MORB to supra-subduction geochemical transition in the extrusive sequences of major upper Cretaceous ophiolites of Iran

Abstract:

We discuss the geochemical patterns and tectonomagmatic setting of the extrusive sequences in the Khoy, Kermanshah, Fannuj, Nosratabad, Dehshir, south and north Fariman, and Sabzevar ophiolite massifs of Iran. These sequences include pillow lava, sheet flow, hyaloclastite, hyaloclastic breccia, and interbeds of chert and pelagic limestone with Late Cretaceous micro fauna. The Khoy, north Fariman, and Sabzevar massifs also include Late Cretaceous-Early Paleocene supra-ophiolitic volcanic and volcano-sedimentary rocks that formed in a trough near the extrusive sequence. The Khoy pillow lava displays T-MORB characteristics but no chemical contribution from the components released from the subducted slab. On the other hand, the diabase dikes that cut the Khoy extrusive sequence show signatures of subduction zone magmatism and contribution from the melt released through the partial melting of the subducted slab. While lava in the Harsin (Kermanshah) extrusive sequence in west Iran displays E-MORB and P-MORB characteristics, the pillows in the Fannuj, north Fariman, Dehshir, and Sabzevar extrusive sequences indicate the contribution of both fluids and melt from the subducted slab. The Nosratabad and south Fariman ophiolites also show evidence for either melt or fluids, respectively. Partial melting of the subducted slab sedimentary cover may have formed the acidic pillow lava and sheet flow in the Fannuj and Nosratabad extrusive sequence, respectively. Some pillows in the Nosratabad, Sabzevar, north Fariman, and to a lesser extent, Dehshir extrusive sequence display the OIB geochemical characteristics. Mantle plumes or asthenospheric flow that probably moved up through weak zones of the subducted slab may have affected the partial melting of the mantle wedge above the slab. The combined OIB and supra-subduction characteristics suggest the role of the roll-back of the subducted slab in the magmatism of the northeast Iranian ophiolites. The clear MORB-like geochemical characteristics in the extrusive sequence of the ophiolites in northwest and west Iran, and supra-subduction zone characteristics in the extrusive sequence of the ophiolites in southeast and east Iran, west of the Lut Block, and northeast Iran may represent a major Late Cretaceous transition from the MORB to a supra-subduction zone setting.