Davoud Raeisi; Seyed Hesam-aldin Moeinzadeh Mirhosseini; Ahmad Abbasnejad; Sara Dargahi
Volume 4, Issue 13 , April 2013, , Pages 81-98
Abstract
Gandom Berian area is a basaltic messa composed of dark flows covering about 480 km2 of the western part of Lut desert in the northeast of Kerman. In this area, the fault system follows ...
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Gandom Berian area is a basaltic messa composed of dark flows covering about 480 km2 of the western part of Lut desert in the northeast of Kerman. In this area, the fault system follows a north-south trend and, basaltic lavas have flowed along this trend. It seems that in Gandom Berian area, the activity of Nayband fault has created a tensional tectonic regime leading to the creation of open fractures in the crust which have conducted the flow of magma to the surface. Comparing maps of the lineation index factor of Nayband fault and also the related maps to situation of volcanic cones admit the role of fault in formation of Gandom Berian basaltic magma.The presence of coarse euhedral olivine crystals along with coarse crystals of clinopyroxenes and the absence of magmatic quartz, all reveal a fast deep ascending magma through fractures system and deep faults. The deep fracturing of Nayband fault has prevented the mixing of magma with crustal contamination. The high La/Nb value (with average 1.7) along with low ratio of Ce/Pb and Pb/Nd indicate low mixing of magma in the studied area. Also, none scattering compatible element plots show negligible magma mixing. Uniformity in crystal size distribution (CSD) plots and its constant slope indicate the low impact of physical processes such as magma mixing in basaltic magma which effects the crystallization of plagioclase microlites during its ascent to the surface. The main cause of steepness in CSD is the rapid quenching of basaltic magma during upwelling which leads to plagioclase fine microliths. The presence of olivine and clinopyroxene phenocrysts indicates that in the primary magma, crystallization had occurred before ascent and eruption. Based on Dy/Yb versus La/Yb plot the Gandom Beryian basalts were formed by 8 to 10% partial melting of a garnet-lehrzolite parental rock. In general, lower partial melting of upper mantle (less than 10%) leads to the creation of alkaline basaltic magma. On the other hand, Gandom Beryian basaltic magma has characteristics similar to a high magnesium parental magma with low degree of evolution.
