Western Alborz Volcanic Rocks, a new Geochemical Viewpoint

Volcanic and pyroclastic rocks of Eocene age comprise vast outcrops of Alborz Mountain Range, a fold-thrusted structural unit extending across northern Iran for 2000 km in a curvilinear pattern. In his account of structural evolution of Iranian plateau, Berberian (1983; p. 55) ascribed these rocks to a subduction-type magmatism. Based on a tectonostratigraphic study, these rocks are attributed to an arc-type magmatism (Alavi; 1996, p. 29). Recently a new data set of major and trace element (including REE) analyses of volcanic rocks from western Alborz, some 50 km west of city of Qazvin, has been made available (Asiabanha, 2001). Careful examination of the data (i.e., those of basic-intermediate rocks) in present study revealed, for the first time, some geochemical characteristics which have important implications on the geodynamic synthesis of this structural unit. The rocks contain 50-60 wt% SiO₂. They lie in the midalkaline-to-subalkaline domain of TAS diagram (Middlemost, 1997; p.216) and fall in the calcalkaline field of AFM diagram. The volcanic rocks display two distinct chondrite-normalized REE patterns, one is MREE-depleted while the other is a rather smooth uniform M-HREE pattern. These are called MREE-depleted and smooth M-HREE series. Basic rocks from the latter contain higher silica than the former (>53 vs. >50 wt%), yet they show lower incompatible elements (e.g., K and Rb) and HFSE contents. These features can not be explained by differentiation and might be interpreted as implying the involvement of two source regions. Chondrite-normalized trace element patterns of the MREE-depleted series is more akin to the island arc calcalkaline (IACA) basic rocks than the basic rocks from any other tectonic settings. However, island arc products, known for being depleted in HFSE relative to other incompatible elements, differ from the MREE-depleted series which is rich in both HFSE and incompatible elements. One may advocate the role of OIB-type mantle components to explain the HFSE-enrichment of the MREE-depleted series. Alternatively higher Zr/Y ratios and MREE-depletion in the series might be considered as indicating amphibole presence in its source region. Selected Reference: Asiabanha, A. 2001. Geology and petrogenesis of volcanic facies in Youzbashichay region. PhD thesis, Tarbiat Modares Uni., in Persian, 320 p.