170 / 2015-09-05 04:43:57

Tethyan Orogenesis and Metallogeny of Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide deposits in Iran

There are two major tectonic settings for Iranian VMS deposits (arcs and suprasubduction zones), with arcs (volcanic primitive arcs, arc/intra-arc rifts and back-arc basins) being the most important. All of the VMS deposits of the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone (SSZ) and Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic assemblages (UDMA) formed within Mesozoic and Tertiary magmatic arcs, respectively, that developed during subduction of the Neo-Tethyan crust beneath the Iranian plate. Suprasubduction zone or intra-oceanic back-arc spreading or mature back-arc rifting are recognized in the Neo-Tethys domain in Iran, and these host several Cu-rich VMS deposits. The host rock sequences for all deposits can be divided into three groups: (1) bimodal calc-alkaline; (2) bimodal tholeiitic; and (3) tholeiitic basaltic.