Sequential magma injection with a wide range of mixing and mingling in Late Jurassic plutons, southern Ghorveh, western Iran

Abstract

Intrusive bodies with a wide-ranging geology are distributed in the central part of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (C–SaSZ) in southern Ghorveh, western Iran. The zircon U–Pb ages were dated at 154–146 Ma, and were characterized by low 87Sr/87Sr(i) ratios and high 143Nd/144Nd(i) ratios that ranged from 0.7035 to 0.7061 and 0.51245 to 0.51271, respectively (positive εNd(t) values). Magma differentiation and mixing formed different magmatic rocks that range widely from gabbro to granite in the Meiham–Shirvaneh area in southern Ghorveh. However, there was no clear evidence to support the slab role for the enrichment of large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare–earth elements (LREEs) in this area. Meanwhile, there is a possibility that some ocean island basalt-like melt, which has been reported in the Ghorveh area for the same period, was involved in the minor enrichment of LILEs and LREEs. The high development of the released depleted mantle melts, with a minor role played by crustal components, accelerated the thinning of the continental crust in an extensional regime such as continental rift in the C–SaSZ during the Jurassic. This rift was responsible for the sequential injection of mafic magma with a wide range of magma mixing and mingling in southern Ghorveh during the Late Jurassic. As a result, we observed a wide range of intrusive rocks from gabbro to granite with different compositions, which included some clear mixing and hybrid textures. This finding demonstrated how the released mantle melt formed a thicker crust in western Iran.