the Cadomian magmatic arc.