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High temperature – low pressure metamorphism during subduction of Neo-Tethys beneath the Iranian plate: evidence for mafic migmatite formation in the Alvand complex (western Iran)

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Abstract

Subduction of Neo-Tethys oceanic lithosphere beneath the Iranian plate during the Mesozoic formed several igneous bodies of ultramafic to intermediate and felsic composition. Intrusion of these magmas into a regional metamorphic sequence (the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone) caused partial melting and formation of migmatites with meta-pelitic protoliths. The Alvand complex (west Iran) is a unique area comprising migmatites of both mafic and pelitic protoliths. In this area, the gabbroic rocks contain veins of leucosome at their contact with pyroxenite and olivine gabbro. These leucosomes are geochemically and mineralogically different from leucosomes of the meta-pelitic migmatites and clearly show properties of I-type granites. Microscopic observations and whole rock compositions of the mafic migmatite leucosomes show that migmatization occurred through partial melting of biotite, hornblende and plagioclase. Thermobarometric calculations indicate 800 °C and 3.7 kbar for partial melting, although phase diagram modeling demonstrates that the presence of water could decrease the solidus temperature by about 40 °C. Our results suggest an asthenospheric magma upwelling as the source of heat for partial melting of the gabbroic rock during subduction of Neo-Tethys oceanic crust under the western edge of the Iranian plate. The present study also reveals relationships between migmatization and formation of S- and I -type granites in the area.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are thankful to Activation laboratories, Ontario, Canada, for ICP-MS analyses and Potsdam University, Germany, for EPMA analyses. We wish to thank Kim Jessop and an anonymous expert for constructive reviews and journal editors Andreas Möller and Lutz Nasdala for helpful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. This research was supported by the Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz (grant SCU.EG98.44295).

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  1. Geology Department, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Golestan Blvd., Ahvaz, 6135783151, Iran

    Adel Saki & Mirmohammad Miri

  2. Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Potsdam University, Karl-Liebknecht-Strasse 24, 14476, Potsdam, Germany

    Roland Oberhänsli

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Saki, A., Miri, M. & Oberhänsli, R. High temperature – low pressure metamorphism during subduction of Neo-Tethys beneath the Iranian plate: evidence for mafic migmatite formation in the Alvand complex (western Iran). Miner Petrol 114, 539–557 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-020-00721-z

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