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Geochemical characteristics of the karst-type bauxites: an example from the Kanirash deposit, NW Iran

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Abstract

The Kanirash bauxite deposit belongs to the Iran-Himalayan karst-type bauxite belt, which is situated about 30 km southeast of Mahabad city, northwestern Iran. The bauxite ores are embedded by the Late Permian carbonate rocks intercalated with shale of the Ruteh Formation and occurred as layer and lens-shaped patches. The bauxite ores contain diaspore, clinochlore, hematite, pyrophyllite, illite, rutile, and lesser amounts of zircon, pyrite, and barite. This mineral assemblage indicates that this deposit was formed in a transitional zone between the vadose and the phreatic environments. The presence of pyrite in the bauxite ores demonstrates that organic matters were present in the uppermost parts of the profile and the depositional diagenetic/epigenetic environment was reducing. Ti and Fe together with a suite of trace elements, including Ni, Cr, Co, Ga, Ta, and V, were leached from the upper parts of the weathered profile and concentrated in the bottom parts with respect to Hf, chosen as the least mobile element. Some factors, such as pH variations in weathering solutions, buffering nature of the carbonate bedrock, mineral control, the existence of organic materials, and fluctuations of groundwater table played important roles in distribution of trace and rare earth elements.

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Acknowledgments

Our gratitude is further expressed to Prof. Abdullah M. Al-Amri and associate editor for their advice, valuable suggestions, and editorial assistance, and also two anonymous reviewers for reviewing and making critical comments on this manuscript.

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This work was financially fully supported by the Bureau of Deputy of Research and Complementary Education of Urmia University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, Urmia University, Urmia, 5756151818, Iran

    Ali Abedini & Masoud Habibi Mehr

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Shiraz University, Shiraz, 7146713565, Iran

    Maryam Khosravi

  3. Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, 5166616471, Iran

    Ali Asghar Calagari

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  1. Ali Abedini
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  2. Masoud Habibi Mehr
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Correspondence to Ali Abedini.

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Editorial handling: Maurizio Barbieri

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Abedini, A., Mehr, M.H., Khosravi, M. et al. Geochemical characteristics of the karst-type bauxites: an example from the Kanirash deposit, NW Iran. Arab J Geosci 12, 475 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-019-4601-z

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