Origin of 1.8 Ga zircons in Post Eocene mafic dikes in the Roshtkhar area, NE Iran

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Roshtkhar area is located in the Khaf-Kashmar-Bardaskan volcano-plutonic belt to the northeastern Iran along the regional E–W trending Dorouneh Fault, northeastern of the Lut Block. There are several outcrops of subvolcanic rocks occurring mainly as dikes in the area, which intruded into Cenozoic intrusive rocks. We present U–Pb dating of zircons from a diabase dike and syenite rock using LA-ICP-MS that yielded an age of 1778 ± 10 Ma for the dike, indicating this Cenozoic dike has zircon xenocrysts inherited from deeper sources; and 38.0 ± 0.5 Ma, indicating an Late Eocene crystallization age for the syenite. Geochemically, the dikes typical of high-K calc-alkaline to shoshonitic magmas. Petrographic observations and major and trace element variations suggest that diabase melts underwent variable fractionation of clinopyroxene, olivine, and Fe-Ti oxides and minor crustal contamination during the differentiation process. Primitive mantle-normalized multi-element diagrams display enrichment in LILE, such as Rb, Ba, Th, U, and Sr compared to HFSE, as well as negative anomalies of Nb, Ta, P, and Ti, suggesting derivation from subduction-modified mantle. Chondrite-normalized REE plots show moderately LREE enriched patterns (<3.83 LaN/YbN <8.27), and no significant Eu anomalies. Geochemical modelling using Sm/Yb versus La/Yb and La/Sm ratios suggests a low-degree of batch melting (~1–3%) of a phlogopite-spinel peridotite source to generate the mafic dikes. The geochemical signatures suggest that the Roshtkhar mafic dikes cannot be related directly to subduction and likely resulted from melting of upper mantle in an extensional setting where the heat flow was provided from deeper levels. These dikes presumably derived the zircon xenocrysts from the assimilation of upper crust of Gondwanian basement. Processes responsible for partial melting of metasomatized lithospheric mantle and post-collision magmatism in NE Iran was triggered by heating due to asthenospheric upwelling in an extensional setting.