Plio-Quaternary volcanic eruptions in southeast of Nehbandan are composed of basic rocks, overlying the Late Cretaceous flysch-type and younger alluvium deposits. Petrographically, these rocks are basalt, basaltic andesite and andesite. These lavas are characterized by porphyritic, microlitic-porphyry, trachytic and glomeropophyritic textures. They contain plagioclase, clinopyroxene (augite), olivine and amphibole (hornblende) phenocrysts and fine-grained plagioclase-clinopyroxene microlite in groundmass. Geochemically, these rocks are calc-alkaline and represented by 47.8 - 57 wt. %. SiO2 and about 17 wt. % Al2O3. In chondrite-normalized REE diagram, these rocks show enrichment in LREEs and depletion in HREEs. In primitive-mantle normalized trace elements diagram, they are characterized by Nb (and P, Ti, Zr) negative anomalies and positive anomalies in Pb, K, Ba and Sr. These chemical characteristics of Nehbandan Plio-Quaternary lavas associated with high LILE/HFSE and LREE/HREE ratios are consistent with derivation from a subduction environment. Y/Zr ratio of these rocks is similar to that of continental arc lavas. Discrimination tectono-magmatic diagrams suggest an active continental margin for the formation of Nehbandan Plio-Quaternary lavas.
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