Petrography, Geochemistry and Petrogenesis of the Basalt Flow at Al Azraq Al Shamali Area, East Jordan

Abstract

Al Azraq Al Shamali (AZS) basaltic rocks were investigated aiming to understand their mineralogy, petrography and geochemistry features, and to achieve that a total of sixteen representative rock samples were selected for both geochemical and petrographic analysis from several sites in the study area. Petrographic characteristics were analyzed by optical microscopy after preparation thin sections for representative rock samples, which show that all basalt samples have minerals comprising: olivine, plagioclase (labradorite), clinopyroxene (augite), opaque’s and some secondary minerals such as Iddingsite, however, the proportions of each mineral vary between samples. Normative mineralogy by using CIPW Norm showed that AZS basalt samples dominated by olivine, Diopside, and nepheline, and AZS basalt can be normatively classified as alkali olivine basalt. Some textures that may be evident on microscopic examination such as porphyritic, glomeroporphyritic, vesicular, intergranular, and ophitic to sub-ophitic texture. X-Ray Fluorescence was used for whole rock major elements analysis (SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, MnO, MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O and P2O5 in wt%) and trace element (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Ce, Nd and Ba in ppm). Geochemical analysis reveal that the basalt is alkaline and includes into Sodic series. AZS basalt are produced under-saturated within intraplate continental environment. The normalized trace element diagrams suggest that the AZS product of the asthenosphere part of the mantle at >100 km depth. Furthermore, the data of studied samples suggest that these rocks evolved from a melt formed by low degrees of partial melting. Also the geochemical variation trends of (AZS) basaltic samples supposing that the composition of these basalt have been influenced by fractional crystallization, without clear evidences for crustal contamination.