Metallogeny of the Neo-Tethys arc in central Iran

J.P. Richards
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada Jeremy.Richards@UAlberta.CA

Keywords: Tethys, Iran, metallogeny, porphyry copper deposits, epithermal gold deposits ABSTRACT: Cenozoic closure of the Neo-Tethys oceans between Arabia and Eurasia resulted in the collisional juxtaposition of several small microcontinental blocks separated by ophiolite-bearing suture zones in central Iran. Pre-collisional EoceneMiocene subduction-related magmatism is best developed in the Urumieh-Dokhtar belt along the northern margin of Neo-Tethys II, and several large porphyry copper deposits are located in this belt. Syn- or post-collisional alkalic magmatism scattered throughout the orogen offers potential for epithermal gold mineralization. smaller continental microplates (e.g., the Lut Block, and Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone; Fig. 1; Hooper et al., 1994; Glennie, 2000). These ocean basins have been destroyed by convergence since the late Mesozoic, and evidence for their existence has been variably interpreted from the presence of dismembered ophiolitic sequences scattered throughout central Iran (e.g., Stoneley, 1981).

INTRODUCTION

Iran features several major volcano-plutonic belts related to closure of oceanic basins between the Eurasian and Afro-Arabian continental masses in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic. Several large porphyry copper deposits (Sar Cheshmeh, Meiduk, Sungun) are associated with these magmatic belts, and the potential for epithermal gold mineralization is high. Geologically, the region resembles the southwest Pacific more than the Andean arc, because it appears that many of the plate interactions involve elimination of small ocean basins between continental blocks and microplates, rather than protracted subduction beneath a cratonic margin. Closure is largely complete in Iran, although to the southeast in the Gulf of Oman oceanic crust is still subducting beneath the Makran. Collision between Eurasia and Arabia is at an early stage, reflected by the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt and active tectonism in central and northern Iran. Uplift and erosion associated with this tectonism has exposed epizonal and mesozonal (porphyry) systems at the surface in central Iran, making this a prospective area for exploration. 2 GEOLOGY OF CENTRAL IRAN

Figure 1. Plate-tectonic map of the Tethyan belt from Turkey to Pakistan (modified from Glennie, 2000). Areas shown in dark grey contain ophiolitic fragments and are believed to represent former oceanic areas separating continental blocks (shown in lighter grey). Areas in coarse stipple are cratonic blocks.

The Neo-Tethys ocean was formed in response to the breakup of Gondwana, and effectively separated Africa from Eurasia. In Iran, the breakup is believed to have featured at least two oceanic sub-basins (Neo-Tethys I and Neo-Tethys II) separated by

The present-day geology of central Iran can be divided into several NWSE-trending belts that parallel the paleo-Tethyan margin (Alavi, 1994): to the SW, the Persian Gulf represents a depression in the

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Arabian cratonic margin in advance of the collision zone. This margin is overthrust by Mesozoic Paleogene supracrustal rocks of the Zagros fold-andthrust belt, in which ophiolitic fragments are found. To the NE of the Zagros belt lies the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, a structurally complex belt of Late Paleozoic Mesozoic rocks that includes some Hercynian metamorphic (greenschistamphibolite) assemblages. The NE margin of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone features a series of basins that are interpreted to be forearc depressions, laterally equivalent to the Makran (e.g., Stoneley, 1974, 1981; Farhoudi and Karig, 1977; Farhoudi, 1978; McCall and Kidd, 1982; Alavi, 1994; Glennie, 2000). Ophiolitic fragments occur sparsely in this belt, which is thought to represent the locus of Neo-Tethys II suture (Fig. 1). The main volcano-plutonic arc, known as the Urumieh-Dokhtar Belt, forms a narrow NWSEtrending range of high ground to the north of the forearc depression that stretches the length of Iran (Fig. 2). Magmatism began in the Eocene, and continued into the Quaternary in a series of pulses. The style of magmatism has varied in both space and time along the belt, and includes typical calcalkaline arc volcanics, shoshonitic suites, and local alkalic centres. Recent volcanic activity appears to reflect post-collisional tectono-magmatic processes, and includes the most alkalic suites. The main porphyry copper deposits in the belt, Sar Cheshmeh and Meiduk, are of Middle Miocene age. The UrumiehDokhtar Belt is bounded to the NE by a zone of major faults with Neogene dextral displacements; at the NW end of the belt in northwestern Iran, the belt appears to be dismembered by a series of NE-trending cross-faults, and geological reconstructions become very unclear.

The Lut block of central Iran appears to have been a stable cratonic block throughout this period, although extensive Eocene volcanism occurs throughout the area (Jung et al., 1984). Ophiolitic slivers at the margins of the block suggest the former existence of small ocean basins. The northern border of Iran is marked by another extensive magmatic belt, the Alborz, which stretches in a sinuous arc from Azerbaijan, along the southern margin of the Caspian Sea, wrapping over the northern edge of the Lut Block, and continuing into Afghanistan (Axen et al., 2001). Central Iran is thus bordered to the north and south by magmatic belts, of presumed subduction origin. The two belts converge in NW Iran, but the geology is complicated by extensive collision-related faulting. The Miocene Sungun porphyry deposit occurs in this region, as well as two large Neogene volcanic centres, Sahand and Sabalan. 3 TECTONIC FRAMEWORK OF CENTRAL IRAN

Figure 2. Sketch map or Iran showing the Urumieh-Dokhtar belt and porphyry Cu deposits (from Shahabpour, 1994).

Interpretations of the tectonic framework of central Iran vary widely, from intra-cratonic models, to single or double subduction zone models. The Urumieh-Dokhtar Belt is the only obvious volcanic arc in this region, although Cenozoic magmatism occurs locally to the south in the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone, and to the north (Anarak region). Glennie (2000) proposed the existence of two Neo-Tethys oceans, I and II, to the south and north of the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone respectively Fig. 1). The Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone is believed to be a continental fragment rifted from the Arabian margin in the Late Permian or Triassic (Hooper et al., 1994; Glennie, 2000). Closure of Neo-Tethys I began in the Early Cretaceous in response to South Atlantic opening, and the suture zone may now be represented by the Main Zagros Thrust. Continued contractional deformation since this time has complicated relationships in the Zagros belt, however, such that the exact location of the suture zone is hard to define. Neo-Tethys II began subduction to the north beneath the UrumiehDokhtar arc in the Late Cretaceous or Paleocene, and arc magmatism became extensive in the Eocene, continuing through the Miocene. Porphyry copper intrusive activity in the Urumieh-Dokhtar Belt occurred towards the end of this period in the Middle Miocene, and appears to represent the final phase of arc magmatism prior to collision. Final closure of Neo-Tethys II was probably a diachronous event, with docking perhaps beginning in the Miocene in the NW. To the SE, docking has not yet occurred, and oceanic lithosphere still exists beneath the Gulf of Oman (Jacob & Quittmeyer, 1979).

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CENOZOIC METALLOGENIC POTENTIAL OF CENTRAL IRAN

REFERENCES
Alavi, M. 1994. Tectonics of the Zagros orogenic belt of Iran: new data and interpretations. Tectonophysics Vol. 229: 211238. Axen, G.J., Lam, P.S., Grove, M., Stockli, D.F. & Hassanzadeh, J. 2001. Exhumation of the west-central Alborz Mountains, Iran, Caspian subsidence, and collision-related tectonics. Geology Vol. 29: 559562. Farhoudi, G. 1978, A comparison of Zagros geology to island arcs. Journal of Geology Vol. 86: 323334. Farhoudi, D. & Karig, D.E. 1977. Makran of Iran and Pakistan as an active arc system. Geology Vol. 5: 664668. Glennie, K.W. 2000. Cretaceous tectonic evolution of Arabias eastern plate margin: A tale of two oceans, in Middle East models of Jurassic/Cretaceous carbonate systems. SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology) Spec. Publ. No. 69: 9 20. Hooper, R.J., Baron, I., Hatcher, R.D. & Agah, S. 1994. The development of the southern Tethyan margin in Iran after the break-up of Gondwana Implications for the Zagros hydrocarbon province. Geoscience (Geological Survey of Iran) Vol. 4: 7285. Jacob, K.H. & Quittmeyer, R.L. 1979. The Makran region of Pakistan and Iran: trencharc system with active plate subduction. In Farah, A. & De Jong, K.A. (eds.), Geodynamics of Pakistan. Geological Survey of Pakistan, Quetta: 305 317. Jung, D., Keller, J., Khorasani, R., Marcks, C., Baumann, A. & Horn, P. 1984. Petrology of the Tertiary magmatic activity in the Northern Lut area, east Iran: Neues Jahrbuch fuer Geologie und Palontologie, Abhandlungen Vol. 168: 417 467. McCall, G.J.H. & Kidd, R.G.W. 1982. The Makran, southeastern Iran: the anatomy of a convergent plate margin active from Cretaceous to Present. In Leggett, J.K. (ed.), Trenchforearc geology. Geological Society of London, Special Publication No. 10: 387397. Richards, J.P. 1995. Alkalic-type epithermal gold depositsa review. In Thompson, J.F.H. (ed.), Magmas, Fluids, and Ore Deposits. Mineralogical Association of Canada, Short Course Series Vol. 23: 367400. Shahabpour, J. 1994. Post-mineralization breccia dike from the Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper deposit, Kerman, Iran. Exploration and Mining Geology Vol. 3: 3943. Stoneley, R. 1974. Evolution of the continental margins bounding a former southern Tethys. In Burk, C.A. & Drake, C.L. (eds.), The geology of continental margins. New York, Springer-Verlag: 873903. Stoneley, R. 1981. The geology of the Kuh-e Dalneshin area of southern Iran, and its bearing on the evolution of southern Tethys. Jour. Geological Soc. London Vol. 138: 509526.

Cenozoic mineralization in central Iran can be viewed within the Neo-Tethyan tectonic framework outlined above, from which it is clear that the main period of porphyry copper formation occurred during the later stages of subduction-related magmatic activity in the Urumieh-Dokhtar arc. Good geological exposure in the core of this belt means that most outcropping porphyry systems have already been discovered. However, there is potential for exploration beneath PlioceneQuaternary cover at the margins of the belt. Perhaps of greater potential, however, is exploration for epithermal styles of mineralization, particularly of the alkalic-gold type associated with postsubduction or collisional tectonics (Richards, 1995). Mildly to highly alkalic volcano-plutonic systems are scattered widely throughout central Iran, and are not restricted to the narrow Urumieh-Dokhtar arc. Understanding these deposits, or predicting their occurrence, will require a considerably more detailed knowledge of the tectonomagmatic framework than is currently available for this region. 5 CONCLUSIONS

Central Iran marks the locus of collision between the Arabian and Eurasian plates following subduction of the Neo-Tethys ocean. This collision was multistage and diachronous, involving the elimination of at least two small oceanic plates (Neo-Tethys I and II) during the Cenozoic. Porphyry copper deposits are associated with pre-collisional arc magmatism, and there is potential for alkalic-type gold and other styles of epithermal mineralization in association with post-subduction alkalic magmatism. The geology of this region is not well known, however, and its mineralization potential has not yet been thoroughly tested using modern exploration techniques. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to Rio Tinto Mining & Exploration for field and logistical support while visiting Iran in the summer of 2002. In particular, I would like to thank Neil McLaurin, John Bartram, Hossein Iranmanesh, Esmaeil Heidari, Hooshang Asadi, Kambiz Mohajeran, and Faranak Parvinpour. Brent McInnes is thanked for stimulating discussions in the field.

Metallogeny of the Neo-Tethys arc in central Iran

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