Study of original carbonate mineralogy of the Qom Formation using petrography and geochemical evidence in celestite ore section, Madabad, south of Zanjan

The Qom Formation is the only hydrocarbon reservoir in the central Iran sedimentary basin. In most parts of the central Iran, the Qom Formation conformably overlies the Lower Red Formation with an erosional discontinuity and is in turn conformably overlain by the Upper Red Formation. In the Madabad celestite deposit (south of Zanjan), the Qom Formation is composed of 190 m of medium to thick-bedded and massive limestone, marly limestone and marl. Five main microfacies are identified in the limestone units of the Qom Formation in the Madabad area. These microfacies probably were deposited on a shelf carbonate platform. Petrographic studies suggest original calcite mineralogy for limestone units of the Qom Formation in the Madabad area. Geochemical studies (Ca, Mg, Na, Sr, Mn and Fe) also represent the original calcite mineralogy in a closed diagenetic system with low dissolution rates. These evidence show significant role of fractures rather than diagenetic processes such as dissolution for increasing the reservoir quality of the Qom Formation for the oil and gas fields (such as Serajeh and Alborz) of central Iran.