Zircon U–Pb geochronology, Sr–Nd isotope analyses, and petrogenetic study of the Dehnow diorite and Kuhsangi granodiorite (Paleo-Tethys), NE Iran

Abstract

The Paleo-Tethys ocean opened in Silurian time, and its subduction under the Turan plate started in the Late Devonian. By Late Triassic time (225 Ma), no Paleo-Tethys crust remained on the surface of the Iranian plate. Subsequently, however, obduction of the Turan plate over the Iranian plate emplaced allochthonous sheets in what is now northeastern Iran. The sheets contain meta-ophiolites, which have been dated at 281.4 and 277.4 Ma by the 40Ar– 39Ar method. These remnant Paleo-Tethys meta-ophiolites and associated metaflysch sequences were intruded by the Dehnow diorite and Kuhsangi granodiorite. Zircon U–Pb dating indicates that the age of the Kuhsangi granodiorite is 217 ± 4 Ma and that of the Dehnow diorite is 215 ± 4 Ma (Late Triassic, Norian). The granodiorite and diorite have magnetic susceptibilities of between 5 × 10 −5 and 20 × 10 −5 (SI units) and therefore are classified as belonging to the ilmenite series of reduced-type granitoids. Chemically, the Dehnow diorite and Kuhsangi granodiorite are moderately peraluminous S-type plutons with (La/Yb) N = 7–22 and no, or only small, negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.55–1.1). Their initial 87Sr/ 86Sr ratios range from 0.707949 to 0.708589, and their initial ε Nd values range from −6.63 to −5.90 when recalculated to an age of 216 Ma. These values could be considered to represent continental crust–derived magmas, and metagreywacke to metapelite with initial ε Nd values of −15.01 may have been involved in their genesis, but these were not the sole parent material.