The Late- Cretaceous volcanic rocks from Talesh area (western Alborz): chemical variation, crystallization condition, hygrometry and tectonic setting

Abstract

In the Talesh area (western Alborz), a thick sedimentary- volcanic association formed in a littoral- deltaic environment during the Late Cretaceous. The extrusives comprise volcanoclastics (tuffs), lava flows (pillow and massive) and basic dykes. The lava flows are dominated by basalts. Basalts are petrographically diverse including clinopyroxene- and plagioclase- phyric suites. Clinopyroxene is chemically in the ranges of augite to diopside and plagioclase is labradorite to bytownite. Here, using clinopyroxene chemistry, we performed thermobarometry and hygrometry calculations. Thermometric results of different samples are in the ranges of 1000 to 1200 °C. Moreover, barometric calculations show pressure ranges of <2.5 and 2.5 to 6 kbar correlating with crystallization depth of upper to middle continental crust (<10 to 22 km). Regarding parental melt chemistry and the magmatic series, the clinopyroxene and whole rock chemistry suggest two alkaline and subalkaline series. Hygrometric calculations provide H2O contents of 2.7- 2.97 and 2.97- 3.53 wt.% for alkaline and subalkaline basalts, respectively. Tectonically, the alkaline basalts could be related to extensional tectonic regime, asthenosphere upwelling or mantle plume/hot spots, while the subalkaline basalts resulted from subduction- related magmatism probably related to northward subduction of an oceanic basin beneath western Alborz or a Neo-Tethyan branch below southern margin of the Eurasia.

Keywords

• mineral chemistry
• thermobarometry
• hygrometry
• basalt
• cretaceous
• talesh
• western alborz