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Petrography and geochemistry of the Neogene continental redbeds in the Eshtehard area, Alborz Province, Iran: insights into tectonic setting, provenance and paleoclimate

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Abstract

The present study provides systematic petrographical and geochemical analyses of the Neogene continental successions of the Eshtehard area to investigate their tectonic setting, provenance and paleoclimate condition, and recycling effect. The Neogene successions are subdivided into five stratigraphic units (M1 to M5). Eighteen medium- to coarse-grained sandstone and 22 mudstone samples were selected from the Mard Abad, Eshtehard, Rud Shur, and Salt Mine sections in the Eshtehard area (NW Central Iran Structural Zone). A combined study of petrography (point-counting method) and geochemistry (ICP-MS) has been carried out in this study. The ternary diagrams (QtFL, QmFLt, and LmLvLs) for detrital modes and the discrimination diagram reveal that the studied samples from the units M1 to M5 were deposited in a back-arc basin. The Ti/Zr vs. La/Sc bivariate diagram and La-Th-Sc, Th-Co-Zr/10, and Th-Sc-Zr/10 triangular diagrams indicate that mudstones from the Neogene continental deposits in the Eshtehard area were potentially derived from intermediate igneous rocks. The low CIA (55.78 to 69.36) and C-values (0.27 to 0.53) of mudstones together with their position in A-CN-K and SiO2 vs. (Al2O3 + K2O + Na2O) plots indicate weak to moderate chemical weathering of the source material in arid to semi-arid paleoclimate conditions. The Neogene siliciclastic deposits in the Eshtehard area were derived from intermediate igneous source rocks within a back-arc basin north of the Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc.

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Acknowledgements

This work was financially supported by the Bu-Ali Sina University Research Council. The authors would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers that helped in the improvement of this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Bu-Ali Sina University, Mahdieh St, Hamedan, Iran

    Masoomeh Zaheri, Behrouz Rafiei & Reza Alipoor

Authors
  1. Masoomeh Zaheri
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  2. Behrouz Rafiei
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  3. Reza Alipoor
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Correspondence to Behrouz Rafiei.

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The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

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Responsible Editor: Attila Ciner

Research highlights

• The sandstone and mudstone units are part of Neogene successions in the NW Central Iran Zone.

• A continental island arc tectonic setting was inferred during the deposition of the studied units.

• The sandstones and mudstones are mainly from an intermediate igneous source composition.

• Neogene units were deposited under arid to semi-arid paleoclimatic conditions.

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Zaheri, M., Rafiei, B. & Alipoor, R. Petrography and geochemistry of the Neogene continental redbeds in the Eshtehard area, Alborz Province, Iran: insights into tectonic setting, provenance and paleoclimate. Arab J Geosci 14, 1946 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08236-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-08236-3

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