Geology and geochemistry of the Mendejin plutonicrocks, Mianeh, Iran

Abstract

The Mendejin pluton is located in the Mianeh area, NW Iran, 550 km from Tehran. This pluton is probably of Oligo-Miocene age and is the result of extensive magmatism which occurred during and after the Alpine Orogeny. Similar plutons are common in the Alborz–Azarbaijan structural zone of Iran, and it is likely that there are concealed plutons related to this extensive Cenozoic magmatism, but due to their youth and low rates of erosion they have not yet been exposed. The Mendejin pluton is a composite body made up of four types of plutonic rocks: pink tonalite, grey tonalite, diorite and aplite. The pink tonalite is porphyritic and contains phenocrysts of plagioclase, K-feldspar and hornblende in a groundmass consisting of quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar, hornblende, zircon, monazite, leucoxene, apatite and hematite. The grey porphyritic tonalite has more biotite, pyroxene and pyrite and less accessory phases compared with the pink tonalite. The diorite has a microporphyritic texture with phenocrysts of plagioclase, hornblende and augite. This rock also occurs as xenoliths in the Mendejin pluton. The aplitic dykes are the youngest magmatic products at Mendejin. The Mendejin tonalite contains more Cl, As, S, Cu, Ni and Zn than the global granite. These rocks are of I-type, peraluminous and calc-alkaline, with medium to high potassium, and were formed as part of a volcanic arc. The Mendejin pluton contains up to 8 ppb gold and could potentially have been the source of an economic gold deposit by leaching of Au from wall rocks and deposition in extensive hydrothermally altered marginal zones.