Petrogenesis of Volcanic Rocks in Alasht, Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

Area studied in this paper is located in the northwest of city of Alasht. The most important varieties of studied rocks are volcanic and semi-volcanic rocks of basic nature. These rocks, which form a distinguishable solid mass on 1:100,000 geological map, belong to Cretaceous period. According to results of petrographic study, rocks of this area include olivine basalt, dolerite, gabbro and microgabbro, and all have almost similar chemical compositions. According to chemistry-based naming process carried out through TAS method, these rocks are entirely basalt and basic and are all products of Sub-alkaline-Tholeiitic magma. According to Harker diagrams, a magmatic differentiation can be observed in all volcanic rocks; furthermore, basaltic magma erupted in this area has undergone an alteration and possibly a crustal contamination. The spider diagrams plotted in this paper show that basic rocks of Alasht area (basalts, andesite basalts, dolerites, gabbros and microgabbros) are all mostly similar to ocean island basalts (OIB). Once field study, sampling and microscopic study stages were complete, ten samples were selected for chemical analysis and were analyzed by XRF method.