Devonian basaltic magmatism of Central Alborz: An evidence for Paleo- Tethys rifting

In the north east of Tehran province and in the Central Alborz zone, a thick basaltic horizon occurs at the boundary of Jeiroud and Mobarak Formations near the Jeiroud village and Darbandsar and Garmabdar areas, indicating a nonconformity boundary of Devonian- Carboniferous in this region. The rock horizon comprises basalt, trachybasalt and trachyandesite representing dominantly porphyry texture and diabase as feeding dike with ophitic and subophitic textures; all displaying alkaline sodic nature. Both Chondrite- normalized rare earth element (REE) patterns enriched in LREE with respect to HREE and normalized to primitive mantle spider diagram are similar to those of oceanic island basalts (OIB). The studied samples plot in within plate basaltic field in the tectonic discrimination diagrams of basalts. Trace element and some major element contents show low degree partial melting (< 10%) of a deep (90- 110 km) garnet- bearing mantle source. As the basaltic samples of Garmabdar area geochemically show intra- plate tectonomagmatic setting it seems that during the late Devonian (and earlier times), Alborz has been as a passive continental margin in the southern border of Paleo- Tethys and its magmatism was more probably affected by extensional tectonism or mantle plume activity related to earlier stages of Neo- Tethys ocean development.