—The Lahroud Ophiolite in northwestern Iran contains extensive zones of Paleozoic ophiolite as remnants of the Paleo-Tethys oceanic crust. The principal rock units are gabbro overlain by pillow basalt, which is intruded by granites and interbedded with pelagic sedimentary units including radiolarian cherts. Geochemistry and radioisotope studies, supported by Nd, Sm, Sr, and Pb isotope data, indicate that the Lahroud Ophiolite originates from a within-plate basaltic mantle source. The isotope studies show that the basalts are derived from Indian-type oceanic mantle sources. The radiogenic data indicate the involvement of subduction-related terrigenous materials in the source magma. All the rocks are geochemically cogenetic and were generated by fractionation of a melt with a composition of average E-MORB with a calc-alkaline signature. Two 40Ar/39Ar ages, 343 ± 3 Ma for muscovite minerals and 187.7 ± 7.7 Ma for glasses, suggest that metamorphic and basaltic rocks formed during the Late Paleozoic to Early Jurassic, respectively. Microfossil studies show the presence of Paleozoic biostratigraphy. The crystallization process and rifting into the oceanic crust in the Lahroud Ophiolite probably began in the Carboniferous, with volcanic activity continuing during the Late Triassic.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.