2012 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

Economic Geology, v. 107, pp. 295332

High Sr/Y Magmas Reflect Arc Maturity,

High Magmatic Water Content, and Porphyry Cu Mo Au Potential:
Examples from the Tethyan Arcs of Central and Eastern Iran and Western Pakistan
JEREMY P. RICHARDS,1, TERRY SPELL,2 ESMAEIL RAMEH,1 ABDUL RAZIQUE,3 AND TIM FLETCHER4
1 Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E3
2 Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-4010
3 Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada V6T 1Z4
4 Barrick Gold UK, 254 Radcliffe Road, Bolton BL31RS, United Kingdom

Abstract
The temporal and geochemical evolution of arc magmatism that culminated in porphyry Cu Mo Au
deposit formation has been studied in three separate Neo-Tethyan arc systems in central and eastern Iran, and
western Pakistan. Porphyry Cu-Au deposits in the Lut block of eastern Iran formed in the middle Eocene at
the end of a period of extensive Paleocene-Eocene volcanism; porphyry Cu-Mo deposits in the Kerman belt of
central Iran formed in the middle Miocene at the end of a period of voluminous Eocene-Oligocene volcanism;
and porphyry Cu-Au deposits in the Chagai belt of western Pakistan formed in four pulses during the Eocene,
early Miocene, middle-late Miocene, and late Miocene-Pliocene, after a prolonged period of arc magmatism
that began in the Late Cretaceous (and is still active).
In each region, the late porphyry-related magmas are more geochemically evolved and more hydrous (as
evidenced by the presence of hornblende phenocrysts) than the preceding volcanic rocks. We suggest that this
reflects maturation of the arc magmatic system over a period of tens of millions of years, leading to the gener-
ation of more evolved, volatile-rich magmas at later stages of the arcs history. High magmatic water contents
are a prerequisite for the shallow crustal emplacement of arc magmas and the subsequent generation of
potentially ore-forming subvolcanic magmatic-hydrothermal systems.
It is thus suggested that the fertility of arc magmas within a given arc terrane can be assessed by observing
the relative timing of plutonic suites (later suites are more prospective), noting the common presence of horn-
blende or biotite phenocrysts (indicating high magmatic water contents), and through lithogeochemical
fingerprinting of magmatic fractionation processes (relatively high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, and Eun/Eu* ratios
1, indicating abundant early hornblende fractionation and suppression of plagioclase crystallization in hydrous
magmas).

Introduction et al., 2004), Chelopech (Bulgaria; Moritz et al., 2005), -

THE TETHYAN orogenic and metallogenic belt stretches from
the Alps, through the Balkans, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Tibet,
Indochina, and ultimately into the southwest Pacific. It was
formed during two major orogenic events, one in the early-
mid Mesozoic reflecting closure of the Paleo-Tethys ocean,
and the second in the early Cenozoic to Recent, reflecting
closure of the Neo-Tethys ocean (Sengr and Yilmaz, 1981;
Glennie, 2000; Ilbeyli et al., 2004). The Neo-Tethys ocean
was characterized by the presence of numerous small conti-
nental and island-arc fragments, which are now compacted
between multiple sutures along the broad Tethyan orogenic
belt. The diversity and transience of tectonic configurations
during the evolution of this orogen has led to a complex geo-
logic record, which in many sectors of the belt is not yet well
understood. A diverse array of mineral deposit types is also as-
sociated with the belt, including volcanic-hosted massive sul-
fide deposits, porphyry Cu and Cu-Au deposits, and low and
high sulfidation epithermal Au deposits. Many of these de-
posits are relatively small, but larger porphyry and epithermal
deposits include Rosia Montana (Romania; Manske et al.,
2006), Bor and Majdanpek (Serbia; Ciobanu et al., 2002; Lips
Corresponding author: e-mail, Jeremy.Richards@ualberta.ca
0361-0128/12/4013/295-38
pler (Turkey; Imer et al., 2010), Sungun (Iran; Hezarkhani,
2006), Sari Gunay (Iran; Richards et al., 2006), Sar Cheshmeh
(Iran; Waterman and Hamilton, 1975), Saindak (Pakistan; Sil-
litoe and Khan, 1977), Reko Diq (Pakistan; Perell et al.,
2008), and Qulong (Tibet; Hou et al., 2009). Many of these
deposits appear to have formed toward the end of periods of
subduction (e.g., Bor, Majdanpek, Chelopech; Ciobanu et al.,
2002; Neubauer and Heinrich, 2003), or broadly coeval with
collisional events (e.g., Sari Gunay, Sar Cheshmeh; Richards
et al., 2006; Shafiei et al., 2009), or even postdating the onset
of collision by up to tens of millions of years (e.g., Qulong;
Hou et al., 2009).
This study focuses on a segment of the orogen that runs
from central Iran through westernmost Pakistan, where there
is a major transition from collisional tectonics (the Zagros
fold-and-thrust belt of southwestern Iran) to ongoing sub-
duction (the Makran accretionary complex and Chagai vol-
canoplutonic belt of southeastern Iran and western Pakistan).
In this paper we present lithogeochemical and geochronolog-
ical data from Cenozoic arc-related volcanic and intrusive
rocks from the Lut microcontinental block of eastern Iran
and the Chagai belt of Pakistan, including rocks associated
with the Eocene Shadan and Maher Abad porphyry deposits
Submitted: June 24, 2011
295 Accepted: September 3, 2011
296 RICHARDS ET AL.
in Iran, and the Miocene Saindak and Reko Diq porphyry de-
posits in Pakistan. These data are compared with published
information from the Miocene Kerman porphyry belt of
south-central Iran (Hassanzadeh, 1993; Shafiei et al., 2009).
Despite different ages and current tectonic settings, similar
igneous geochemical trends are observed in all three districts
(e.g., increasing Sr/Y with time), and the timing of porphyry
emplacement is late in each districts tectonomagmatic evolu-
tion. We interpret these data as reflecting increasing arc ma-
turity and water content in progressively more evolved
magma types, ultimately leading to the generation of magmas
with sufficient water content to form magmatic-hydrothermal
(porphyry) deposits upon upper crustal emplacement.
Regional Geology
The border between eastern Iran and western Pakistan
roughly coincides with the transition from the collisional Za-
gros orogenic belt in the west, to the Makran accretionary
complex and Chagai magmatic arc in the east (Farhoudi and
Karig, 1977; Regard et al., 2010). At a longitude of 61W, the
east-westtrending Chagai arc is truncated by the Neh-Za-
hedan (Sistan) dextral strike-slip fault zone, which marks the
northward displacement of the eastern Iranian Lut microcon-
tinental block relative to the Afghan block to the east (Fig. 1).
A second north-trending dextral fault zone, the Nayband
fault, marks the western edge of the Lut block, and roughly
coincides with the southeastern termination of the Kerman
belt (Fig. 1). Plate kinematic reconstructions of Regard et al.
(2005, 2010) and Allen et al. (2011) suggest that the Lut block
is a relatively rigid continental fragment caught between two
separate collisions, the Zagros to the west and the Himalayan
to the east. The Iranian collision is blocked to the north by the
rigid Eurasian plate, resulting in displacement of mobile crust
along major strike-slip faults with local thrusting (Bonini et
al., 2003; Vernant et al., 2004). The Lut block is caught in this
conflicting motion, with north-south contraction evidenced
by arcuate internal thrust faults and net northward displace-
ment along its east and west fault margins (Fig. 2).
The Himalayan collision is causing westward extrusion of
the Afghan block, but its motion is blocked by Central Iran
and the Zagros orogen. The Afghan block is therefore de-
flected southward toward the free face of the Gulf of Oman
and the Arabian Sea (Tapponnier et al., 1981), with volumi-
nous sediments shed from the rising Himalaya forming the
Makran accretionary complex on this subduction margin
(McCall, 1997).
Central and eastern Iran
Cenozoic calc-alkaline igneous rocks in Iran crop out in two
main belts: the NW-SEtrending, Eocene-Miocene Urumieh-
Dokhtar magmatic zone (which includes the Kerman por-
phyry belt at its southeastern end; Hassanzadeh, 1993; Alavi,
1994); and a curved belt that splits off eastward from the Uru-
mieh-Dokhtar magmatic zone in northwestern Iran to form
the Alborz Mountains (Hassanzadeh et al., 2002), before ap-
parently turning south and becoming fragmented along the
Neh-Zahedan (Sistan) fault zone (Fig. 1). Widespread mid-
Cenozoic calc-alkaline magmatism also occurs in the Lut block,
just to the west of the Neh-Zahedan fault zone, where it crops
out in arcuate, fault bounded mountain ranges (Fig. 2).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 296
Collisional Pliocene-Quaternary magmatism, ranging from
tholeiitic to alkaline in composition, is scattered widely but
thinly across Iran and neighboring Turkey (Berberian and
King, 1981; Pearce et al., 1990; Hassanzadeh, 1993; Aydin et
al., 2008; Kheirkhah et al., 2009).
Although it is tempting to correlate the Chagai belt in Pak-
istan with the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic zone in Iran,
these belts are not continuous across the Neh-Zahedan and
Nayband fault zones, and pre-Neogene geology is truncated
and deflected northward by these structures. The Eocene-
Miocene magmatism in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic
zone has recently been studied by Shafiei et al. (2009) who
concluded that a transition from normal calc-alkaline arc
magmatism in the Eocene-Oligocene to adakite-like calc-al-
kaline magmatism (and porphyry formation) in the Miocene
reflects the onset of collision between the Afro-Arabian and
Eurasian plates at this time. They thus interpret the Miocene
magmatism as being collisional in origin, although the timing
of collision is not well constrained and was likely diachronous
along the belt (see below). In contrast, Miocene magmatism
in the Chagai belt is of normal subduction origin, because no
collision has yet occurred along this segment of the orogen
(Farhoudi and Karig, 1977; Siddiqui, 2004; Nicholson et al.,
2010).
An alternative continuation of the Chagai belt is to the
north, where dislocated blocks of Eocene-Miocene intru-
sive rocks occur within the Neh-Zahedan (Sistan) fault
zone, and within the Lut block (Fig. 2). Little geochemical
or geochronological information exists for this area, how-
ever, not least in part due to the security situation in east-
ern Iran near the Afghanistan and Pakistan borders. Field-
work for this study was therefore restricted to the central
and northern parts of the Lut block, centered on the city of
Birjand.
Western Pakistan
The Chagai volcanoplutonic belt is one of two arcs in west-
ern Pakistan, the second being the Raskoh arc (Fig. 3). Sid-
diqui (2004) considers that the Raskoh and Chagai arcs rep-
resent a paired frontal and rear arc system, separated by the
Dalbandin sedimentary trough, which formed on the south-
ern margin of the Afghan microcontinental plate, or as an
oceanward island-arc system that was later accreted to this
margin (Farah et al., 1984; Nicholson et al., 2010). The oldest
volcanic rocks in the Raskoh and Chagai belts are Cretaceous
(Sinjrani Volcanic Group in the Chagai arc; Hunting Survey
Corporation Ltd., 1960; Arthurton et al., 1982), but Cenozoic
magmatic activity appears to have been restricted to the Cha-
gai arc (Nicholson et al., 2010).
To the south of the Chagai-Raskoh arc system lies a fore-
arc basin and one of the largest accretionary prisms on Earth,
the Makran accretionary complex (White, 1979; McCall,
1997). Together, these flysch-filled basins extend 400 to 600
km from the arc to the trench and overlie an initially shal-
lowly dipping subduction zone (Jacob and Quittmeyer,
1979). Pliocene-Quaternary subduction-related volcanism
occurs along a 450 km arc length from the Bazman and
Taftan volcanoes in Iran (Gansser, 1971; Saadat and Stern,
2011), to the Koh-i-Sultan volcano and smaller centers to the
east in the Chagai belt.
 46 48 50 52 54 56 58 60
40
Turkey
Armenia Azerbaijan Fault Simplified Geology
SUNGUN Thrust fault
of Iran, Western
Afghanistan, and
Strike-slip fault
Western Pakistan
Turkmenistan Fault (concealed)
Caspian
Sea Fault (inferred, concealed)
38 Sabalan N
Tabriz International border
Sahand Dagh City
Lake Urumieh h
pe Mine or major prospect
Ko

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
ZARSHURAN 0 km 200

Alb 66 36
Takab orz Mashhad 64
36 62

SARI Damavand
GUNAY
Tehran
Sanandaj Razan
Dehgolan ult Afghanistan
Hamadan Fa
a vir
Ur
u tK 34
m ea
ieh Qom Gr
34 D
Sa ok Ferdows
n an ht

N
ar
daj M
Iraq

ayb
S ag

a
irj m Lut Block

nd
at
an ic Birjand

Zo Zo Central
M ne ne Nain Iran
ai
n Block 32
Za Esfahan SHADAN
32 gr
os

297
Th
ru Kandahar
Za st Yadz Afghan
Ahwaz

Gowk
gr
MesozoicCenozoic igneous rocks N
os Block
N Fo
PlioceneQuaternary mafic alkalic an E co
d n ld
volcanic rocks ce ve -a
PlioceneQuaternary calc-alkaline nt ger nd MEIDUK
ra n Fault 30
volcanic rocks l I ce
ra o
-T
Mid-Cenozoic calc-alkaline n f
at A
hr
volcanic/plutonic rocks us Ke
Mesozoic ophiolite complexes
~2 rab
.2 ia
tB rm Kerman
(Neo-Tethys) cm n p el
t
Mesozoic felsic plutonic rocks
/y late
r SAR an Chagai Belt
CHESHMEH Zahedan
Shiraz
Basement and tectonic blocks
Be
Sirjan lt Koh-i-Sultan
Makran accretionary prism Bam REKO DIQ
SAINDAK
Makran foreland basin
28
Kuwait
Zagros unfolded zone Taftan
Pakistan
Zagros fold-and-thrust belt Bazman
SanandajSirjan metamorphic zone
Bandar-e-
Central domain Persian Abbas
Paleo-Tethys basin Gulf
HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN

Saudi
Kopeh Dagh Arabia 26
Central Iran and Lut blocks
Thrust belt
Makran
Afghan/Helmand block
Chagai belt Qatar Oman Northward subduction of Arabian Sea
plate beneath Makran at ~2.8 cm/yr
50 52 54 56 58 60 62 64

FIG. 1. Simplified geology of Iran, western Afghanistan, and western Pakistan, highlighting Mesozoic-Cenozoic igneous rocks and ophiolites. Quaternary sediments
cover large areas of the region, beneath which basement and other tectonic blocks are inferred. Based on maps from the Geological Survey of Iran (1989, 2009, and
unpub. data), with additional information from Berberian and King (1981), Bonini et al. (2003), Mohajjel et al. (2003), Siddiqui (2004), and Regard et al. (2005).
297
298 RICHARDS ET AL.

58 60

Torbat
Fault Kashmar Legend
Kavir Torbat-e-

Gre
at Jam Fault N
Thrust fault
Strike-slip fault

5759
54 Fault (concealed)
!
! !
!
56
55 International border
Gonabad
53 ! ! Sample location

Afghanistan
34 Ferdows Town
Boshruyeh
60
61 ! MesozoicCenozoic igneous rocks
! Qaen
62 PlioceneQuaternary mafic alkalic volcanic rocks
Nay

Neogene calc-alkaline volcanic rocks

! 63
ban

Dehuk Paleogene calc-alkaline volcanic/plutonic rocks

d

Afghanistan
Mesozoic felsic plutonic rocks
52 !
51
! Mesozoic ophiolite complexes (Neo-Tethys)
Birjand 50

Sedimentary volcanic rocks

65 !
Sheikh Abad NeogeneQuaternary
Maher Abad 5 6 26,27,30
!!

Neh
31! 39,40
33 ! !! Paleogene
28,29 Khunik
Nayband 32 ! !! 3,4!
Shadan 34-38 Mesozoic
Hired Paleozoic
Gowk

32 15-16 18 ! 22
44 ! ! 23
42 ! 7 !
43 ! !
!
!! 8 49
Zahedan
14 !
Ghale Zari 9-12 !
! 13
!!41 0 km 100
20 19

Dehsalm
!
47
! ! 46
48
Fault

Fault

58 60

FIG. 2. Geology of the Lut block, eastern Iran, showing the locations of porphyry and epithermal deposits discussed in
the text, and samples collected (NTI-series sample numbers). Based on maps from the Geological Survey of Iran (1989, 2009,
and various 1:250,000-series maps).

58 60 62 64
30 Legend
Lut Block Fault
N
Afghanistan Thrust fault

Saindak Strike-slip fault

Zahedan See Inset map
Chagai Hills Fault (concealed)
International border
Bam
! Sample location
Reko Diq Koh-i-Sultan
Nok Kundi Dalbandin Town
Dalbandin Trough Mine or major prospect
Raskoh
Taftan
Pakistan MesozoicCenozoic igneous rocks
PlioceneQuaternary mafic
alkalic volcanic rocks
Iran NT14-1 Neogene calc-alkaline
28 NT13
volcanic rocks
!!
! ! Paleogene calc-alkaline
Bazman NT10-11 !
!!
volcanic/plutonic rocks
NT6! NT7-
NT26 NT28
! ! NT29
!
Mesozoic felsic plutonic rocks
! NT25
NT12!
NT22 NT21
Mesozoic ophiolite complexes
(Neo-Tethys)
!!! NT24
Reko Diq NT17,18 !!!
! ! ! NT27 Sedimentary volcanic rocks
complex NT1 NT19 NT20
Jaz Murian NeogeneQuaternary
Iranshah Paleogene
Makran Mesozoic
Paleozoic

0 km 100
58 60 62 64

FIG. 3. Geology of the Chagai belt, southeastern Iran to western Pakistan, showing the locations of porphyry deposits dis-
cussed in the text, and samples collected (NT-series sample numbers). Based on geology maps of Iran (Geological Survey of
Iran, 1989, 2009), reconnaissance geology maps of western Pakistan (published by the Government of Canada as a Colombo
Plan cooperative project; dates unknown), and of Afghanistan (Doebrich and Wahl, 2006).

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN
Geology of the Lut Block
The Lut block has behaved as a rigid continental block
since at least the early Mesozoic, when it was one of the Cim-
merian continental fragments that drifted north from the
Gondwana margin to open the Neo-Tethys ocean (Dercourt
et al., 1986; Hooper et al., 1994; Scotese, 2001). By the Early
Jurassic, these fragments had approached the southern mar-
gin of Eurasia, but the existence of Cretaceous and Paleogene
calc-alkaline volcanic and intrusive rocks in the Alborz Moun-
tains and Kopeh Dagh to the immediate north of the Lut
block suggests that final docking with Eurasia did not occur
until the late Paleogene. An arm of the Neo-Tethys ocean, or
a relic of the Paleo-Tethys ocean, must have existed between
the Central Iranian blocks and Eurasia throughout the Meso-
zoic and Paleogene (Dercourt et al., 1986).
Upper crustal rocks in the Lut block consists predominantly
of Mesozoic shales and carbonates with fault-bounded Late
Cretaceous ophiolitic belts, followed by Cenozoic volcanic and
intrusive rocks and terrestrial sediments, indicating emer-
gence. The area is now moderately uplifted, with typical ele-
vations between 1,500 and 2,000 m. Quaternary desert sands
cover a large area of the block, especially in the south (the
Dasht-e-Lut desert). Basement rocks are not widely exposed,
but local outcrops of Paleozoic limestones and shales, and Pro-
terozoic granitoids, gneisses, and schists are shown in geologic
maps of the area and attest to the age of the underlying crust.
Arcuate, northward-convex, fault-bounded ranges of Ceno-
zoic volcanoplutonic rocks and ophiolites in the central and
northern Lut block (Fig. 2) suggest limited thrust imbrication
during northward convergence with Eurasia. However, com-
pressional deformation is more clearly expressed in the
Kopeh Dagh mountain range north of the Great Kavir fault
(which marks the northern edge of the Lut block). This re-
gion, on the border between Iran and Turkmenistan, marks
the collisional boundary between Central Iran and Eurasia
and is extensively deformed along arcuate folds, thrust, and
strike-slip faults (Fig. 1; Hollingsworth et al., 2006; Shabanian
et al., 2010).
Cenozoic magmatism in the Lut block is widespread and
consists predominantly of Eocene-Oligocene andesitic to
dacitic volcanic rocks, with local subvolcanic granodioritic to
granitic plutons (Jung et al., 1984). Few igneous rocks of
Miocene age are reported in 1:250,000 series geologic maps
published by the Geological Survey of Iran, and younger
magmatism is restricted to local alkali basalt eruptive centers
and flows of Pliocene to Quaternary age (most abundant
50100 km northeast of Birjand and on the western margins
of the Lut block: Fig. 2; Walker et al., 2009).
Mineralization in the Lut block
Mineralization in the Lut block was described by Frster
(1978) and Tarkian et al. (1984), but little has been published
on the region since then (e.g., no deposits are listed for this re-
gion in a review of Middle East mineral potential by Heden-
quist and Daneshfar, 2001). The principal deposit types noted
by Frster (1978) were Pb-Zn vein deposits, but a few Cu de-
posits were also reported, including the Ghale Zari Cu-Pb-
Zn-Ag mine (currently active; also noted by Tarkian et al.,
1984). No porphyry or epithermal deposits were reported,
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299
but during our fieldwork we visited two large porphyry sys-
tems at Shadan and Maher Abad (Fig. 4) and small epither-
mal Au deposits at Sheikh Abad and Hired (Fig. 2, Table 1).
There were signs of limited exploration work at each of these
prospects (trenches), and core-drilling had recently been
completed at Shadan, but was not available for inspection.
Shadan porphyry deposit: The Shadan porphyry deposit
(37.26 0.26 Ma; see below) crops out on the southern flank
of an E-Wtrending range of andesite-dacite volcanic hills
where a dioritic pluton intrudes the volcanic cover (Fig. 4a,
b). These volcanic rocks are shown in the 1:250,000 Birjand
geologic map (Geological Survey of Iran, 1992a) as Eocene-
Oligocene, but they clearly predate the late Eocene porphyry.
The deposit has a large phyllic alteration zone (at least 2 km
wide) with a strongly altered (biotite-rich) inner potassic core
containing minor malachite in outcrop; surrounding andesitic
volcanic rocks are propylitically altered. The deposit is at least
partially buried by Quaternary pediment gravels to the south-
west, suggesting potential for an extension of mineralization
beneath cover, and surface gossans suggest the possibility of
secondary enrichment below surface. Limited exploration
data for Shadan (Dorsa Plc.: http://www.dorsaplc.com/fa/ex-
ploration-projects/62-shadan; accessed 12 April, 2011) indi-
cate grades of up to 0.44 g/t Au and 0.12% Cu in surface rock
samples over an area of ~400 150 m, but the deposit has not
been systematically explored to date.
Maher Abad porphyry deposit: The Maher Abad porphyry
deposit crops out on shallowly sloping ground to the north of
the range of Eocene-Oligocene volcanic hills that host Shadan
(Fig. 4c, d). Gossanous oxidation occurs around quartz vein
stockworks in phyllic alteration overprinting potassic alter-
ation in dacitic volcanic rocks. Minor malachite staining was
observed in the stockworks, but the surface rocks are strongly
leached. Phyllic alteration appears to extend for at least 1 km
around the central stockwork zone to the east, south, and
west, but Quaternary gravels cover the deposit to the north.
Trenching and drill pads were visible on the property, but lit-
tle information is available about mineralization grades.
Malekzadeh Shafaroudi et al. (2009) reported Cu values of up
to 6,830 ppm, and up to 1 ppm Au, but the source of these
data is unclear, and it is unknown as to whether the potential
for supergene enrichment has been tested.
Sheikh Abad epithermal Au deposit: The Sheikh Abad ep-
ithermal Au deposit is hosted by Eocene-Oligocene dacitic
volcanic rocks on the northern side of the range of hills that
host the Shadan and Maher Abad porphyry deposits. A rem-
nant siliceous lithocap and intense argillic alteration suggest
that the deposit is of a high sulfidation type. No information
is available about mineralization grades.
Hired epithermal Au deposit: The Hired epithermal Au de-
posit is reported by Eshraghi et al. (2010) to be related to a
post-Eocene quartz diorite porphyry stock intruded into
Eocene andesitic volcanic and sedimentary rocks. A few
trenches are visible on the property, and Eshraghi et al. (2010)
reported grades of up to 3.5 ppm Au in drill core samples.
Geology of the Kerman Belt
(SE Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic zone)
Compared to the Lut block, the Urumieh-Dokhtar mag-
matic zone has been quite extensively studied and explored.
299
300 RICHARDS ET AL.

(a) Shadan porphyry (b)

(c) (d)
Maher Abad porphyry

FIG. 4. Field photographs of: (a) the Shadan porphyry, with gray-brown potassic alteration in the foreground, a narrow
zone of light-colored phyllic alteration, and dark-colored propylitically altered volcanic rocks forming the peaks in the back-
ground; (b) quartz vein stockwork in potassic alteration from Shadan (UTM 40S 0685730E 3581942N, 1607 m, WGS 84
datum); (c) the Maher Abad porphyry, with light-colored phyllic alteration overprinting potassic alteration and stockworks in
the foreground, and propylitically altered volcanic rocks forming small hills in the background; (d) oxidized stockwork float
from Maher Abad (0680688E 3597347N, 1730 m).

It is host to the large Sar Cheshmeh and smaller Meiduk por-
phyry Cu mines in the southeastern (Kerman) segment of the
belt and the large Sungun porphyry Cu mine in what may be an
extension of the belt in Azerbaijan province, northwestern Iran.
The Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic zone is a roughly contin-
uous, but fault-dislocated, belt of calc-alkaline, Eocene-
Miocene volcanic and subvolcanic intrusive rocks that runs
NW-SE across Iran (Fig. 1). It is widely considered to repre-
sent a magmatic arc developed on Central Iranian crust above
a northward-dipping Neo-Tethyan subduction zone, but com-
plications arise in relation to the timing of closure of that
ocean basin by collision with the Afro-Arabian plate (Alavi,
1994). As reviewed by Richards et al. (2006), either one or
two Neo-Tethyan oceans are suggested to have existed to the
south of the Central Iranian microplates. Specifically, Glennie
(2000) and Ghalamghash et al. (2009) have proposed an early
(Late Cretaceous) collision between the Sanandaj-Sirjan zone
continental sliver and the Afro-Arabian margin to form the
Zagros fold-and-thrust belt, followed by collision with the
Central Iranian plate in the Plio-Pliocene (see also Sha-
habpour, 2005). Other authors, however, suggest that initial
collision occurred in the Miocene (Hassanzadeh, 1993;
Hooper et al., 1994; McQuarrie et al., 2003; Mohajjel et al.,
2003), or even as early as the middle Eocene to late
Oligocene (Agard et al., 2005; Allen and Armstrong, 2008;
Horton et al., 2008; Dargahi et al., 2010). Uplift of the Zagros,
Central Iran, and Alborz in the Pliocene suggests that colli-
sion progressed with crustal thickening throughout the Neo-
gene (Snyder and Baranzangi, 1986; Glennie, 2000; Axen et
al., 2001; McInnes et al., 2003; Molinaro et al., 2005).
Hassanzadeh (1993), Jahangiri (2007), Omrani et al. (2008),
and Shafiei et al. (2009) have studied the geochemistry of

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 301

TABLE 1. Tectonic, Magmatic, and Metallogenic Events in the Lut, Kerman, and Chagai Belts

Lut block Kerman belt Chagai belt

Nature of crust Cimmerian continental fragment Cimmerian continental fragment Island to continental arc

Tectonic events Paleogene subduction below N and
E margins (?) of block
Late Paleogene initial collision with
Eurasia, followed by uplift and
collision with Afro-Arabia
Paleogene subduction below
S margin
Eocene-Oligocene (or later) initial
collision with Afro-Arabia,
followed by uplift
Late Cretaceous-Paleogene island arc
Eocene-Oligocene accretion to
Afghan margin
Oligocene-Quaternary continental arc

Magmatic events Eocene-Oligocene calc-alkaline arc
volcanism and intrusions
Pliocene-Quaternary alkali basalt
volcanism (collisional)
Eocene-Miocene calc-alkaline arc
volcanism and intrusions
Late Miocene-Quaternary bimodal
and alkaline volcanism (collisional)
Late Cretaceous-Paleocene tholeiitic to calc-
alkaline island-arc volcanism and intrusions
Eocene transitional island-to-continental arc
volcanism
Oligocene calc-alkaline volcanism
Miocene calc-alkaline and alkaline volcanism
and intrusions
Plio-Pleistocene calc-alkaline volcanism

Metallogenic events Middle Eocene porphyry and Middle Miocene porphyry deposits Middle-late Eocene porphyry deposits
epithermal deposits (Ziarate)
Early Miocene porphyry deposits
(Saindak, Tanjeel)
Middle-late Miocene porphyry deposits
(Reko Diq)
Late Miocene-Quaternary(?) porphyry and
epithermal deposits (Koh-i-Sultan)

Main mineral deposits Shadan porphyry Cu-Au
(grade and tonnage Maher Abad porphyry Cu-Au
where known) Sheikh Abad epithermal Au
Hired epithermal Au
Sar Cheshmeh porphyry Cu-Mo-Au
(1.2 Gt @ 0.68% Cu, 0.03% Mo,
0.27 g/t Au)1
Meiduk porphyry Cu (140 Mt @
0.85% Cu)1
Saindak porphyry Cu-Mo-Au (440 Mt @
0.41% Cu, 0.002% Mo, and 0.5 g/t Au)2
Reko Diq porphyry Cu-Au (5.9 Gt @
0.41% Cu and 0.22 g/t Au)3

1 Data from Dunne and Kirkham (2003)

2 Data from Singer et al. (2008)
3 Data from Tethyan Copper Company Ltd. (http://www.tethyan.com/TheRekoDiqProject/RekoDiqResource.aspx; accessed 14 April, 2011)

Cenozoic volcanic rocks from the Urumieh-Dokhtar mag-
matic zone and concluded that calc-alkaline volcanism oc-
curred in two main pulses in the Eocene-Oligocene and
Miocene, followed by collisional magmatism in the late
Miocene-Quaternary. Jahangiri (2007) and Omrani et al.
(2008) noted that some of the late Miocene-Quaternary rocks
have adakite-like geochemical signatures (i.e., high Sr/Y and
La/Yb ratios), which they suggested were due to melting of
the residual downgoing slab. In contrast, Shafiei et al. (2009)
suggested that adakite-like Miocene magmatism associated
with porphyry copper mineralization in the Kerman belt re-
flects partial melting of collisionally thickened garnetiferous
lower crust. In the discussions of lithogeochemistry below, we
have used the data of Hassanzadeh (1993) and Shafiei et al.
(2009) to illustrate the characteristics of igneous rocks from
this belt.
Mineralization in the Kerman belt
Numerous porphyry Cu deposits of middle Miocene age
occur along the Kerman sector of the Urumieh-Dokhtar mag-
matic zone (Fig. 1), including the actively mined Sar Chesh-
meh and Meiduk deposits (Table 1). Sar Cheshmeh has been
dated at 13.6 0.1 Ma, and Meiduk at 12.5 0.1 Ma (zircon
U-Pb ages, 2 uncertainties; McInnes et al., 2003). Apart
from the trace element features noted by Shafiei et al. (2009),
these deposits and their associated igneous rocks are typical
of arc-related porphyries. They are not discussed in detail
here, but readers are referred to descriptions by Waterman
and Hamilton (1975), McInnes et al. (2003), Zarasvandi et al.
(2005), and Boomeri et al. (2009, 2010).
Geology of the Chagai Belt
The Chagai volcanic arc appears to have evolved from an
initial Late Cretaceous-Paleogene island-arc system to a con-
tinental-arc system following accretion of the arc to the
Afghan margin in the Eocene-Oligocene. The axis of
Oligocene-Quaternary continental margin magmatism is
roughly the same as that of the earlier island-arc magmatism,
such that these different magmatic suites spatially overlap
along the length of the Chagai belt (Fig. 3). The longevity of
arc magmatism along the same axis in this belt since the Late
Cretaceous is significant from a metallogenic perspective
(Perell et al., 2008), and this point is returned to in the Dis-
cussion section.
The following stratigraphic descriptions are summarized
from Siddiqui (2004, and references therein), with additional
information from Perell et al. (2008) and Nicholson et al.
(2010).
The oldest volcanic rocks belong to the Late Cretaceous
Sinjrani Volcanic Group, which consists of pyroxene-plagio-
clase-phyric, submarine basaltic and andesitic flows, and py-
roclastic units. The volcanic rocks are intercalated with shale,

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302 RICHARDS ET AL.
sandstone, and limestone horizons indicating deposition in a
semipelagic environment, and the sequence has been meta-
morphosed to lower greenschist facies. Geochemically, the
volcanic rocks are of tholeiitic to calc-alkaline island-arc affin-
ity, and nonradiogenic Sr isotope compositions indicate little
or no involvement of continental materials, suggesting that
the arc was distant from the continental margin at that time.
Massive limestones of the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian)
Humai Formation disconformably overlie the Sinjrani Vol-
canic Group rocks and are in turn conformably overlain by
clastic sedimentary and volcanic rocks of the Paleocene Juzzak
Formation. Paleocene volcanic rocks consist of pyroxene-pla-
gioclase-phyric basaltic to andesitic, locally amygdaloidal, lava
flows, and tuffs. Their geochemistry continues to indicate a
tholeiitic island-arc affinity, as for the Sinjrani Volcanic Group.
Shales, siltstones, reef limestones, and andesitic lava flows
and tuffs of the Eocene Saindak Formation conformably
overlie the Juzzak Formation. This first appearance of reef
limestones suggests shallowing marine conditions. The inter-
calated lavas are predominantly plagioclase-pyroxene-phyric,
amygdaloidal basaltic andesites to andesites, and geochemi-
cally and isotopically display a transitional island-to-continen-
tal arc affinity.
The Oligocene Amalaf Formation conformably overlies the
Saindak Formation and is similarly composed of shales, sand-
stones, and limestones with intercalated andesitic lava flows.
Of significance (see Discussion) is that these andesitic rocks
now contain hornblende phenocrysts, in addition to pyroxene
and plagioclase, suggesting a higher magmatic water content
than the earlier lavas. They also display more fractionated
trace element patterns (light rare earth element-enriched)
than the older rocks and geochemically resemble continental-
arc magmas, suggesting that accretion of the arc to the
Afghan continental margin had occurred by this time.
These Late Cretaceous-Paleogene sequences are uncon-
formably overlain by the late Oligocene Dalbandin Forma-
tion (Perell et al., 2008; unpublished data of Barrick Gold
Corp.), which consists of red shales, sandstones, and con-
glomerates, deposited in subaerial fluviatile and lacustrine
environments. This sequence indicates emergence of the arc
following suturing with the Afghan margin.
Miocene volcanic rocks of the late Oligocene-early Miocene
Reko Diq Formation (Perell et al., 2008) are correlative with
the Siandak Koh Formation in the Saindak area (also referred
to as the Buze Mashi Koh Volcanic Group by Siddiqui, 2004).
Two different volcanic groups are recognized by Siddiqui
(2004): a calc-alkaline suite of pyroxene-hornblende-plagio-
clase-phyric andesitic lava flows, and an alkaline suite of
potassic trachybasalts, shoshonites, and latites. Both suites
have geochemical and isotopic affinities with continental arcs.
Finally, Plio-Pleistocene volcanic rocks of the Koh-i-Sultan
Volcanic Group form part of the chain of active arc volcanoes
that extend to the Taftan and Bazman volcanic complexes in
southeastern Iran (Fig. 3). The Koh-i-Sultan stratovolcano it-
self consists of andesitic and dacitic flows and thick volcani-
clastic (lahar) sequences and is still fumarolically active. In
contrast, the prominent Koh-i-Dalil dacitic plug near the Reko
Diq porphyry is late Pliocene in age (2.0 0.8 Ma: K-Ar on
whole-rock, 2 uncertainty; Perell et al., 2008) and is likely
the eroded neck of a volcanic vent. Hornblende phenocrysts
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are abundant along with pyroxene and plagioclase in both the
andesitic and dacitic volcanic rocks, and geochemically they
resemble normal calc-alkaline continental-arc magmas.
Mineralization in the Chagai belt
The relatively short section of arc magmatism along the
Chagai belt is host to multiple porphyry Cu-Au deposits, in-
cluding the giant Reko Diq deposit and the smaller Saindak
mine (Fig. 3, Table 1). Saindak is currently being mined by
Metallurgical Construction Corp., and the Reko Diq por-
phyry complex is in advanced exploration by joint venture
partners Tethyan Copper Company Ltd. (62.5%) and Barrick
Gold Corp. (37.5%).
The oldest porphyry Cu-Mo deposit occurs in the eastern
part of the Chagai belt, where Perell et al. (2008) have re-
ported K-Ar and 40Ar/39Ar ages of 43.1 1.1 and 37.2 0.2
Ma (2 uncertainties) for hydrothermal alteration minerals at
Ziarate.
The Saindak deposit has been dated at between 19.0 1.2
and 20.3 0.8 Ma (K-Ar on hydrothermal biotite; Sillitoe and
Khan, 1977), 22.4 0.4 Ma (K-Ar on hydrothermal biotite, 2
uncertainty; Perell et al., 2008), and 22.30 0.05 Ma
(40Ar/39Ar on hydrothermal biotite, 1 uncertainty; this study,
see below). In contrast, the Reko Diq system, which consists
of multiple porphyry centers, shows two main age groupings
in the early Miocene at ~22 Ma (Tanjeel porphyry center: Re-
Os molybdenite age of 22.41 0.07 Ma; 2 uncertainty) and
in the middle-late Miocene at ~11 Ma (H14 and H15 por-
phyries: Re-Os molybdenite ages of 11.82 0.04 and 11.73
0.04 Ma; 2 uncertainties; Perell et al., 2008).
A porphyry Cu-Au system underlying high sulfidation
epithermal gold mineralization has also recently been discov-
ered within the Koh-i-Sultan stratovolcano by Lake Re-
sources N.L., with surface samples of epithermal mineraliza-
tion grading up to 21.0 g/t Au, and a drill hole intersection in
porphyry-type mineralization of 128 m @ 0.14% Cu and 0.19
g/t Au (http://www.lakeresources.com.au/exploration.htm; ac-
cessed 14 April, 2011). Perell et al. (2008) reported a
40Ar/39Ar age for hypogene alunite from high sulfidation al-
teration at Koh-i-Sultan of 5.9 2.8 Ma (2 uncertainty), but
parts of the system are still actively degassing as evidenced by
H2S releases during drilling.
Fieldwork and Sampling
Fieldwork was conducted in the Chagai belt in summer
2008 and in eastern Iran (Lut block) in summer 2009. Sam-
ples of least altered volcanic and intrusive rocks were col-
lected from surface outcrops, and weathered rinds were re-
moved in the field. Samples from the Chagai belt were
processed (crushing and grinding using mild steel) in Actlabs
Ltd. (Ancaster, Ontario, Canada), whereas samples from the
Lut block were processed by Zarazma Mineral Studies Co.
(Tehran, Iran).
Analytical Methods
40Ar/39Ar
dating
Samples were selected for 40Ar/39Ar dating on the basis of
lack of alteration (in the case of igneous hornblende and
biotite), or intensity of potassic alteration (in the case of
302
 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN
hydrothermal biotite). The presence or absence of alteration
was confirmed petrographically.
Mineral separates of hornblende and biotite were prepared
from the 1.0 to 0.5 mm sieved fraction from jaw-crushed sam-
ples (0.50.25 mm fraction in the case of NTI-51), which
were washed in an ultrasonic bath (to disaggregate composite
mineral clusters), dried, and resieved. A hand magnet was
used to remove magnetite grains, and the samples were then
separated using a heavy liquid (bromoform). Pure separates
of biotite (~50 mg) and hornblende (~200 mg) were then
handpicked in alcohol under a binocular microscope. For
sample NTI-34, fine-grained secondary biotite was intimately
intergrown with K-feldspar and quartz, and these minerals
could not be separated; a 664 mg composite sample was
therefore analyzed.
The samples were analyzed in the Nevada Isotope Geo-
chronology Laboratory at the University of Nevada, Las
Vegas, where they were packaged, irradiated, and upon re-
turn from the reactor, analyzed for their Ar isotope composi-
tions. A full description of the methodology is provided in
Table A1.
40Ar/39Ar step-heating data are conventionally displayed as
age spectra, which are apparent ages plotted against the per-
centage of 39Ar released (as a measure of the extent of de-
gassing with each incremental temperature step). Step-heat-
ing spectra are plotted assuming that any argon present in the
mineral grains at the time of closure to argon diffusion (initial
argon, as recorded by the amount of 36Ar in the gas analysis)
has the composition of present-day atmospheric argon
(40Ar/36Ar = 295.5). For this reason, age spectra are often re-
ferred to as apparent age spectra. However, an alternative
plot, the inverse isochron diagram, allows testing of this as-
sumption by calculation of an isochron age and an estimate of
the actual isotopic composition of the initial argon in the sam-
ple (which may not be atmospheric in composition). For most
of these samples in this study, the inverse isochron yields the
more precise and accurate age, and with two exceptions is
therefore reported as the preferred age.
Lithogeochemistry
Samples from the Chagai belt and Lut block were analyzed
by Actlabs Ltd., using a combination of methods including in-
strumental neutron activation analysis and fusion ICP-MS
(Actlabs code 4E Research ICP/MS).
Accuracy for major elements, as determined by repro-
ducibility of lab standards and duplicates, is typically within 5
relative % (<3 relative % for SiO2 and Al2O3), and to within
10 relative % for minor and trace elements.
40Ar/39Ar
Dating Results
The results of 40Ar/39Ar
dating of 11 samples of volcanic and
intrusive rocks from the Lut block and Chagai belt are sum-
marized in Table 2 and illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, and full
data are provided in Table A2. All dates are reported in mil-
lions of years (Ma) 1 uncertainty.
Lut block
Sample NTI-18 is a hornblende-biotite-clinopyroxene-pla-
gioclase-phyric dacitic volcanic rock collected from near the
Hired epithermal Au prospect. Hornblende was too oxidized
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303
to use for geochronology, but fresh biotite books were sepa-
rated for analysis. The sample yielded an almost ideal flat age
spectrum, with statistically indistinguishable plateau (99% of
the gas release) and inverse isochron ages. The latter age,
39.20 0.10 Ma (MSWD = 0.78), is the preferred age (late
Eocene).
Sample NTI-20 is from a quartz monzonite intrusion, char-
acterized by coarse-grained plagioclase-K-feldspar-pyrox-
ene(reacted)-biotite-hornblende(altered), with interstitial
quartz and biotite. The sample was collected near the village
of Bishe, to the south of the Ghale Zari Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag-Au vein
deposit. Biotite yielded an ideal flat age spectrum, with statis-
tically indistinguishable plateau (>99% of the gas release) and
inverse isochron ages. The latter age, 33.72 0.08 Ma
(MSWD = 1.19), is the preferred age (early Oligocene).
Sample NTI-34 is of intensely potassic-altered porphyritic
intrusion collected from the center of the Shadan porphyry
Cu system. A whole-rock geochemical analysis of this sample
was not conducted because of the intensity of alteration, but
a similar sample collected nearby (NTI-35) suggests a dioritic
composition. Biotite yielded a slightly discordant age spec-
trum but including a well-defined plateau segment repre-
senting 79% of the gas release. The calculated plateau and in-
verse isochron ages overlap within uncertainty, and the latter
age, 37.26 0.26 Ma (MSWD = 2.0), is the preferred age (lat-
est middle Eocene).
Sample NTI-39 is a plagioclase-clinopyroxene-biotite-phyric
dacitic volcanic rock with a glassy matrix collected from near
the Sheikh Abad high sulfidation epithermal Au prospect. Bi-
otite yielded a nearly ideal flat age spectrum, with statistically
indistinguishable plateau (99% of the gas release) and inverse
isochron ages. The latter age, 39.31 0.10 Ma (MSWD =
0.10), is the preferred age (middle Eocene).
Sample NTI-51 was collected from a granodiorite porphyry
intrusion located between Birjand and Ghaen. Hornblende
separated from this sample yielded a discordant saddle-
shaped age spectrum indicative of the presence of excess 40Ar.
No plateau was defined by these data, but the inverse
isochron age was well defined at 31.39 0.15 Ma (MSWD =
2.0) and is the preferred age (early Oligocene). The initial
40Ar/36Ar ratio of 321.1 2.5 defined by this inverse isochron
confirms the presence of excess 40Ar.
Sample NTI-61 was collected from an area of Paleogene
volcanic and intrusive rocks between Ferdows and Dehuk, at
the eastern edge of the Lut block. The sample is a plagio-
clase-quartz-hornblende-biotite-clinopyroxene-phyric dacite
vitrophyre, with flow-banded glassy matrix and fiamm, sug-
gesting origin as an ignimbrite. The sample yielded a slightly
discordant, downward-stepping (in early gas release) age
spectrum, suggestive of some excess 40Ar. However, a well-de-
fined plateau was reached in later steps (96% of the 39Ar re-
leased), and the plateau and inverse isochron ages are statis-
tically indistinguishable. The latter age, 63.50 0.19 Ma
(MSWD = 1.4), is the preferred age (early Paleocene).
Chagai belt
Sample NT2 was collected from the Saindak porphyry Cu-
Au open pit and consists of strongly potassic-altered (sec-
ondary biotite) granodiorite with chalcopyrite mineralization.
Biotite extracted for analysis consisted of primary igneous
 TABLE 2. 40Ar/39Ar Ages for Samples from the Lut block, Eastern Iran, and Reko Diq and Saindak Areas, Western Pakistan (preferred ages in bold)
304
Mineral 40Ar/39Ar plateau
TAS separates (wt) age (Ma 1) 40Ar/39Arinverse
UTM classification (1.00.5 mm except (% 39Ar release isochron age
Sample no. zone Easting Northing Location Petrographic notes and alteration where indicated) Condition in plateau) (Ma 1)

NTI-18 40R 708763 3538465 Hired Coarse-grained Plag(3mm)- High-K dacite Biotite (37 mg) Fresh, irregular 39.12 0.20 39.20 0.10 Ma
Cpx-Hbl(?-altd) with crystals (99%) (MSWD = 0.78)
interstitial Qz-Biot(fresh)

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NTI-20 40R 692497 3508445 Bishe Coarse-grained Plag-Kspar- High-K Biotite (53 mg) Fresh, irregular 33.59 0.18 33.72 0.08 Ma
Px(reacted)-Biot-Hbl(green trachydacite crystals (99.6%) (MSWD = 1.19)
altd) with interstitial (Qz monzonite)
Qz-Biot(fresh)

NTI-34 40S 685681 3581867 Shadan Fine-grained quartzofelds- Potassic altered Biotite + K-spar Fresh clusters 37.04 0.22 37.26 0.26 Ma
porphyry pathic rock with 2 Kspar porphyry (664 mg) of intergrown (79%) (MSWD = 2.0)
deposit flooding and Biot; Qz-(Biot- secondary biotite
Chl-malachite) vein and K-spar

NTI-39 40S 692894 3590028 Sheikh Fresh Plag-Cpx-Biot High-K dacite Biotite (59 mg) Fresh euhedral 39.42 0.22 39.31 0.10 Ma
Abad porphyry with glassy matrix; books (99%) (MSWD = 1.17)
glomeroporphyritic clusters
of intergrown Cpx-Biot-Plag

NTI-51 40S 714854 3658502 Birjand Plag-Hbl(green)-Px(?Carb Medium-K Hornblende Moderately fresh None 31.39 0.15 Ma
to Ghaen altd) porphyry with dacite (218 mg) fragments (MSWD = 2.0)
devitrified spherulitic (granodiorite (0.50.25 mm)
groundmass porphyry)

304
NTI-61 40S 577611 3735123 Toward Flow-banded glassy Medium-K Biotite (51 mg) Fresh euhedral 63.72 0.36 63.50 0.19 Ma
Deihouk fiamme, Plag-Qz-Hbl- dacite books (96%) (MSWD = 1.4)
RICHARDS ET AL.

Biot(bent)-Cpx vitrophyre

NT2 41R 365249 3236504 Saindak Potassic alteration (Biot) Granodiorite Biotite (99 mg) Fresh: 22.30 0.11 Ma 22.30 0.05 Ma
porphyry with minor Mt-Cp; minor (potassic) Secondary on (99%) (MSWD = 0.80)
Chl-Py overprint primary biotite

NT6 41R 394169 3234757 Sorborut Qz-Hbl-Plag porphyry with Diorite Hornblende Fresh 15.96 0.29 Ma 16.70 0.65 Ma
abundant secondary Ep (propylitic) (427 mg) fragments (45%) (MSWD = 2.3)

NT12 41R 408093 3227469 Reko Fresh Hbl porphyry Andesite Hornblende Fresh 14.8 Ma None
Diq Fm. (552 mg) fragments

NT13 41R 399308 3237214 Intrusion Diorite with fresh pri- Granodiorite Biotite (78 mg) Fresh clusters 87.41 0.49 Ma 86.79 0.38 Ma
in Sinjrani mary and secondary Biot intergrown (85%) (MSWD = 1.6)
Volcanics with minor Qz

NT29 (Biotite) 41R 420751 3229626 Koh-i- Hbl (fresh, red), Plag Andesite Biotite (69 mg) Biotite euhedra 5.87 0.08 Ma 5.63 0.09 Ma
Sultan Fm. (sieve textured), Biot are somewhat (63%) (MSWD = 1.18)
porphyritic volcanic rock vermiculitized

NT29 (Hbl) 41R 420751 3229626 Koh-i- Hbl (fresh, red), Plag Andesite Hornblende Hornblende is 6.16 0.22 Ma 5.64 0.28 Ma
Sultan Fm. (sieve textured), Biot (290 mg) fresh with (78%) (MSWD = 1.8)
porphyritic volcanic rock oxidized rims

Notes: Abbreviations: altd = altered, Biot = biotite, Carb = carbonate, Chl = chlorite, Cpx = clinopyroxene, Ep = epidote, Hbl = hornblende, Kspar = K-feldspar, Plag = plagioclase, Px = pyroxene,
Py = pyrite, Qz= quartz
 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 305

Plateau age = 39.12 0.20 Ma Plateau age = 33.59 0.18 Ma

99% of 39Ar release 99.6% of 39Ar release
Steps 3 through 14 out of 14 Steps 2 through 13 out of 13
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

Plateau age = 37.04 0.22 Ma Plateau age = 39.42 0.22 Ma

79% of 39Ar release 99% of 39Ar release
Steps 4 through 12 out of 13 Steps 4 through 14 out of 14
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

Plateau age = 63.72 0.36 Ma

96% of 39Ar release
Steps 5 through 14 out of 14
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

FIG. 5. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra for samples from the Lut block; plateau steps shown in black.

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306 RICHARDS ET AL.

Plateau age = 22.30 0.11 Ma Plateau age = 15.96 0.29 Ma

99% of 39Ar release 45% of 39Ar release
Steps 2 through 13 out of 13 Steps 6 through 11 out of 11
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)
% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

Plateau age = 87.41 0.49 Ma

85% of 39Ar release
Steps 4 through 11 out of 14
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

Plateau age = 5.87 0.08 Ma Plateau age = 6.16 0.22 Ma

63% of 39Ar release 78% of 39Ar release
Steps 6 through 10 out of 12 Steps 10 through 13 out of 15
Age (Ma)

Age (Ma)

% 39Ar Released % 39Ar Released

FIG. 6. 40Ar/39Ar age spectra for samples from the Chagai belt; plateau steps shown in black.

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN
biotite books with secondary hydrothermal biotite over-
growths. The sample yielded a nearly ideal flat spectrum, with
identical plateau (99% of the 39Ar released) and inverse
isochron ages. The latter preferred age, 22.30 0.05 Ma
(MSWD = 0.80), is consistent with, but much more precise
than, a previously published K-Ar age of 19.0 1.2 Ma (Silli-
toe and Khan, 1977). It is also in agreement with a hy-
drothermal biotite K-Ar age of 22.4 0.4 Ma (2 uncertainty)
reported by Perell et al. (2008).
Sample NT6 was collected from the Sorborut porphyry
prospect and consists of quartz-hornblende-plagioclase-por-
phyritic diorite. Fresh igneous hornblende was separated and
analyzed, yielding a poorly constrained plateau age of 15.96
0.29 Ma (45% of the 39Ar released), and an even less well-con-
strained inverse isochron age (16.70 0.65 Ma, MSWD =
2.3). In this case, the plateau age is preferred as the best, but
not perfect, estimate of the true age, at ~16 Ma. This age is in
broad agreement with a whole-rock (sericitic) K-Ar age of 16.9
0.9 Ma (2 uncertainty) reported by Perell et al. (2008).
Sample NT12 was collected from a surface outcrop of horn-
blende-porphyritic andesite, mapped as the Reko Diq For-
mation, overlying Juzzak Formation clastic sedimentary
rocks. Hornblende separated from this sample yielded a dis-
cordant, U-shaped spectrum indicative of the presence of ex-
cess 40Ar. Although a statistically valid plateau was not de-
fined, the central steps in the spectrum reach a minimum at
~14.8 Ma, which can be taken as a maximum age for this sam-
ple. This maximum age is consistent with the reported
Miocene age of the Reko Diq Formation. No isochron age
was defined by the data.
Sample NT13 was collected from a surface outcrop of gra-
nodiorite intruding the Cretaceous Sinjrani Volcanic Group.
Clusters of primary igneous biotite overgrown by intergrowth
of fine-grained secondary biotite and quartz yielded a good
age spectrum, with a plateau age of 87.41 0.49 Ma (85% of
the 39Ar released), and a preferred inverse isochron age of
86.79 0.38 Ma (MSWD = 1.6). This age is consistent with
the pluton being broadly coeval with the host Cretaceous vol-
canic rocks.
Sample NT29 was collected from one of the dacitic plugs
(Sor Koh) that crop out prominently in the Reko Diq area and
which include the Koh-i-Dalil and Koh-i-Sultan complexes.
Both fresh igneous biotite and hornblende were separated
from this sample and yielded saddle-shaped age spectra (in-
dicating the presence of excess 40Ar) with statistically valid
plateau segments (63% and 78% of the 39Ar released, respec-
tively). Because of the presence of excess 40Ar, the inverse
isochron ages are preferred and are statistically identical: bi-
otite: 5.63 0.09 Ma (MSWD = 1.18); hornblende: 5.64
0.28 Ma (MSWD = 1.8). Initial 40Ar/36Ar ratios of 305.7 4.0
and 300.9 3.3, respectively, confirm the presence of excess
40Ar.
The late Miocene age for NT29 is a little older than the
Pleistocene age of the Koh-i-Dalil andesite formation shown
in maps, and the 2.0 0.8 Ma age (K-Ar whole-rock; 2 un-
certainty) for Koh-i-Dalil itself (Perell et al., 2008). Samples
collected for this study from Koh-i-Dalil were too altered to
be dated by the 40Ar/39Ar method, and the degree of alter-
ation and erosion of these plugs seems consistent with an
older late Miocene age rather than a Pleistocene age.
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307
Lithogeochemical Results and Discrimination Criteria
The results of 68 whole-rock geochemical analyses are
listed in Tables A3 and A4. The data of Hassanzadeh (1993)
and Shafiei et al. (2009) are used to illustrate the composi-
tional characteristics of igneous rocks from the Kerman belt.
For petrologic classification and plotting purposes, major
oxide data were normalized to 100% volatile-free, and trace
element data were normalized to the compositions of prim-
itive mantle (extended trace element diagrams) and C1 car-
bonaceous chondrite meteorites (rare earth element [REE]
diagrams), using the normalization values of Sun and Mc-
Donough (1989). The total alkali-silica (TAS) diagram of Le
Maitre (1989) is used to classify volcanic or hypabyssal rock
samples, and terminology from the equivalent diagram of
Middlemost (1994) is used for coarse-grained intrusive
rocks.
When plotted in normalized trace element and REE dia-
grams, all of the samples display patterns typical of subduc-
tion-related magmas, characterized by enrichments in large
ion lithophile elements (LILE) relative to compatible ele-
ments such as heavy REE (HREE), and distinct negative
anomalies for Nb, Ta, and Ti. Because of the broad similarity
of the patterns shown by the various suites, only selected
groups (porphyry-related suites) are illustrated below, relative
to fields for other stratigraphic groups from the same region.
Despite these overall similarities, distinctions between the
various sample groups can be discerned in the detailed be-
havior of certain trace elements that are sensitive to magmatic
conditions and processes. The following key elements and el-
ement ratios are used in the following data presentations:
La, Sm, Dy, Yb: These elements are illustrative of the be-
haviors of light (La), middle (Sm, Dy), and heavy REE (Yb).
Middle (MREE) and heavy REE (HREE) are fractionated
relative to the light REE (LREE) by residual or fractionating
garnet, hornblende, titanite, and zircon. Hornblende and ti-
tanite, in particular, preferentially partition MREE, leading
to flat or listric-shaped REE patterns in normalized REE di-
agrams, which slope downward from LREE to MREE (high
[La/Sm]n ratios), but then flatten through the MREE and
may even slope upward slightly to the HREE ([Dy/Yb]n ratios
1; Gromet and Silver, 1987; Klein et al., 1997; Bachmann et
al., 2005; Prowatke and Klemme, 2006).
Eu: Europium occurs in two oxidation states under typical
magmatic conditions, Eu2+ and Eu3+. The divalent Eu cation
substitutes for Ca2+ in plagioclase and is thus a sensitive indi-
cator of plagioclase fractionation (indicated by negative anom-
alies in Eu relative to adjacent REE). The europium anomaly
is commonly reported as the ratio of normalized Eu abun-
dance relative to Sm and Gd: Eun /Eu* = Eun /Smn dG n .
Lack of a significant negative europium anomaly (i.e.,
Eun/Eu* 1) can indicate either (1) lack of plagioclase frac-
tionation from primitive magmas, (2) suppression of plagio-
clase fractionation due to high magmatic water contents, or
(3) a high magmatic oxidation state, such that most of the Eu
is present in the trivalent state and is not partitioned into frac-
tionating plagioclase (Frey et al., 1978; Hanson, 1980). In
contrast, a positive europium anomaly (i.e., Eun/Eu* >1) can
indicate either plagioclase accumulation in the rock or frac-
tionation of hornblende (Green and Pearson, 1985).
308 RICHARDS ET AL.
Y: Yttrium behaves similarly to HREE and is partitioned
into residual or fractionating garnet, hornblende, titanite, and
zircon.
Sr: Strontium substitutes for Ca in plagioclase and is there-
fore an indicator of plagioclase fractionation.
La/Yb: The La/Yb ratio is used to indicate the level of en-
richment of LREE over HREE, and high La/Yb ratios (20)
are commonly used in the definition of adakites, as a
nonunique indication of the presence of garnet in source
rocks (Kay, 1978; Defant and Kepezhinskas, 2001). High
La/Yb ratios can also be generated by fractionation of horn-
blende, titanite, and zircon (Castillo et al., 1999; Richards and
Kerrich, 2007; Tiepolo et al., 2011) or the deep crustal frac-
tionation of magmas in the presence of garnet (Macpherson
et al., 2006).
Sr/Y: The Sr/Y ratio combines a measure of plagioclase frac-
tionation (Sr) with a measure of HREE fractionation (Y). High
Sr/Y ratios (20) are therefore used in the definition of
adakites, as an indication of a lack of plagioclase fractionation
combined with the presence of garnet in source rocks, together
taken to indicate partial melting of an eclogitic source (Kay,
1978; Defant and Drummond, 1990; Defant and Kepezhin-
skas, 2001). However, high Sr/Y ratios can also indicate high
magmatic water contents, which suppress early plagioclase
crystallization but promote hornblende crystallization.
In the presentations of data from various regions below, in
addition to generalized normalized trace element and REE
diagrams, Harker-type diagrams that plot the variations of
trace element concentrations or ratios versus SiO2 or other
parameters are used to distinguish fertile igneous suites as-
sociated with porphyry mineralization from barren suites
with no such association. Thus, a consistent set of diagrams
that plot Eun/Eu* versus SiO2, [La/Sm]n versus [Dy/Yb]n, Sr/Y
versus Y, La/Yb versus Yb, Sr/Y versus SiO2, and La/Yb versus
SiO2, is presented for each region.
Geochemistry of Cenozoic Igneous Rocks
from the Lut Block
Lut Block petrology and lithologic classification
Forty samples of volcanic and intrusive rocks from the Lut
block were analyzed, two of which (NTI-35 and NTI-36 from
the Shadan porphyry deposit) showed strong potassic alter-
ation and are excluded from lithologic classification diagrams
(but are plotted in REE diagrams). The remaining 38 least al-
tered samples are sorted into seven district groups, which
serve reasonably well in grouping their geochemical charac-
teristics. These data are plotted in a TAS diagram in Figure 7,
where it can be seen that the majority of these samples are
typical calc-alkaline arc rocks belonging to the basaltic an-
desite-andesite-dacite-rhyolite suite, but some are slightly
more alkaline and belong to the shoshonite-latite-trachy-
dacite suite.
Ferdows-Nayband group: Five samples of volcanic rocks
mapped broadly as Paleogene (Geological Survey of Iran,
1969) from the western part of the Lut block between the
towns of Ferdows and Nayband, plot as medium- to high-K
basaltic andesite, dacite, and rhyolite (Fig. 7). Most of the
samples were plagioclase-pyroxene-phyric, with serpentinized
olivine in the basaltic andesite; minor biotite was present in
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 308
9
Trachydacite
Lut Block (Qz-monzonite)
8 Latite
(monzonite)
7
Shoshonite/
Mugearite
Na2O + K2O (wt.%)
Rhyolite
lic
6 ka lic
Al alka
(granite)
Su
b
Dacite
5 (granodiorite)
Andesite
4 (diorite)
Basaltic Birjand
3 andesite Ghale Zari
(gabbroic Shadan
diorite) Hired
2 Dehsalm
Gonabad
1 Ferdows-Nayband
0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%)
FIG. 7. Total alkali-silica diagram (Le Maitre, 1989), showing samples
from the Lut block. The alkalic/subalkalic boundary of Irvine and Baragar
(1971) is shown.
the dacites, and minor amphibole (oxidized) and/or K-
feldspar was present in the rhyolites. A dacite vitrophyre
(NTI-61) yielded an early Paleocene 40Ar/39Ar age of 63.50
0.19 Ma, consistent with the map designation. Rocks from
this area are among the least alkaline in the Lut block suite.
Gonabad group: Seven samples of volcanic and intrusive
rocks from the Gonabad area in the northern part of the Lut
block plot mostly as medium-K basaltic andesite-andesite-
dacite and high-K rhyolite, including a diorite and granodior-
ite porphyry (Fig. 7). Most of these samples contained pla-
gioclase phenocrysts (sericitized) with minor clinopyroxene,
but a few contained hornblende or biotite. None of the sam-
ples was suitable for 40Ar/39Ar dating, but geologic maps show
most of these rocks as being Eocene in age (Geological Sur-
vey of Iran, 1977, 1983). The basaltic andesite (NTI-59) is the
most mafic sample in the entire suite and was collected at the
contact with a diorite intrusion (NTI-57).
Dehsalm group: Three samples of volcanic rocks from the
Dehsalm area plot as high-K rhyolite, high-K dacite, and
medium-K basaltic andesite (one of the most mafic samples
in the suite; Fig. 7). All of these samples contained plagioclase
phenocrysts, but ferromagnesian minerals were mostly altered.
Consequently, none of these samples was suitable for 40Ar/39Ar
dating; however, the Geological Survey of Iran (1992b) geo-
logic map shows these units as Eocene-Oligocene.
Hired group: Two samples of volcanic and intrusive rocks
from near the Hired low sulfidation epithermal Au system
plot as high-K dacite and medium-K granite (Fig. 7). The
dacite sample contained plagioclase, clinopyroxene, and al-
tered hornblende phenocrysts, and the granite consisted
mainly of quartz, plagioclase, and K-feldspar. The dacite vol-
canic sample (NTI-18) yielded a late Eocene 40Ar/39Ar age
(39.20 0.10 Ma), broadly consistent with other rocks from
this central Lut block area.
Shadan group: Ten samples of volcanic and intrusive rocks
from the Shadan area (excluding potassic-altered samples
 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 309

from the Shadan porphyry, which plot broadly as diorites)
straddle the boundary between high-K andesite-dacite and
more alkaline shoshonite-latite-trachydacite compositions
(Fig. 7). However, the more alkaline rocks still classify as sub-
alkalic by the criteria of Irvine and Baragar (1971). The ma-
jority of these samples are porphyritic, with phenocrysts of
hornblende biotite, plagioclase, and clinopyroxene. 40Ar/
39Ar dates for two samples from this area, including the
Shadan porphyry (NTI-34: 37.26 0.26 Ma; NTI-39: 39.31
0.10 Ma) suggest that these rocks are middle Eocene (Bar-
tonian) in age.
Ghale Zari group: Ten samples of volcanic and intrusive
rocks from the Ghale Zari area to the south of Shadan (which
includes the Ghale Zari Cu-Pb-Zn-Ag-Au vein deposit) simi-
larly straddle the boundary between high-K basaltic andesite-
andesite-dacite and subalkaline shoshonite/mugearite-latite-
trachydacite compositions (Fig. 7). The majority of these
samples contain phenocrysts of plagioclase and clinopyrox-
ene, with biotite and hornblende present in only one sample
(NTI-20). This sample was dated by 40Ar/39Ar and yielded a
slightly younger age (33.72 0.08 Ma: early Oligocene) than
the Shadan samples.
Birjand group: Three samples of volcanic and intrusive
rocks from just north of the city of Birjand plot as medium-K
dacite (granodiorite porphyry) and rhyolite (Fig. 7). All sam-
ples contained plagioclase, hornblende and/or biotite phe-
nocrysts. The granodiorite porphyry sample (NTI-51) yielded
an early Oligocene 40Ar/39Ar age (31.39 0.15 Ma) and was
the youngest sample dated in the suite.
Lut Block trace element geochemistry
Normalized trace element compositions of igneous rocks
from the Shadan area are compared to those from other areas
of the Lut block in Figure 8a, in which it can be seen that the
patterns broadly overlap and are consistent with subduction-
related magmatism (e.g., negative anomalies for Nb, Ta, and
Ti). However, distinctions between the different regional
sample groups can be observed in the detailed behavior of
certain trace elements that are sensitive to magmatic condi-
tions and processes. The first of these distinctions is visible in
the normalized rare earth element patterns in Figure 8b,
where the Shadan suite shows no or minimal negative anom-
alies for Eu, compared to other rocks from the region. This
characteristic is also illustrated in Figure 9a, where the eu-
ropium anomaly (Eun/Eu*) is plotted against SiO2; the Shadan
suite plots just below Eun/Eu* = 1 (avg = 0.9 0.04, n = 11),
whereas most other samples from the area (except from the
Birjand area and some isolated samples) plot below Eun/Eu*
= 0.8 (i.e., display distinct negative Eu anomalies in normal-
ized REE diagrams). There is a rough trend of decreasing
Eun/Eu* values with increasing SiO2 in these other suites,
consistent with a control on this ratio by plagioclase fraction-
ation in more evolved rocks. These data suggest either that
plagioclase fractionation was not significant in the Shadan and
Birjand suites and/or the magmatic oxidation state was high.
Figure 9b compares the ratios of normalized LREE/
MREE ([La/Sm]n) to normalized MREE/HREE ([Dy/Yb]n)
as a discriminant of hornblende ( titanite) versus garnet frac-
tionation/restite. All of the samples show moderate LREE en-
richments ([La/Sm]n= 411; average for Shadan suite = 5.9
0.6) but only weak enrichment of MREE relative to HREE
([Dy/Yb]n = 0.91.7; ), suggesting no significant involvement
of garnet. The Shadan suite in particular clusters between
[Dy/Yb]n = 1.01.2 (avg = 1.1 0.04), suggesting hornblende
control on MREE-HREE abundances, consistent with the
presence of hornblende phenocrysts in most samples from
this area.
The behaviors of Sr, Y, La, and Yb are analyzed in Figure
9c-f. The Shadan suite straddles the overlapping boundaries
of adakite-like rocks and normal arc andesite-dacite-rhyolite
rocks in a plot of Sr/Y versus Y (Fig. 9c) but falls below the
adakitic range in a plot of La/Yb versus Yb (Fig. 9d). Only the
Birjand suite plots consistently within the fields of adakite-
like rocks in these diagrams. When plotted as a function of

1,000 1,000
(A) Lut block: NTI-6 (B) Lut block: NTI-6
Shadan suite NTI-27 Shadan suite NTI-27
NTI-31 NTI-31
NTI-32 NTI-32
Primitive Mantle Normalized

NTI-33 NTI-33
NTI-37 NTI-35
NTI-38 NTI-36
100 NTI-39 100 NTI-37
C1 Normalized

NTI-40 NTI-38
NTI-39
NTI-40

10 10
Paleogene Paleogene

1 1
Nb

Nd
Pb

Hf

Gd

Ho

Yb
Cs

Rb
Ba

Zr

Sm

Tb

Lu
La
Ce

Pr
Sr
P

Dy

Tm
Y
Tl

Th

Ti
Ta

Eu

Er

La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Element Element
FIG. 8. Normalized trace element diagrams for samples from the Shadan suite, Lut block (normalization values of Sun
and McDonough, 1989). The range of compositions of other Paleogene igneous rocks from elsewhere in the Lut block are
shown for comparison (gray field).

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310 RICHARDS ET AL.

1.4 12
(a) Birjand
(b)
Ghale Zari
Shadan
Lut Block
10
1.2 Hired
Dehsalm
Gonabad
Ferdows-Nayband 8

[La/Sm]n
Eun/Eu*

0.8
4

0.6
2

0.4 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
SiO2 (wt.%) [Dy/Yb]n

60
(c) 120 (d)
100
Adakite-like rocks 50

Adakite-like rocks
80 40
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20
Normal andesite
daciterhyolite
20 10

Normal andesitedaciterhyolite
0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Y (ppm) Yb (ppm)

60
(e) 120 (f)
100 Adakite-like 50 Adakite-like
rocks rocks

80 40
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20

20 10

0 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%) SiO2 (wt.%)

FIG. 9. Trace element and ratio plots for samples from the Lut block, showing fractionation trends where apparent. Fields
for adakite-like rocks from Richards and Kerrich (2007) and normalization values from Sun and McDonough (1989).

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 311

SiO2, the Shadan suite is not sufficiently diverse to reveal
fractionation trends, although other suites show clear de-
creases in Sr/Y with increasing SiO2, consistent with plagio-
clase fractionation (Fig. 9e). There is also a rough trend of in-
creasing (subadakitic except for the Birjand suite) La/Yb
ratios in andesitic rocks until SiO2 values of 65 to 70 wt % are
reached, whereupon La/Yb decreases (Fig. 9f), suggesting
possible fractionation of a LREE-enriched accessory mineral
such as monazite or allanite from more felsic magmas
(Gromet and Silver, 1987; Miller and Mittlefehldt, 1982).
Geochemistry of Cenozoic Igneous Rocks
from the Kerman Belt
Kerman belt petrology and lithologic classification
Hassanzadeh (1993) and Shafiei et al. (2009) reported geo-
chemical data for barren Eocene-Oligocene igneous rocks
(Jebal Barez granitoids and the Razak volcanic complex) and
porphyry-associated Miocene volcanic and intrusive rocks
(Kuh Panj and Meiduk porphyries, and Shahr-e-Babak vol-
canoplutonic suite) from the Kerman belt. The data of Has-
In contrast, the Miocene porphyries are mostly plagioclase-
quartz-hornblende-phyric granodiorites with variable amounts
of K-feldspar, biotite, and clinopyroxene (Kuh Panj-type por-
phyries; Shafiei et al., 2009, supplementary material), or
plagioclase-hornblende-biotite-phyric granodiorites (Meiduk
porphyry; Hassanzadeh, 1993). Hassanzadeh (1993) described
the broadly coeval Miocene Shahr-e-Babak volcanic rocks as
hornblende-plagioclase-phyric andesites and dacites.
Kerman belt trace element geochemistry
In normalized trace element and REE diagrams (Fig. 11a,
b), the Miocene Kuh Panj porphyry suite is distinctly more
fractionated than the older Eocene-Oligocene Jebal Barez
granitoids, with relative enrichments in incompatible ele-
ments and LREE, and depletions in Zr and MREE-HREE.
Normalized La/Sm ([La/Sm]n) ratios average 5.8 1.5 (n =
1,000
(a) Kerman Belt: AP
Kuh Panj porphyries DAP
DZP
GKP

Primitive Mantle Normalized

sanzadeh (1993) do not include complete trace element IJP
KDP
analyses, so are only illustrated in selected diagrams below. KPP
100 LZP
On a TAS diagram, the majority of samples plot as medium- MP
to high-K basaltic andesites, andesites, and dacites (Fig. 10). NP
RAMP
Samples from the Meiduk porphyry plot in the trachydacite SCP
SKP
(quartz monzonite) field, but these more alkaline composi- SNP
SP
tions likely reflect potassic alteration (noted in these samples
by Hassanzadeh, 1993). 10
The Eocene Razak volcanic rocks are described by Hassan- Eo-Oligocene
zadeh (1993) as clinopyroxene-plagioclase-(olivine)-phyric
basaltic andesites and andesites, whereas the late Eocene-
Oligocene Jebal Barez granitoids are described by Shafiei et
al. (2009, their supplementary material) as plagioclase-quartz- 1
Nb

Nd
Pb

Hf

Gd

Ho

Yb
Cs

Rb
Ba

Zr

Sm

Tb

Lu
La
Ce

Pr
Sr
P

Dy

Tm
Y
Tl

Th

Ti
Ta

Eu

Er
K-feldspar diorites and granodiorites, with minor horn-
blende, biotite, and pyroxene. Element

1,000
(b) Kerman Belt: AP
9 DAP
Trachy- Kuh Panj porphyries DZP
Kerman Belt dacite GKP
IJP
8 (Qz-monzonite) KDP
KPP
Latite Rhyolite LZP
7 Shoshonite (monzonite) (granite) 100 MP
Na2O + K2O (wt.%)

C1 Normalized

NP
lic RAMP
6 ka lic SCP
Al alka SKP
b
Su SNP
SP
5
Potassic Dacite Eo-Oligocene
trachybasalt (granodiorite)
4 10
Andesite
(diorite)
3 Basaltic
andesite
(gabbroic Meiduk porphyry (Miocene: K-altered)
diorite)
2 Kuh Panj-type porphyries (Miocene)
Shahr-e-Babak volcanic suite (Miocene)
1 Jebal Barez-type plutons (Eo-Oligocene) 1
Razak volcanic suite (Eocene) La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu
0 Element
50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%) FIG. 11. Normalized trace element diagrams for samples of the Miocene
Kuh Panj porphyry suite (data from Shafiei et al., 2009; normalization values
FIG. 10. Total alkali-silica diagram (Le Maitre, 1989), showing samples of Sun and McDonough, 1989). The range of compositions of Eocene-
from the Kerman belt. The alkalic/subalkalic boundary of Irvine and Baragar Oligocene igneous rocks from the Kerman belt are shown for comparison
(1971) is shown. (gray field).

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312 RICHARDS ET AL.
15) for the Kuh Panj porphyries, but only 2.9 1.1 (n = 22)
for the Jebal Barez suite (Fig. 12b). Normalized Dy/Yb
([Dy/Yb]n) ratios are also slightly higher in the Kuh Panj por-
phyries (avg = 1.4 0.2) than in the Jebal Barez suite (avg =
1.0 0.1). These values suggest that hornblende was an im-
portant control on MREE-HREE fractionation in both
suites, with the possibility of minor additional garnet control
in the Kuh Panj porphyries, leading to slightly higher
[Dy/Yb]n ratios. Hornblende was specifically identified as a
phenocryst phase in the Kuh Panj porphyries (Shafiei et al.,
2009).
The Kuh Panj porphyries display slightly positive Eu anom-
alies (avg Eun/Eu* = 1.1 0.1; Fig. 12a), suggesting either pla-
gioclase accumulation and/or hornblende fractionation, the
latter being more probable and consistent with other MREE-
HREE behavior noted above. In contrast, the Jebal Barez
suite is characterized by mildly negative Eu anomalies (avg
Eun/Eu* = 0.9 0.1), consistent with plagioclase fractionation.
Both the Kuh Panj and Meiduk Miocene porphyry suites
have elevated Sr/Y ratios (>33) and plot within the adakitic
fields in Figure 12c and e. La/Yb ratios in the Kuh Panj suite
are also elevated (>19) and mostly plot within the adakitic
fields in Figure 12d and f. In contrast, the Eocene-Oligocene
volcanoplutonic rocks mainly show nonadakitic Sr/Y and
La/Yb ratios, although Razak basaltic andesites (not adakitic
because SiO2 < 56 wt %) have high initial Sr/Y ratios (up to
78) which decrease with fractionation (Fig. 12e). The narrow
range of SiO2 values in the porphyry suites does not permit
the recognition of fractionation trends for these rocks in these
diagrams.
Geochemistry of Cenozoic Igneous Rocks
from the Chagai Belt
Chagai belt petrology and lithologic classification
Twenty-eight samples of volcanic and intrusive rocks, in-
cluding samples from the Saindak, Sorborut, and Reko Diq
porphyries, are plotted on a TAS diagram in Figure 13.
Sinjrani Volcanic Group: Four samples of bimodal mafic
and felsic volcanic rocks from the Late Cretaceous Sinjrani
Volcanic Group consist of low-K basaltic andesite and an-
desite flows, and a high-K rhyolitic lava dome (Fig. 13). These
samples were slightly to moderately sericitized (consistent
with greenschist facies regional metamorphism in these older
rocks noted by Siddiqui, 2004), but primary mineralogy of the
mafic rocks appeared to comprise plagioclase and pyroxene
phenocrysts, whereas quartz phenocrysts were present in the
rhyolite. The low-K nature of the mafic volcanic rocks, and
their depleted trace element characteristics (not discussed
further below) are consistent with an island arc setting for the
Chagai belt in the Late Cretaceous, as proposed by Siddiqui
(2004).
Intrusions in the Sinjrani Volcanic Group: Five samples of
porphyritic to equigranular plutonic rocks intruding the Sin-
jrani Volcanic Group (and one sample intruding the Juzzak
Formation) are all of medium-K composition and range from
gabbroic diorite, through diorites and granodiorites, to granite
(Fig. 13). Mineralogies range from pyroxene-plagioclase
olivine in mafic rocks to quartz-plagioclase-K-feldspar-pyrox-
ene in felsic rocks. Most of the samples were propylitically
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 312
altered (reflecting regional greenschist facies metamor-
phism), but one sample (NT13) appeared to be potassically
altered, and biotite yielded a Late Cretaceous age of 86.79
0.38 Ma.
Juzzak Formation: Nine samples of Paleocene Juzzak For-
mation volcanic rocks plot as medium-K basaltic andesites,
andesites, and dacites (Fig. 13; three propylitically altered
samples are low- to medium-K and contain chlorite, minor
calcite, and epidote). Unaltered mafic lavas contain olivine,
plagioclase, and clinopyroxene phenocrysts, whereas dacitic
tuffs and dikes contain plagioclase and minor (mostly altered)
clinopyroxene and hornblende.
Reko Diq Formation: One sample of hornblende-por-
phyritic medium-K andesite lava was collected from the Reko
Diq Formation (NT12; Fig. 13) and yielded a middle
Miocene age of approximately 15 Ma.
Saindak porphyry: Two samples of potassically altered rock
from the Saindak porphyry open pit are classified as medium-
K diorite and granodiorite porphyries (Fig. 13). Obvious
potassic alteration, present as abundant secondary biotite,
does not appear to have significantly affected the alkali con-
tents of these rocks. One sample of biotite from NT2 was
dated at 22.30 0.05 Ma, confirming an early Miocene age
for the Saindak porphyry system.
Reko Diq and Sorborut porphyries: Three samples of in-
trusive rocks from the Reko Diq complex and one sample
from the Sorborut prospect also plot as medium-K diorite and
granodiorite porphyries (Fig. 13). These samples display
moderate propylitic (Sorborut) or potassic (Reko Diq) alter-
ation, but fresh igneous hornblende from the Sorborut sam-
ple (NT6) yielded a middle Miocene age of ~16 Ma, whereas
the Reko Diq porphyries have been dated at between 13 and
10 Ma (Perell et al., 2008).
Koh-i-Sultan Volcanic Group: Two samples of fresh horn-
blende-plagioclase-porphyritic volcanic rocks from the Koh-i-
Sultan Volcanic Group plot as medium-K andesites (Fig. 13).
One sample (NT29) was dated at 5.63 0.09 Ma, slightly
older than the Plio-Pleistocene age for Koh-i-Dalil reported
by Perell et al. (2008). The major and trace element
chemistries of these samples are typical of arc volcanic rocks.
Chagai belt trace element geochemistry
Normalized trace element compositions of samples of the
Miocene Saindak, Sorborut, and Reko Diq porphyries are
compared with Paleocene Juzzak Formation volcanic rocks in
Figure 14a. Like the Kerman porphyries, the Chagai por-
phyries are distinctly enriched in incompatible elements and
depleted in compatible elements relative to the older barren
volcanic suite. Bearing in mind that several of the porphyry
samples are hydrothermally altered, some of the enrichment
in large ion lithophile elements (such as Cs, Tl, Rb, Ba, and
K) may be secondary, but this is unlikely to apply to high field
strength elements (such as Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, and LREE), which
are also relatively enriched. The two samples from Saindak
are notably more enriched than the samples from Sorborut
and Reko Diq.
In a normalized REE diagram (Fig. 14b) the porphyry
suites show much steeper patterns for LREE than the Pale-
ocene rocks but flatten through the MREE and HREE at
lower overall concentrations. Normalized La/Sm ([La/Sm]n)
 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 313

1.4 12
(a) (b)
Kerman Belt Kuh Panj-type granitoid
Jebal Barez-type granitoid
10
1.2

8
Eun/Eu*

[La/Sm]n
1

0.8
4

0.6
2

0.4 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
SiO2 (wt.%) [Dy/Yb]n

60
(c) 120 Meiduk porphyry (Miocene)
(d)
Kuh Panj porphyries (Miocene)
100 Shahr-e-Babak (Miocene) 50
Jebal Barez plutons (Eo-Olig)
Adakite-like Razak volcanic suite (Eocene)
Adakite-like rocks
rocks
80 40
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20
Normal andesite
daciterhyolite Normal andesite
20 10 daciterhyolite

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Y (ppm) Yb (ppm)

(e) 120 (f) 60

100 Adakite-like 50 Adakite-like

rocks rocks

80 40
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20

20 10

0 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%) SiO2 (wt.%)
FIG. 12. Trace element and ratio plots for samples from the Kerman belt, showing fractionation trends where apparent.
Data from Shafiei et al. (2009), fields for adakite-like rocks from Richards and Kerrich (2007), and normalization values from
Sun and McDonough (1989).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 313

314 RICHARDS ET AL.

9 0.1, compared with an average of 1.1 0.04 for the Juzzak

Chagai Belt Trachydacite Formation, suggesting a lack of plagioclase fractionation from
(Qz-monzonite)
8 relatively hydrous and/or oxidized porphyry magmas.
Latite
7 Shoshonite
(monzonite) In a Sr/Y versus Y diagram (Fig. 15c), the porphyry samples
Na2O + K2O (wt.%)

Rhyolite plot in the adakitic field (Sr/Y = 4770) but show an increas-
lic (granite)
ka lic ing trend with SiO2 (Fig. 15e), suggesting that these relatively
6 Al alka
b high values were achieved by fractionation, as is more clearly
Su
5 Dacite shown by samples from the Juzzak Formation. The Late Cre-
Sorborut (granodiorite) taceous Sinjrani Volcanic Group and intrusive rocks have Sr/Y
4 values 24 and decrease with SiO2 (Fig. 15e), as expected for
3 Andesite Koh-i-Sultan Volcanic Gp. plagioclase fractionation from relatively dry magmas. The two
(diorite) Reko Diq porphyries
Saindak porphyry
samples from the Koh-i-Sultan Volcanic Group have high
Basaltic
2 andesite Reko Diq Fm. Sr/Y ratios (92 and 99), consistent with hornblende fractiona-
(gabbroic Juzzak Fm. tion and plagioclase suppression in hydrous magmas.
diorite) Intrusion in SVG
1
Sinjrani Volcanic Gp.
La/Yb ratios are subadakitic (20) for most samples except
for the Saindak porphyry (and two others; Fig. 15d). Notably,
0 however, the porphyry, Juzzak Formation, and Koh-i-Sultan
50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%) Volcanic Group samples show a distinct trend of increasing
La/Yb with SiO2 (Fig. 15f), suggesting that these higher La/Yb
FIG. 13. Total alkali-silica diagram (Le Maitre, 1989), showing samples values are achieved by fractionation, most likely of horn-
from the Chagai belt. The alkalic/subalkalic boundary of Irvine and Baragar
(1971) is shown.
blende (observed as phenocrysts in these suites).
Discussion
Intrusive rocks associated with porphyry Cu deposits in
ratios average 6.2 1.4 (n = 6) for the porphyries, but only 3.5 three separate segments of Neo-Tethyan arcs in central and
1.3 (n = 9) for the Paleocene rocks, whereas [Dy/Yb]n ratios eastern Iran, and western Pakistan display similar temporal
are similar for both groups (avg = 1.1 0.1 and 1.2 0.1, re- and geochemical characteristics when compared with earlier,
spectively; Fig. 15b). As noted for the Lut and Kerman suites, barren volcanoplutonic suites from the same regions. These
the flat, depleted MREE-HREE profiles strongly suggest characteristics can be summarized as follows:
REE fractionation control by hornblende in the porphyry
suites. 1. The porphyry-related intrusions are relatively late in the
Europium anomalies are not well developed in any of the evolution of each arc and typically follow several tens of mil-
Chagai rocks except for the Late Cretaceous intrusions in the lions of years of barren volcanoplutonic activity along the
Sinjrani Volcanic Group (Fig. 15a), which show Eun/Eu* val- same arc axis (e.g., Perell et al., 2008). A similar temporal re-
ues decreasing from 1.0 in gabbroic diorite and diorite to 0.6 lationship is observed in other major porphyry districts world-
in granite, consistent with plagioclase fractionation from rela- wide, such as northern and central Chile, Per, northwest Ar-
tively dry magmas (hornblende phenocrysts are not present in gentina, and southwestern United States (Richards, 2003;
this suite). The porphyry suites have average Eun/Eu* = 1.0 Halter et al., 2004).

1,000 1,000
(A) Chagai belt: NT2(Saindak) (B) Chagai belt: NT2
Saindak, Sorborut, NT3(Saindak) Saindak, Sorborut, NT3
Reko Diq porphyries NT6(Sorborut)
H14(Reko Diq)
Reko Diq porphyries NT6
H14
Primitive Mantle Normalized

H15(Reko Diq) H15

H13(Reko Diq) H13

100 100
C1 Normalized

10 10 Juzzak Fm.

Juzzak Fm.

1 1
Nb

Nd
Pb

Hf

Gd

Ho

Yb
Cs

Rb
Ba

Zr

Sm

Tb

Lu
Tm
La
Ce

Pr
Sr
P

Dy
Y
Tl

Th

Ti
Ta

Eu

Er

La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Element Element
FIG. 14. Normalized trace element diagrams for samples of the Saindak, Sorborut, and Reko Diq porphyries (normaliza-
tion values of Sun and McDonough, 1989). The range of compositions of samples of volcanic rock from the Paleocene Juz-
zak Formation is shown for comparison (gray field).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 314

 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 315

1.4 12
(a) (b) Koh-i-Sultan Volc. Gp.
Chagai Belt Reko Diq porphyry
Saindak porphyry
10
1.2 Reko Diq Fm.
Juzzak Fm.
Intrusion in SVG
8 Sinjrani Volcanic Gp.
Eun/Eu*

[La/Sm]n
1

0.8
4

0.6
2

0.4 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
SiO2 (wt.%) [Dy/Yb]n

60
(c) 120 Adakite-like rocks
(d)
100 50

80 40 Adakite-like rocks
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20
Normal andesite
daciterhyolite Normal andesite
20 10 daciterhyolite

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Y (ppm) Yb (ppm)

60
(e) 120 (f)
100 Adakite-like 50 Adakite-like
rocks rocks

80 40
La/Yb
Sr/Y

60 30

40 20

20 10

0 0
50 55 60 65 70 75 80 50 55 60 65 70 75 80
SiO2 (wt.%) SiO2 (wt.%)

FIG. 15. Trace element and ratio plots for samples from the Chagai belt, showing fractionation trends where apparent.
Fields for adakite-like rocks from Richards and Kerrich (2007), and normalization values from Sun and McDonough (1989).

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 315

316 RICHARDS ET AL.
2. The porphyry-related suites formed in continental arcs,
with thickened crust in the case of the Kerman porphyries;
the Chagai belt evolved from an early (barren) island arc to a
later (mineralized) continental arc.
3. The porphyry-related suites are predominantly subvol-
canic, with little coeval volcanism.
4. The porphyry-related suites are hornblende-phyric, in-
dicating relatively high magmatic water contents (4 wt %
H2O; Burnham, 1979; Naney, 1983; Ridolfi et al., 2010),
whereas earlier barren suites are relatively dry (plagioclase-
pyroxene-phyric).
5. Compared with earlier barren volcanoplutonic rocks,
the porphyry-related suites are characterized geochemically
by: relatively high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, which increase with
SiO2 (where trends are visible); minimal europium anomalies
(Eun/Eu* 1); and light REE enrichments, but flat to con-
cave-upward (listric-shaped) MREE-HREE patterns, re-
flected in [La/Sm]n 48 and [Dy/Yb]n 1.01.5. H2O).
A relatively simple model can be put forward to explain all
of these temporal and geochemical relationships in terms of
progressive maturity in long-lived magmatic arcs. As dis-
cussed by Hildreth and Moorbath (1988), Kay et al. (1999),
Richards et al. (2001), Haschke et al. (2002), and Richards
(2003, 2005), when an arc axis remains static for a period of
several millions of years, magmatism evolves from relatively
primitive tholeiitic compositions (immature island arcs or
nascent continental arcs) to evolved calc-alkaline composi-
tions (mature continental arcs), through processes described
by Hildreth and Moorbath (1988) as melting, assimilation,
storage, and homogenization (MASH). This process reflects
the progressive interaction of hot, hydrous, asthenospheric
mantle wedge-derived basaltic arc magmas with the upper
plate lithosphere, and in particular the base of the upper plate
crust, where these invading magmas stall due to their high
density (relative to crustal rocks). If this flux of hot magma is
maintained, then a large magma complex develops at the base
of the crust (the MASH zone), in which fractionation of the
mafic magma and mixing with partial melts of crustal litho-
logic units gives rise to evolved, hybrid, calc-alkaline interme-
diate composition magmas, whose lower density allows them
to rise into the upper crust. A hot zone (Annen et al., 2006) in
the crust is progressively developed, whereby the flux of heat
(and mass) from the mantle is convected upward through the
crust toward the surface. Because convergent margins are
commonly under a mildly compressional state of stress,
crustal thickening may accompany the development of hot
zones.
These conditions result in progressive temporal changes in
arc magmatism toward geochemically evolved andesitic-
dacitic magmas with high volatile (especially H2O, S, and Cl)
and incompatible element contents, which are the essential
starting ingredients for porphyry deposit formation (Dilles,
1987; Cline and Bodnar, 1991; Cline, 1995). The high water
content of these evolved magmas results in their greater ten-
dency to be trapped in mid-to-upper crustal batholithic
magma chambers (105 km depth), as opposed to being
erupted at the surface, as is more typical for the earlier, geo-
chemically more primitive and less hydrous volcanic se-
quences (Winter, 2001; Miller et al., 2003).
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00 316
The processes by which low-density bubbly magmas and/or
separate volatile phases are focused in the apical parts of these
fractionating batholiths to form cupolas, within which por-
phyry deposits may form (under the right local magmatic,
structural, and hydrothermal conditions), have been described
by numerous authors and are not repeated here (e.g., Henley
and McNabb, 1978; Burnham, 1979; Dilles, 1987; Shinohara
and Hedenquist, 1997; Cloos, 2001; Richards, 2005).
The precursor tectonomagmatic processes described above
are reflected in the geochemical compositions of fertile arc
magmas as follows:
1. Porphyry-related magmas are typically relatively evolved,
medium- to high-K, calc-alkaline andesites-dacites or dior-
ites-granodiorites.
2. They commonly contain hornblende and/or biotite phe-
nocrysts, reflecting high magmatic water contents (4 wt %
3. Early and abundant fractionation of hornblende from
these hydrous magmas (Romick et al., 1992; Davidson et al.,
2007; Rooney et al., 2011) preferentially depletes the magma
in MREE-HREE and Y, leading to listric-shaped REE pat-
terns and low Y and Yb concentrations that decrease with
SiO2 (as a measure of fractionation).
4. Suppression of plagioclase crystallization due to high
magmatic water content (Moore and Carmichael, 1998; Mn-
tener et al., 2001) results in relatively high Sr (undepleted)
contents that only start to decrease with SiO2 in felsic (dacitic)
magmas.
5. Together, these petrologic behaviors result in porphyry-
related rocks having relatively high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios,
which some have misinterpreted as a source characteristic
arising from melting subducted oceanic crust (i.e., adakites;
Sajona and Maury, 1998; Oyarzun et al., 2001; Omrani et al.,
2008; Sun et al., 2011).
Key to this overall process would therefore appear to be arc
maturity: it requires a significant amount of time during
which the flux of magma from the mantle wedge is focused
along the same crustal axis for a mature magmatic system to
develop. Regional-scale changes in upper-plate stress condi-
tions may also control the commonly observed pulsation of
arc magmatism and the spatiotemporal nature of metallo-
genic belts (Richards et al., 2001; Tosdal and Richards, 2001;
Richards, 2003; Cooke et al., 2005). The ultimate evolution-
ary product of this magmatic flux is the voluminous exsolution
of volatiles in the upper crust, but whether an economic por-
phyry deposit forms as a result of this fluid exsolution is a
function of local-scale variables (as noted above). Neverthe-
less, a large deposit is unlikely to form without these underly-
ing precursors.
Conclusions
Porphyry Cu-Mo and Cu-Au deposits occur in three Ceno-
zoic magmatic arcs related to Neo-Tethyan subduction in
central and eastern Iran, and western Pakistan. Paleogene de-
posits in the Lut block of eastern Iran appear to have formed
during closure of a northern arm of Neo-Tethys between the
Central Iranian microcontinental fragments and the Eurasian
continent. The late Eocene porphyry deposits are among the
 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN
youngest manifestations of arc magmatism in the Lut block,
which appears to have started in the early Paleocene.
In contrast, Miocene porphyry deposits in the Kerman belt
of central Iran formed during convergence of the Afro-Ara-
bian plate with Central Iran, the collision of which caused the
Zagros orogeny. The exact timing of porphyry formation rela-
tive to final collision is unclear, but Shafiei et al. (2009) have
suggested that the mid-Miocene porphyries are syncollisional
and related to crustal thickening. They formed at a late stage
in the development of the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic arc,
following a major volcanic stage in the Eocene-Oligocene.
Subsequently, postcollisional alkaline magmatism has charac-
terized the Pliocene-Quaternary period.
In further contrast, in western Pakistan subduction of Ara-
bian Sea crust beneath the Makran accretionary complex con-
tinues today, as evidenced by Pliocene-Quaternary calc-alka-
line volcanism in the Chagai arc. Porphyry deposits formed
during the early to middle Miocene and Pliocene along this
arc, and indeed may be actively forming today beneath large
active stratovolcanoes such as Koh-i-Sultan (and the Taftan
and Bazman volcanoes along the extension of the Chagai arc
into southeastern Iran).
A common thread in these three regions is that porphyry de-
posits formed at relatively late stages in the evolution of their
host magmatic arcs, following periods of extensive volcanism
lasting several tens of millions of years. A similar late timing for
porphyry mineralization is observed in other porphyry belts
worldwide (e.g., northern and central Chile, Per, and south-
western United States; Richards, 2003; Halter et al., 2004).
Mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the por-
phyry magmas and related rocks indicate that they are rela-
tively evolved and fractionated significant amounts of horn-
blende prior to plagioclase crystallization as a consequence of
high magmatic water contents. In contrast, earlier, barren mag-
mas were relatively dry (plagioclase-pyroxene-phyric). Hence,
a simple explanation for the fertility of the later evolved mag-
mas is that their higher water contents resulted in plutonism
rather than effusive eruption and, most critically from a met-
allogenic perspective, the generation of subvolcanic mag-
matic-hydrothermal systems that precipitated ore minerals.
It is suggested that a prolonged period of arc magmatism
(perhaps several millions to tens of millions of years) along
the same crustal axis is necessary to establish a mature
magma-processing (MASH) zone at the base of the crust, in
which evolved, volatile-rich magmas can form. Further, a sus-
tained magmatic flux from the asthenosphere is required to
extend the thermal anomaly of arc magmatism into the upper
crust, where large, relatively long-lived batholithic magma
chambers and subvolcanic cupolas can develop. Porphyry de-
posits may form at subvolcanic levels as a consequence of
volatile exsolution from these batholithic magma chambers
and the focusing of fluid flow through narrow cupola zones.
Conversely, relatively dry magmas formed during early stages
of arc evolution tend not to stall in the upper crust, but erupt
effusively and do not generate large magmatic-hydrothermal
systems or porphyry deposits.
Fertile plutonic suites in continental arcs may be recognized
by their relatively late timing with respect to voluminous
plagioclase-pyroxene-phyric andesitic volcanism, the wide-
spread presence of hornblende phenocrysts (indicating high
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
317
magmatic water contents), and trace element compositions
featuring relatively high Sr/Y and La/Yb ratios, and lack of
negative Eu anomalies (reflecting hornblende fractionation
and suppression of plagioclase crystallization). In all cases, a
long-lived, mature arc setting is required for these fertile
magmatic characteristics to be developed.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Barrick Gold for financial
support of this research and for studentship support to
Rameh and Razique. The Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan
(Pvt.) Ltd. and the Reko Diq geology team are thanked for
providing logistic and technical support during the field in-
vestigations at Reko Diq. Richardss research is additionally
supported by a Discovery grant from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
We thank Franois Robert and Rex Brommecker for support
at Barrick Gold and Dick Tosdal for advice and discussions.
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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN
TABLE A1. Description and Procedures for 40Ar/39Ar Dating at the Nevada Isotope Geochronology Laboratory
Samples analyzed by the 40Ar/39Ar method at the University of Nevada Las
Vegas were wrapped in Al foil and stacked in 6 mm inside-diam sealed fused
silica tubes. Individual packets averaged 3 mm thick and neutron fluence
monitors (FC-2, Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine) were placed every 5 to 10 mm
along the tube. Synthetic K-glass and optical grade CaF2 were included in the
irradiation packages to monitor neutron induced argon interferences from K
and Ca. Loaded tubes were packed in an Al container for irradiation. Sam-
ples irradiated at the U.S. Geological Survey TRIGA Reactor, Denver, CO,
were in-core for 7 h in the In-Core Irradiation Tube (ICIT) of the 1 MW
TRIGA type reactor. Correction factors for interfering neutron reactions on
K and Ca were determined by repeated analysis of K-glass and CaF2 frag-
ments. Measured (40Ar/39Ar)K values were 2.05 (33.35%) 102. Ca cor-
rection factors were (36Ar/37Ar)Ca = 2.67 (1.87%) 104 and (39Ar/37Ar)Ca =
6.91 (1.19%) 104. J factors were determined by fusion of 4 to 8 individ-
ual crystals of neutron fluence monitors, which gave reproducibilities of
0.14% to 0.41% at each standard position. Variation in neutron fluence along
the 100 mm length of the irradiation tubes was <4%. Matlab curve fit was
used to determine J and uncertainty in J at each standard position. No sig-
nificant neutron fluence gradients were present within individual packets of
crystals as indicated by the excellent reproducibility of the single crystal flu-
ence monitor fusions.
Irradiated FC-2 sanidine standards together with CaF2 and K-glass frag-
ments were placed in a Cu sample tray in a high vacuum extraction line and
were fused using a 20 W CO2 laser. Sample viewing during laser fusion was
by a video camera system and positioning was via a motorized sample stage.
Peak intensities were measured using a Balzers electron multiplier by peak
hopping through 7 cycles; initial peak heights were determined by linear re-
gression to the time of gas admission. Mass spectrometer discrimination and
sensitivity was monitored by repeated analysis of atmospheric argon aliquots
from an on-line pipette system. Measured 40Ar/36Ar ratios were 280.84
0.67% during this work; thus, a discrimination correction of 1.0523 (4 AMU)
0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
321
was applied to measured isotope ratios. The sensitivity of the mass spec-
trometer was ~6 1017 mol mV1 with the multiplier operated at a gain of
36 over the Faraday. Line blanks averaged 12.56 mV for mass 40 and 0.05 mV
for mass 36. Discrimination, sensitivity, and blanks were relatively constant
over the period of data collection. Computer automated operation of the
sample stage, laser, extraction line, and mass spectrometer, as well as final
data reduction and age calculations, were done using LabSPEC software
written by B. Idleman (Lehigh University). An age of 28.02 Ma (Renne et al.,
1988) was used for the Fish Canyon Tuff sanidine fluence monitor in calcu-
lating ages for samples.
For 40Ar/39Ar analyses, a plateau segment is defined as consisting of three
or more contiguous gas fractions having analytically indistinguishable ages
(i.e., all plateau steps overlap in age 2 analytical error) and comprising a
significant portion of the total gas released (typically >50%). Total gas (inte-
grated) ages are calculated by weighting by the amount of 39Ar released,
whereas plateau ages are weighted by the inverse of the variance. For each
sample, inverse isochron diagrams are examined to check for the effects of
excess argon. Reliable isochrons are based on the MSWD criteria of Wendt
and Carl (1991) and, as for plateaus, must comprise contiguous steps and a
significant fraction of the total gas released. All analytical data are reported
at the confidence level of 1.
REFERENCES
Renne, P.R., Swisher, C.C, Deino, A.L., Karner, D.B., Owens, T.L., DePaolo,
D.J., 1998, Intercalibration of standards, absolute ages and uncertainties in
40Ar/39Ar dating: Chemical Geology, v. 145, p. 117152.
Staudacher, T.H., Jessberger, E.K., Dorflinger, D., and Kiko, J., 1978, A re-
fined ultrahigh-vacuum furnace for rare gas analysis: Journal of Physics E:
Scientific Instruments, v. 11, p. 781784.
Wendt, I., and Carl, C., 1991, The statistical distribution of the mean squared
weighted deviation: Chemical Geology, v. 86, p. 275285.
321
322 RICHARDS ET AL.

TABLE A2. 40Ar/39Ar Data for Samples from the Lut (NTI) and Chagai (NT) Regions

Step T (C) t (min.) 36Ar 37Ar 38Ar 39Ar 40Ar %40Ar* %39Ar rlsd Ca/K 40Ar*/39Ar
K Age (Ma) 1s.d.

NTI-18, Biotite, 14.20 mg, J = 0.001744 0.18%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0611 0.63%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 1.037 0.341 1.343 8.244 394.484 17.9 0.4 1.380208161 7.491842 23.42 0.84
2 725 12 0.558 0.104 1.590 9.771 271.975 44.5 0.5 0.355049411 12.150554 37.83 0.57
3 790 12 0.760 0.150 5.401 34.179 636.481 67.7 1.7 0.146385868 12.583688 39.16 0.41
4 850 12 0.524 0.144 13.696 92.023 1306.86 89.4 4.6 0.052194058 12.768532 39.73 0.34
5 905 12 0.391 0.196 22.859 160.197 2110.22 95.1 8.0 0.040808926 12.643455 39.35 0.33
6 960 12 0.288 0.291 29.856 209.74 2687.26 97.3 10.4 0.046277076 12.574918 39.14 0.32
7 1015 12 0.223 0.232 27.916 203.516 2582.08 97.9 10.1 0.038022663 12.526200 38.99 0.32
8 1055 12 0.190 0.231 18.479 139.696 1788.32 97.5 7.0 0.055154805 12.565499 39.11 0.32
9 1095 12 0.211 0.258 15.953 122.154 1574.96 96.8 6.1 0.070448111 12.554456 39.07 0.32
10 1125 12 0.234 0.254 14.235 108.956 1412.46 96.6 5.4 0.077757244 12.507363 38.93 0.32
11 1155 12 0.327 0.324 16.840 129.787 1706.94 95.7 6.5 0.083266983 12.594731 39.20 0.32
12 1185 12 0.407 0.371 25.348 195.925 2546.23 96.2 9.8 0.063159756 12.563225 39.10 0.32
13 1240 12 0.519 0.318 55.818 452.563 5762.26 97.7 22.5 0.023436852 12.559977 39.09 0.32
14 1400 12 0.518 0.134 16.913 140.806 1894.58 93.2 7.0 0.03174212 12.436893 38.71 0.33
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 39.04 0.19
Plateau age = 39.12 0.20
(steps 3-14)
Isochron age = 39.20 0.10
(steps 3-14)

NTI-20, Biotite, 13.90 mg, J = 0.001747 0.16%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0523 0.67%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 1.044 0.118 0.934 8.267 371.152 21.5 0.4 0.614247501 9.612381 30.04 0.93
2 790 12 1.135 0.218 6.487 60.403 965.804 67.4 3.0 0.155291411 10.829588 33.81 0.38
3 890 12 0.602 0.167 28.866 262.472 2976.99 94.4 13.2 0.027375764 10.802755 33.73 0.30
4 960 12 0.206 0.141 37.403 342.529 3707.72 98.5 17.2 0.017711415 10.758792 33.59 0.29
5 1010 12 0.192 0.162 24.401 226.354 2468.25 97.6 11.4 0.030793571 10.730346 33.51 0.29
6 1040 12 0.224 0.160 14.334 133.476 1485.31 96.1 6.7 0.051576601 10.763317 33.61 0.29
7 1070 12 0.262 0.194 9.700 90.155 1029.71 93.4 4.5 0.092587676 10.714831 33.46 0.30
8 1120 12 0.489 0.518 15.313 139.103 1610.48 92.1 7.0 0.160229826 10.693822 33.39 0.30
9 1160 12 0.446 1.158 25.143 219.275 2462.87 95.3 11.0 0.227236598 10.768489 33.62 0.29
10 1200 12 0.428 1.580 36.090 323.787 3552.70 96.9 16.2 0.209968558 10.708044 33.44 0.29
11 1230 12 0.196 0.115 12.953 131.676 1452.29 97.0 6.6 0.037577277 10.710306 33.44 0.29
12 1270 12 0.128 0.046 2.693 29.972 354.710 93.4 1.5 0.066035872 10.726468 33.49 0.30
13 1400 12 0.219 0.051 2.632 25.810 341.127 91.1 1.3 0.085020265 10.945337 34.17 0.31
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 33.55 0.18
Plateau age = 33.59 0.18
(steps 2-13)
Isochron age = 33.72 0.08
(steps 1-13)

NTI-34, Biotite, 13.20 mg, J = 0.001748 0.16%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0501 0.64%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 4.645 1.476 2.438 38.128 1687.61 22.8 5.0 2.114655959 10.160759 31.76 0.90
2 725 12 0.364 1.296 1.154 42.600 588.747 84.3 5.5 1.661627664 11.573477 36.13 0.33
3 790 12 0.206 0.905 1.511 58.559 725.574 93.4 7.6 0.843891443 11.529480 36.00 0.31
4 850 12 0.191 0.811 1.626 61.222 765.153 94.3 8.0 0.723317993 11.747234 36.67 0.31
5 905 12 0.209 0.606 1.802 55.851 703.932 93.0 7.3 0.592434749 11.671512 36.44 0.31
6 960 12 0.222 0.430 2.877 67.574 858.398 94.4 8.8 0.347420721 11.909712 37.17 0.32
7 1015 12 0.291 0.370 3.922 84.755 1087.82 93.7 11.0 0.238335675 11.994529 37.43 0.32
8 1055 12 0.299 0.352 4.035 83.490 1070.00 93.7 10.8 0.230175871 11.994529 37.43 0.32
9 1095 12 0.507 0.524 4.761 92.122 1233.97 93.4 12.0 0.310548909 11.933019 37.24 0.32
10 1125 12 0.728 0.800 4.210 76.346 1103.84 83.6 9.9 0.572136829 11.885434 37.10 0.34
11 1155 12 0.757 0.980 2.562 46.757 762.396 74.9 6.1 1.144590971 11.869250 37.05 0.38
12 1210 12 0.694 1.575 2.664 43.395 700.512 75.4 5.6 1.98253574 11.790276 36.80 0.36
13 1400 12 0.830 1.463 2.584 18.953 461.447 61.6 2.5 4.219277557 12.438565 38.81 0.50
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 36.73 0.20
Plateau age = 37.04 0.22
(steps 4-12)
Isochron age = 37.26 0.26
(steps 5-12)

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 323

TABLE A2. (Cont.)

Step T (C) t (min.) 36Ar 37Ar 38Ar 39Ar 40Ar %40Ar* %39Ar rlsd Ca/K 40Ar*/39Ar
K Age (Ma) 1s.d.

NTI-39, Biotite, 9.50 mg, J = 0.001749 0.18%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0523 0.67%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 0.833 0.174 0.435 9.745 385.983 40.2 0.7 0.743473798 15.852169 49.34 0.87
2 725 12 0.242 0.311 0.209 3.114 108.932 40.7 0.2 4.162803002 13.653835 42.58 0.99
3 790 12 0.207 0.101 0.365 5.817 135.891 60.3 0.4 0.722966039 13.638909 42.53 0.59
4 850 12 0.224 0.057 0.801 13.102 228.426 74.5 1.0 0.181118227 12.813031 39.98 0.42
5 905 12 0.127 0.058 1.350 22.336 317.324 90.5 1.7 0.108103054 12.767021 39.84 0.36
6 960 12 0.148 0.086 2.572 43.614 585.467 94.0 3.4 0.082088914 12.607634 39.35 0.35
7 1015 12 0.174 0.136 4.623 80.338 1055.28 95.9 6.2 0.070473908 12.658815 39.51 0.35
8 1055 12 0.197 0.178 5.860 101.606 1327.30 96.2 7.8 0.072930876 12.648773 39.48 0.35
9 1095 12 0.161 0.263 6.317 106.469 1369.63 97.1 8.2 0.102836493 12.569738 39.23 0.34
10 1125 12 0.164 0.379 5.906 94.444 1221.16 97.2 7.3 0.167065934 12.566499 39.22 0.34
11 1155 12 0.242 0.808 9.622 149.964 1933.39 97.1 11.5 0.224313225 12.566823 39.22 0.34
12 1185 12 0.299 1.363 19.881 322.743 4098.04 98.2 24.8 0.175817958 12.564232 39.22 0.34
13 1240 12 0.198 0.358 17.023 317.133 4022.79 98.8 24.4 0.046994712 12.632576 39.43 0.34
14 1400 12 0.205 0.066 1.597 28.961 419.160 93.9 2.2 0.094873304 12.616056 39.38 0.35
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 39.43 0.21
Plateau age = 39.42 0.22
(steps 4-14)
Isochron age = 39.31 0.10
(steps 2-14)

NTI-51, Amphibole, 24.40 mg, J = 0.001748 0.19%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0705 0.43%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 850 12 1.862 8.997 0.652 13.482 677.947 26.3 6.0 27.08060415 13.348091 41.61 0.73
2 990 12 0.171 0.474 0.419 2.740 77.706 46.3 1.2 6.978035058 11.221593 35.05 0.50
3 1080 12 1.058 22.606 11.910 45.789 733.509 65.2 20.5 19.99213269 10.498117 32.81 0.19
4 1100 12 0.481 33.311 17.220 68.722 774.155 90.6 30.7 19.62641629 9.725226 30.41 0.19
5 1110 12 0.176 14.209 8.310 33.869 364.287 94.8 15.1 16.97328823 10.050715 31.42 0.20
6 1120 12 0.108 6.627 3.723 15.170 171.674 94.0 6.8 17.67777817 10.074271 31.49 0.21
7 1130 12 0.067 2.597 1.403 5.376 70.444 94.0 2.4 19.55929102 10.352496 32.36 0.26
8 1140 12 0.062 1.758 1.088 3.154 45.955 90.4 1.4 22.58865522 9.816822 30.70 0.25
9 1150 12 0.064 1.976 1.458 3.234 47.378 91.7 1.4 24.77785702 10.121386 31.64 0.35
10 1160 12 0.073 2.722 2.028 4.597 62.644 90.1 2.1 24.00659328 10.060719 31.45 0.24
11 1180 12 0.100 4.860 3.460 8.628 105.888 89.7 3.9 22.82918983 9.936822 31.07 0.22
12 1220 12 0.087 4.271 2.892 7.736 96.328 91.9 3.5 22.37269575 10.188192 31.85 0.23
13 1280 12 0.118 4.501 2.838 8.761 113.296 85.1 3.9 20.80931903 10.008124 31.29 0.21
14 1400 12 0.129 1.356 0.826 2.620 60.011 66.6 1.2 20.96433224 9.784891 30.60 0.80
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 32.06 0.14
No plateau
Isochron age = 31.39 0.15
(steps 1-7)

NTI-61, Biotite, 15.40 mg, J = 0.001746 0.20%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0523 0.67%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 1.267 0.107 1.107 27.975 1004.45 65.0 1.3 0.161917435 23.458103 72.42 0.84
2 725 12 0.244 0.043 0.555 8.592 252.111 74.7 0.4 0.211865692 21.704892 67.11 0.70
3 790 12 0.265 0.050 1.047 15.121 398.577 82.6 0.7 0.139980184 21.710494 67.12 0.65
4 850 12 0.284 0.057 2.277 33.139 773.435 90.4 1.5 0.072812135 21.173318 65.49 0.59
5 905 12 0.268 0.069 4.261 61.442 1346.83 94.8 2.8 0.047538859 20.923504 64.73 0.57
6 960 12 0.263 0.095 7.100 103.32 2194.59 96.9 4.7 0.038922712 20.746163 64.19 0.56
7 1015 12 0.351 0.151 11.646 167.633 3521.54 97.3 7.7 0.038131265 20.636627 63.86 0.55
8 1055 12 0.322 0.194 12.696 183.067 3814.69 97.7 8.4 0.044859696 20.559997 63.63 0.55
9 1095 12 0.374 0.293 15.324 219.771 4572.09 97.8 10.1 0.056436933 20.541909 63.57 0.55
10 1125 12 0.547 0.422 20.036 286.645 6004.12 97.6 13.1 0.062321087 20.623800 63.82 0.55
11 1155 12 0.738 0.815 27.585 388.081 8097.14 97.5 17.8 0.088900793 20.544540 63.58 0.55
12 1185 12 0.581 1.312 28.029 388.273 8049.92 98.1 17.8 0.143045471 20.528426 63.53 0.55
13 1240 12 0.230 0.315 18.642 272.021 5557.13 99.0 12.5 0.049020002 20.402163 63.15 0.55
14 1400 12 0.166 0.062 1.791 25.834 568.93 97.7 1.2 0.101594944 20.438987 63.26 0.55
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 63.81 0.33
Plateau age = 63.72 0.36
(steps 5-14)
Isochron age = 63.50 0.19
(steps 1-14)

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324 RICHARDS ET AL.

TABLE A2. (Cont.)

Step T (C) t (min.) 36Ar 37Ar 38Ar 39Ar 40Ar %40Ar* %39Ar rlsd Ca/K 40Ar*/39Ar
K Age (Ma) 1s.d.

NT2, Biotite, 9.00 mg, J = 0.001748 0.17%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0593 0.57%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 650 12 0.774 0.124 0.947 10.626 282.954 24.5 0.8 0.374697173 6.383161 20.02 0.51
2 725 12 0.560 0.113 2.435 25.558 338.800 55.4 2.0 0.141954693 7.222252 22.63 0.26
3 790 12 0.510 0.114 5.526 58.203 555.607 75.6 4.6 0.06288504 7.176656 22.49 0.20
4 850 12 0.264 0.104 6.964 73.380 592.876 88.8 5.8 0.045503125 7.150328 22.41 0.18
5 905 12 0.105 0.095 7.370 78.040 578.865 96.5 6.2 0.039083289 7.098959 22.25 0.17
6 960 12 0.085 0.110 6.491 70.175 519.610 97.3 5.5 0.050326472 7.122396 22.32 0.17
7 1015 12 0.102 0.143 8.199 87.648 651.252 97.0 6.9 0.052381812 7.165740 22.46 0.17
8 1055 12 0.132 0.144 9.709 102.574 754.299 96.3 8.1 0.045072406 7.054979 22.11 0.17
9 1095 12 0.147 0.190 11.354 120.275 884.372 96.3 9.5 0.050718279 7.074561 22.17 0.17
10 1135 12 0.152 0.275 13.385 141.295 1036.71 97.5 11.1 0.062487581 7.105059 22.27 0.17
11 1180 12 0.176 0.371 22.362 231.486 1670.30 98.0 18.2 0.051455944 7.072956 22.17 0.17
12 1230 12 0.158 0.501 21.182 217.892 1584.62 98.2 17.2 0.073821987 7.141017 22.38 0.17
13 1400 12 0.311 0.240 4.964 51.363 448.996 87.9 4.0 0.150023775 7.099601 22.25 0.18
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 22.27 0.11
Plateau age = 22.30 0.11
(steps 2-13)
Isochron age = 22.30 0.05
(steps 2-13)

NT6, Amphibole, 26.40 mg, J = 0.001746 0.17%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0501 0.64%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 890 12 9.638 1.653 2.666 10.373 2792.92 3.0 7.6 8.556526426 8.104312 25.35 5.40
2 990 12 2.573 1.785 1.461 5.294 763.987 5.8 3.9 18.15644711 8.394149 26.25 3.02
3 1040 12 0.841 1.928 2.170 5.426 277.892 17.2 4.0 19.13953497 8.491760 26.55 1.01
4 1060 12 1.306 7.878 7.086 13.170 435.183 19.6 9.7 32.3477809 6.388226 20.01 0.67
5 1070 12 1.125 18.965 15.872 28.479 443.533 37.7 21.0 36.0512818 5.794984 18.16 0.35
6 1080 12 0.615 16.060 13.387 24.352 267.967 49.1 17.9 35.69916447 5.214522 16.35 0.24
7 1090 12 0.290 6.065 5.256 9.692 117.637 46.2 7.1 33.85528303 5.012091 15.72 0.25
8 1100 12 0.169 1.505 1.401 2.684 57.961 31.9 2.0 30.30429165 5.246559 16.45 0.45
9 1110 12 0.133 0.697 0.612 1.356 44.799 47.8 1.0 27.75836771 5.352613 16.78 1.13
10 1140 12 0.248 2.010 1.269 2.956 81.490 26.9 2.2 36.81997058 4.803648 15.07 0.71
11 1220 12 1.097 14.353 14.709 19.913 379.515 27.2 14.7 39.05586366 4.884647 15.32 0.38
12 1400 12 1.109 8.656 8.094 12.110 359.708 23.5 8.9 38.72673752 5.456764 17.11 0.51
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 18.42 0.25
Pseudo plateau age = 15.96 0.29
(steps 6-11)
Pseudo isochron age = 16.70 0.65
(steps 6-11)

NT12, Amphibole, 14.40 mg, J = 0.001737 0.15%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0705 0.43%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%

1 990 12 7.815 3.936 2.286 3.198 2331.45 7.7 3.1 49.54252688 57.871099 172.80 9.35
2 1080 12 0.462 4.337 0.958 5.033 149.592 19.6 4.9 34.53265679 5.486326 17.11 0.49
3 1100 12 0.452 10.210 1.385 11.063 167.16 35.5 10.7 37.01181342 5.102767 15.92 0.33
4 1110 12 0.434 22.318 2.582 23.576 204.445 62.0 22.8 37.97492715 4.921220 15.36 0.15
5 1120 12 0.372 24.768 2.632 25.919 190.965 71.1 25.1 38.33816779 4.749061 14.82 0.14
6 1130 12 0.226 14.802 1.433 15.417 115.72 76.8 14.9 38.52146785 4.780593 14.92 0.13
7 1140 12 0.152 4.395 0.435 4.569 60.144 60.5 4.4 38.5948616 5.141401 16.04 0.29
8 1150 12 0.138 1.146 0.199 1.198 43.535 27.5 1.2 38.37882734 5.002974 15.61 0.58
9 1160 12 0.132 0.888 0.179 0.898 41.791 27.8 0.9 39.68893895 6.188725 19.29 0.39
10 1180 12 0.188 1.767 0.342 1.751 61.088 26.9 1.7 40.51253735 6.114867 19.06 0.68
11 1220 12 0.299 5.211 0.940 5.376 110.516 38.3 5.2 38.8948654 6.453917 20.11 0.34
12 1280 12 0.278 3.939 0.587 4.010 98.095 33.6 3.9 39.422128 6.525881 20.34 0.56
13 1400 12 0.162 1.178 0.170 1.217 55.219 72.1 1.2 38.83989819 7.454148 23.21 0.76
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 20.84 0.14
No plateau
No isochron

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 HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN 325

TABLE A2. (Cont.)

Step T (C) t (min.) 36Ar 37Ar 38Ar 39Ar 40Ar %40Ar* %39Ar rlsd Ca/K 40Ar*/39Ar
K Age (Ma) 1s.d.

NT13, Biotite, 9.70 mg, J = 0.001731 0.14%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0611 0.63%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%
1 650 12 0.798 0.416 1.624 12.856 336.881 35.1 1.5 1.073021853 9.058854 28.07 0.54
2 725 12 0.262 0.236 1.059 9.251 291.510 77.1 1.1 0.845891761 23.964458 73.33 0.75
3 790 12 0.269 0.359 3.019 24.548 734.114 91.0 2.9 0.484867094 27.220220 83.06 0.70
4 850 12 0.147 0.373 6.078 46.746 1369.9 97.7 5.6 0.264533092 28.807298 87.79 0.70
5 905 12 0.107 0.241 7.462 56.443 1631.49 98.7 6.7 0.141548913 28.748804 87.62 0.69
6 960 12 0.124 0.349 9.208 68.911 2015.02 98.8 8.2 0.167895826 29.101870 88.67 0.70
7 1015 12 0.139 0.610 13.138 94.405 2722.89 98.9 11.2 0.214212054 28.796540 87.76 0.69
8 1055 12 0.115 0.680 13.713 99.357 2855.37 99.2 11.8 0.226893035 28.780740 87.71 0.69
9 1095 12 0.125 0.548 15.811 118.51 3377.52 99.3 14.1 0.153294537 28.566300 87.07 0.68
10 1125 12 0.134 0.524 16.753 127.679 3599.06 99.5 15.2 0.136053802 28.253514 86.14 0.68
11 1155 12 0.104 1.054 13.535 102.841 2913.94 99.7 12.2 0.339781531 28.419462 86.64 0.68
12 1185 12 0.130 1.589 6.141 45.635 1302.52 98.8 5.4 1.154669227 28.136639 85.79 0.68
13 1240 12 0.191 3.387 2.122 20.078 587.802 94.8 2.4 5.601522964 27.165568 82.90 0.67
14 1400 12 0.382 6.117 2.009 14.036 488.444 86.2 1.7 14.50993071 28.073845 85.61 0.74
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 85.87 0.37
Plateau age = 87.41 0.49
(steps 4-11)
Isochron age = 86.79 0.38
(steps 4-11)

NT29, Biotite, 9.90 mg, J = 0.001715 0.18%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0611 0.63%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%
1 790 12 1.759 0.159 0.871 26.802 573.468 14.8 2.3 0.200515856 3.147451 9.71 0.43
2 850 12 0.503 0.083 0.732 29.643 204.497 32.9 2.5 0.094636991 2.185409 6.75 0.14
3 905 12 0.719 0.081 1.676 70.918 333.696 40.8 6.0 0.038603458 1.873402 5.79 0.10
4 960 12 0.856 0.070 2.828 124.163 480.423 51.0 10.6 0.01905465 1.947659 6.02 0.08
5 1015 12 0.903 0.083 3.714 164.825 575.426 56.8 14.0 0.01701962 1.965819 6.07 0.08
6 1055 12 0.817 0.089 3.452 151.100 519.643 56.8 12.9 0.019907686 1.932742 5.97 0.08
7 1095 12 0.931 0.168 3.959 173.177 581.241 55.8 14.8 0.03278808 1.852975 5.72 0.08
8 1125 12 1.085 0.244 4.757 207.026 693.900 57.5 17.6 0.039834812 1.894154 5.85 0.07
9 1155 12 1.284 0.299 3.603 151.320 643.246 45.3 12.9 0.066784581 1.888966 5.84 0.09
10 1185 12 0.839 0.281 1.443 53.591 340.314 32.9 4.6 0.177227136 1.984953 6.13 0.13
11 1215 12 0.307 0.306 0.392 11.576 113.977 29.7 1.0 0.893659615 2.423256 7.48 0.19
12 1400 12 0.616 0.163 0.371 9.219 192.345 12.6 0.8 0.597687818 2.111122 6.52 0.41
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 6.04 0.06
Plateau age = 5.87 0.08
(steps 6-10)
Isochron age = 5.63 0.09
(steps 7-10)

NT29, Amphibole, 6.10 mg, J = 0.001707 0.22%

4 amu discrimination = 1.0611 0.63%, 40/39K = 0.0205 33.35%, 36/37Ca = 0.000267 1.87%, 39/37Ca = 0.000691 1.19%
1 850 12 1.059 0.278 0.285 4.482 326.135 9.9 9.1 2.110153684 7.115632 21.78 1.43
2 950 12 0.217 0.109 0.051 0.425 65.364 7.6 0.9 8.742641913 9.668932 29.53 3.06
3 1050 12 0.303 0.161 0.085 0.335 85.287 0.1 0.7 16.42041746 0.178949 0.55 5.47
4 1080 12 0.266 0.165 0.077 0.274 791.133 6.3 0.6 20.60055414 15.798181 48.01 5.49
5 1090 12 0.239 0.143 0.072 0.208 69.908 4.3 0.4 23.53960532 12.312461 37.52 6.40
6 1100 12 0.231 0.173 0.068 0.242 65.88 1.3 0.5 24.48383986 3.062309 9.41 7.07
7 1110 12 0.232 0.313 0.086 0.43 69.13 8.2 0.9 24.93348073 9.459037 28.90 3.36
8 1120 12 0.248 0.248 0.113 0.711 74.198 8.4 1.4 11.90140062 6.433714 19.71 4.24
9 1130 12 0.337 1.183 0.219 1.66 98.474 6.5 3.4 24.40706203 3.089729 9.49 1.02
10 1140 12 0.384 5.363 0.759 7.252 116.999 15.8 14.7 25.33430159 2.134052 6.56 0.29
11 1150 12 0.380 10.271 1.325 14.193 122.046 26.5 28.8 24.78715051 1.930071 5.93 0.16
12 1180 12 0.390 10.840 1.300 15.098 127.407 28.2 30.6 24.59079146 2.032053 6.25 0.17
13 1220 12 0.428 1.526 0.275 2.108 123.582 5.0 4.3 24.7955124 2.505375 7.70 1.30
14 1270 12 0.500 1.326 0.264 1.808 146.646 6.3 3.7 25.12330143 4.502269 13.81 1.43
15 1400 12 1.060 0.112 0.213 0.130 304.896 3.1 0.3 29.55148789 65.035349 189.92 52.01
Cumulative %39Ar rlsd = 100.0 Total gas age = 9.48 0.21
Plateau age = 6.16 0.22
(steps 10-13)
Isochron age = 5.64 0.28
(steps 8-13)

Notes: Isotope beams in mV; rlsd = released; error in age includes J error; all errors 1 sigma; 36Ar through 40Ar are measured beam intensities, corrected
for decay for the age calculations

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 TABLE A3. Sample Locations, Descriptions, and Geochemical Analyses from the Lut Block, Eastern Iran
326
UTM
Sample no. zone UTM (E) UTM (N) Latitude (N) Longitude (E) Regional grouping Ar-Ar age (Ma) Petrographic description

NTI-6 40S 681309 3598858 32 30.7345' 58 55.8105' Shadan Hbl(3 mm)-Cpx-Plag porphyry; Hbl has ox rims, greenish altn; gm
moderately fresh
NTI-7 40R 693885 3527115 31 51.7982 59 2.9660 Ghale Zari Plag(4 mm)-Cpx-Ol(?chl) porphyry; Plag phenos mod altd, minor zoisite, gm
moderately altered
NTI-13 40R 689237 3518707 31 47.2964 58 59.9216 Ghale Zari Ser-Carb-Chl-altd porphyritic volcanic rock; large Plag phenos(5mm)
altered to Ser-Ab

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
NTI-14 40R 689387 3523892 31 50.1000 59 0.0771 Ghale Zari Ser-Carb-Chl-altd porphyritic volcanic rock; mafic phenos (Px?)
pseudomorphed by Chl
NTI-18 40R 708763 3538465 31 57.7797 59 12.5428 Hired 39.20 0.10 cg Plag(3 mm)-Cpx-Hbl(?-altd) with interstitial Qz-Biot(fresh)
NTI-19 40R 697322 3508880 31 41.8982 59 4.9233 Ghale Zari Similar to NTI-18 but altd, vermiculitized?
NTI-20 40R 692497 3508445 31 41.7121 59 1.8651 Ghale Zari 33.72 0.08 cg Plag-Kspar-Px(reacted)-Biot-Hbl(green altd) with interstitial Qz-Biot(fresh)
NTI-22 40R 715757 3544833 32 1.1454 59 17.0657 Hired cg Qz-Plag-Kspar with vermiculitized Biot
NTI-27 40S 691566 3593764 32 27.8757 59 2.2964 Shadan Plag-Cpx(3 mm)-Hbl(ox)-Biot(verm)-porphyry; moderately altered fg gm
NTI-31 40S 677412 3595860 32 29.1505 58 53.2885 Shadan Hbl(ox/green)-Plag porphyry; patches of Carb in matrix
NTI-32 40S 673566 3582797 32 22.1200 58 50.6897 Shadan Plag-Cpx-Biot(somewhat altd)-porphyry, with Ser in matrix and Carb vlts
NTI-33 40S 679864 3587715 32 24.7206 58 54.7604 Shadan Similar to NTI-32 but more altered (mafics oxidized, more Carb in matrix)
NTI-35 40S 685731 3581944 32 21.5411 58 58.4340 Shadan Similar to NTI-34, but some primary texture still visible, and potassic altn not
quite as intense
NTI-36 40S 30 m E of NTI-35 Shadan Similar to NTI-35, but some retograde Chl on Biot
NTI-37 40S 685901 3582352 32 21.7601 58 58.5471 Shadan Altd Plag-Hbl porphyry; Hbl altered to greenish masses
NTI-38 40S 686093 3582484 32 21.8296 58 58.6710 Shadan Similar to NTI-37
NTI-39 40S 692894 3590028 32 25.8411 59 3.0980 Shadan 39.31 0.10 Fresh Plag-Cpx-Biot porphyry with glassy matrix; glom clusters of intergrown
Cpx-Biot-Plag
NTI-40 40S 692907 3590205 32 25.9367 59 3.1084 Shadan Similar to NTI-39, but Cpx is pseudomorphed by Carb, and Biot is oxidized
and altered

326
NTI-41 40R 690740 3518981 31 47.4297 59 0.8768 Ghale Zari Ser-Carb-Chl altered Plag-Cpx(?) porphyry; no mafics preserved, Plag mostly
replaced by Ser-Carb
NTI-42 40R 680291 3529709 31 53.3356 58 54.3775 Ghale Zari Plag-Cpx porphyry with devitrified groundmass; relatively fresh
RICHARDS ET AL.

NTI-43 40R 668175 3531010 31 54.1509 58 46.7079 Ghale Zari Plag-Cpx porphyry, Cpx mod fresh, Plag looks reacted, gm devit/altd; zones
of Ser-Carb altn
NTI-44 40R 671563 3540544 31 59.2788 58 48.9581 Ghale Zari Plag-Cpx-Opx(?)-Ol(altd) porphyry, mod fresh, some oxidation; elted
feldspathic gm
NTI-46 40R 702588 3449606 31 9.7769 59 7.5294 Dehsalm Ser-Carb-Chl altd Plag-mafic(altd) porphyry
NTI-47 40R 676227 3442333 31 6.0976 58 50.8666 Dehsalm Devitrified Plag-mafic(Chl-Ser) vitrophyre
NTI-48 40R 661150 3439410 31 4.6460 58 41.3572 Dehsalm Qz-Plag-mafic(altd)-Biot(altd)-Hbl(green) porphyry, with devitrified gm
NTI-50 40S 717206 3649998 32 58.0046 59 19.4411 Birjand Plag-mafic(altd) porphyry w Ser-Carb-Biot altn of mafics; Biot is fg and
somewhat altd
NTI-51 40S 714854 3658502 33 2.6314 59 18.0516 Birjand 31.39 0.15 Plag-Hbl(green)-Px(?Carb altd) porphyry with devitrified spherulitic gm
NTI-52 40S 714843 3659395 33 3.1144 59 18.0571 Birjand Plag-Hbl(altd)-Biot(ox) porphyry with devitrified gm
NTI-53 40S 668898 3790046 34 14.2689 58 50.0366 Gonabad Plag-Hbl(?altd to fg Biot) porphyry in devitrified and altered (Kspar?) gm
NTI-54 40S 657584 3821996 34 31.6558 58 43.0208 Gonabad Ol(??) porphyritic fg volcanic, w felted to trachytic fg Plag gm
NTI-55 40S 655349 3817104 34 29.0304 58 41.5068 Gonabad Plag(4 mm)-Cpx(plucked) porphyry with devitrified, oxidized gm
NTI-56 40S 633050 3811079 34 25.9585 58 26.8845 Gonabad Qz-Plag(reacted)-mafics(ox, Ep) porphyry, altd (Ser-Ep) feldspathic gm
NTI-57 40S 616739 3816857 34 29.2026 58 16.2829 Gonabad cg Plag-Kspar-Hbl(Chl)-Biot(Chl)-Cpx(?) granite, with micrographic
intergrowths
NTI-58 40S 617158 3816868 34 29.2057 58 16.5568 Gonabad Sericitized sparse Fsp(Ser) porphyry, with fg Qz-Ser matrix
NTI-59 40S 617158 3816868 34 29.2057 58 16.5568 Gonabad cg Plag-Cpx(?)-Hbl/Biot(Ser-Chl) granite, minor granophyric texture in gm,
Carb vlts
NTI-60 40S 591880 3744747 33 50.3393 57 59.5827 Ferdows-Nayband Ol(Serp)-Cpx basalt with rare glom Plag clusters, Plag gm with iddingsite
(red colouration)
NTI-61 40S 577611 3735123 33 45.2006 57 50.2797 Ferdows-Nayband 63.50 0.19 Flow banded glassy fiamme, Plag-Qz-Hbl(gr-br)-Biot(bent)-Cpx vitrophyre
NTI-62 40S 577578 3734191 33 44.6964 57 50.2534 Ferdows-Nayband Plag-Cpx(?Carb)-Hbl/Biot(altd) porphyry, with altered oxidized fg gm
NTI-63 40S 555983 3702087 33 27.4053 57 36.1444 Ferdows-Nayband Qz-Kspar porphyry, with altered oxidized gm
NTI-65 40S 578460 3606966 32 35.8448 57 50.1667 Ferdows-Nayband Plag-Hbl(green, mostly ox) porphyry with devitrified gm
 TABLE A3. (Cont.)

(Wt %)
Sample no. TAS classification SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3(T) MnO MgO CaO Na2O K 2O TiO2 P2O5 LOI Total

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
NTI-6 High-K andesite 56.09 16.22 8.02 0.16 3.68 6.48 3.17 2.55 0.65 0.32 2.83 100.20
NTI-7 High-K andesite 59.32 18.87 5.92 0.10 1.44 6.51 3.38 2.40 0.81 0.18 1.15 100.10
NTI-13 High-K andesite 58.92 15.97 7.38 0.11 2.83 5.59 2.89 2.51 0.72 0.15 3.67 100.70
NTI-14 High-K trachydacite 61.45 14.95 5.84 0.09 2.60 4.04 3.00 4.06 0.70 0.20 3.14 100.10
NTI-18 High-K dacite 63.66 15.30 5.99 0.11 2.78 5.15 2.68 3.65 0.66 0.13 0.67 100.80
NTI-19 High-K basaltic andesite 54.71 16.92 9.29 0.17 4.08 7.56 2.53 1.92 0.86 0.15 2.20 100.40
NTI-20 High-K trachydacite (Qz monzonite) 64.87 15.43 4.63 0.08 2.07 3.76 3.23 4.67 0.60 0.25 0.78 100.40
NTI-22 Medium-K rhyolite (granite) 76.86 13.01 1.16 0.02 0.17 0.98 4.73 2.31 0.12 0.04 0.87 100.30
NTI-27 Latite 55.94 15.45 6.57 0.13 2.20 7.07 3.06 3.58 0.60 0.34 4.07 99.02
NTI-31 High-K andesite 57.30 16.12 6.79 0.15 2.63 6.18 3.42 2.44 0.57 0.32 3.94 99.84
NTI-32 Latite 58.97 14.70 5.55 0.19 2.42 5.93 3.35 3.65 0.54 0.28 3.39 98.97
NTI-33 High-K andesite 55.81 15.55 6.82 0.15 2.97 6.35 2.89 2.48 0.50 0.32 4.62 98.44
NTI-35 Medium-K andesite (diorite porphyry) 61.05 17.23 7.58 0.10 2.04 3.55 4.09 2.40 0.53 0.36 1.85 100.80
NTI-36 Medium-K andesite (diorite porphyry) 60.05 17.86 6.29 0.06 2.51 4.62 3.37 1.67 0.56 0.38 1.91 99.30
NTI-37 Shoshonite (monzonite porphyry) 55.36 16.84 8.26 0.09 3.29 6.88 3.59 2.20 0.62 0.40 2.15 99.69
NTI-38 Medium-K andesite 59.16 16.81 6.25 0.10 2.14 6.56 4.08 2.02 0.49 0.37 2.19 100.20
NTI-39 High-K dacite 61.60 15.88 5.11 0.12 1.84 5.59 3.81 2.83 0.48 0.31 2.70 100.30
NTI-40 High-K trachydacite 61.54 15.67 5.07 0.13 2.05 4.92 3.58 3.59 0.48 0.29 3.64 100.90

327
NTI-41 High-K andesite 59.92 16.10 5.94 0.11 2.41 5.30 2.84 2.85 0.68 0.18 4.36 100.70
NTI-42 High-K andesite 59.97 16.35 6.16 0.14 2.34 5.82 2.98 3.25 0.58 0.24 1.97 99.80
NTI-43 Mugearite 49.09 15.96 9.12 0.20 2.54 11.24 5.23 0.71 0.85 0.23 5.52 100.70
NTI-44 Latite 59.37 18.05 5.93 0.07 0.72 6.29 3.41 3.64 0.59 0.33 2.39 100.80
NTI-46 Medium-K basaltic andesite 52.20 18.15 6.99 0.13 2.34 9.72 2.59 1.18 0.96 0.22 6.38 100.90
NTI-47 High-K dacite 64.89 14.55 4.84 0.11 1.44 4.31 2.80 3.76 0.62 0.14 2.81 100.30
NTI-48 High-K rhyolite 72.09 14.50 2.42 0.10 0.66 2.06 3.65 4.25 0.29 0.10 0.67 100.80
NTI-50 Medium-K rhyolite 70.60 15.69 2.23 0.04 0.98 2.52 4.14 2.93 0.26 0.09 1.23 100.70
NTI-51 Medium-K dacite (granodiorite porphyry) 65.38 15.45 3.35 0.05 2.00 4.61 4.13 2.24 0.44 0.19 1.60 99.46
NTI-52 Medium-K dacite 62.61 16.02 4.13 0.06 2.57 4.81 4.25 2.03 0.55 0.25 2.52 99.80
NTI-53 Medium-K dacite (granodiorite porphyry) 67.65 15.98 2.63 0.04 1.34 2.82 5.26 1.43 0.43 0.15 1.72 99.43
NTI-54 Medium-K dacite 64.81 16.86 4.63 0.09 1.51 3.85 4.40 2.02 0.65 0.25 1.75 100.80
NTI-55 Medium-K dacite 63.18 16.47 4.36 0.06 2.52 4.31 3.56 2.69 0.74 0.21 2.86 101.00
NTI-56 Medium-K dacite 61.43 16.49 4.86 0.08 2.63 3.61 4.14 2.51 0.64 0.16 2.71 99.25
NTI-57 High-K andesite (diorite) 59.77 16.70 6.26 0.11 3.39 6.34 2.62 2.72 0.86 0.24 1.84 100.90
NTI-58 High-K rhyolite 72.00 13.82 1.13 0.02 0.21 2.03 2.15 5.89 0.21 0.19 2.56 100.20
NTI-59 Medium-K basaltic andesite 53.97 18.05 7.21 0.14 4.42 9.08 2.57 1.78 1.08 0.23 2.16 100.70
NTI-60 Medium-K basaltic andesite 55.39 15.80 7.28 0.12 5.73 7.44 3.27 1.28 1.02 0.30 1.99 99.64
HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN

NTI-61 Medium-K dacite 66.32 14.50 3.70 0.08 1.13 3.43 3.79 2.63 0.48 0.13 3.79 99.98
NTI-62 High-K dacite 66.08 15.43 4.01 0.08 1.38 3.18 3.59 3.72 0.54 0.13 1.76 99.89
NTI-63 High-K rhyolite 73.54 12.52 2.04 0.08 0.28 1.72 3.11 4.38 0.23 0.06 2.16 100.10
NTI-65 Medium-K rhyolite 69.07 14.31 2.81 0.04 1.14 3.50 3.32 2.95 0.34 0.11 2.21 99.79
327
 328

TABLE A3. (Cont.)

(ppm)
Sample no. As Ba Be Co Cr Cs Cu Ga Ge Hf Nb Ni Pb Rb S Sb Sc Se Sn Sr Ta

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
NTI-6 <1 787 1 19.2 12.4 1.2 35 16 1.7 2.1 5 8 9 56 0.019 < 0.1 22.1 < 0.5 2 815 0.88
NTI-7 11 381 1 10.9 8.5 1.5 25 17 1.3 4.8 10.8 4 12 82 0.009 0.7 16.3 < 0.5 2 295 0.52
NTI-13 6 428 1 18.3 17 3.3 43 15 1.3 3.9 7.6 10 10 93 0.028 0.6 20.5 < 0.5 2 273 0.45
NTI-14 12 646 2 14.6 33.3 6.5 87 15 1.5 5.1 12.3 12 18 138 0.011 1.8 16.3 < 0.5 2 387 0.6
NTI-18 12 507 2 16.2 54.4 13.5 59 16 1.7 5.2 13.5 26 20 154 0.006 1.8 17.2 < 0.5 3 268 0.67
NTI-19 2 449 1 23.5 23.8 3.1 54 17 1.6 2.9 6.9 10 7 66 0.046 0.7 29 < 0.5 1 526 0.42
NTI-20 17 728 3 11.2 28.8 17.4 44 17 1.4 7.1 24.8 17 28 185 0.011 3.2 9.82 < 0.5 3 665 1.88
NTI-22 <1 184 2 2.2 5.6 1.1 6 13 1.2 2.5 5 6 10 47 0.003 0.1 2.42 < 0.5 1 105 0.49
NTI-27 2 736 2 13.2 31.2 3.6 52 16 1.4 2.9 7.1 11 11 94 0.054 0.6 19.6 < 0.5 1 750 0.42
NTI-31 2 739 1 14.6 8.5 5.1 39 15 1.5 2.3 5.2 5 9 54 0.009 0.2 16.3 < 0.5 <1 816 0.27
NTI-32 4 685 2 13.3 12.2 3.1 56 15 1.5 2.8 7 8 11 104 0.009 0.2 15.7 < 0.5 1 634 0.34
NTI-33 5 674 1 16 11.5 4.6 63 15 1.7 2.2 3.3 7 8 59 0.015 0.9 18.7 < 0.5 <1 723 0.19
NTI-35 2 457 2 11.3 9.5 10 827 16 2.3 2.9 51.7 7 26 73 0.016 0.5 15.7 < 0.5 5 727 36
NTI-36 7 408 2 17.4 8.3 7.6 351 18 1.6 3.1 4.9 7 9 56 0.028 0.4 14 < 0.5 1 837 0.25
NTI-37 21 690 2 10.1 21.7 3.3 34 17 1.7 2.8 6.9 19 <5 46 0.073 2.7 16.7 < 0.5 1 873 0.26
NTI-38 18 715 2 8.3 8.3 5.2 6 16 1.5 3 5.4 5 7 40 0.007 5.4 13.3 < 0.5 <1 840 0.3
NTI-39 2 721 2 10.5 8.4 9.2 38 16 1.5 3.4 8.1 8 13 114 0.019 0.4 10.9 < 0.5 1 826 0.44
NTI-40 7 724 2 10 10.5 4 48 16 1.5 3.1 8.3 6 13 98 0.008 0.4 10.8 < 0.5 3 734 0.4

328
NTI-41 7 493 1 14.6 15.9 5.3 31 15 1.5 4.4 9.1 8 12 104 0.005 0.9 18.2 < 0.5 2 296 1.25
NTI-42 5 637 2 16.6 12.6 9 76 16 1.4 4 9.1 10 13 110 0.008 0.9 16.1 < 0.5 1 637 2.06
NTI-43 9 187 <1 22.4 35.9 2.8 89 13 1.5 2 6.1 13 <5 13 0.025 0.7 29.4 < 0.5 <1 452 0.3
RICHARDS ET AL.

NTI-44 19 770 2 12.5 20.1 4.3 95 17 1.3 3.2 7.4 12 18 105 0.030 0.5 18 < 0.5 1 734 0.39
NTI-46 15 498 1 16.2 28.7 4.4 11 18 1.4 3.6 10.8 6 9 31 0.161 0.4 23.3 < 0.5 2 435 0.53
NTI-47 8 480 2 11.1 23.1 8.3 18 15 1.6 6.1 17 11 21 133 0.011 1 13.6 < 0.5 2 225 1.09
NTI-48 3 527 2 3.3 < 0.5 2.8 9 13 1.7 3.5 13.4 3 13 132 0.004 0.3 4.32 < 0.5 2 255 0.74
NTI-50 2 638 1 4.8 16 3.4 44 13 1.3 3.2 7.3 11 17 98 0.004 0.3 4.7 < 0.5 <1 236 0.52
NTI-51 <1 606 1 10.1 48.6 1.5 25 16 1 3.5 10.1 35 8 67 0.004 0.2 7.32 < 0.5 1 567 0.68
NTI-52 <1 595 1 15.3 99.8 1.6 35 16 1 2.9 12 66 7 56 0.004 0.2 9.95 < 0.5 <1 785 0.5
NTI-53 1 187 1 6.5 16.2 0.8 35 18 0.9 4 3.7 15 <5 22 0.015 < 0.1 4.1 < 0.5 <1 358 0.24
NTI-54 4 349 2 8.4 3.9 2.5 28 20 1.3 6.8 21.6 3 8 75 0.080 < 0.1 9.7 < 0.5 3 364 0.92
NTI-55 3 326 2 13.2 58.4 3.7 19 17 1.3 5.4 15.9 39 10 131 0.006 < 0.1 11.1 < 0.5 4 265 0.93
NTI-56 5 303 2 14.5 24.1 7.6 25 17 1.4 4.8 11.4 16 13 111 0.016 0.4 11.7 < 0.5 4 373 0.67
NTI-57 2 448 3 19.1 69.7 5.9 39 17 1.6 4.8 22.4 23 12 126 0.006 0.6 20.2 < 0.5 6 326 0.97
NTI-58 3 500 2 1.5 9.5 6.6 9 14 1.5 2.4 14.8 5 6 292 0.005 0.5 6.53 < 0.5 11 67 1.77
NTI-59 <1 354 2 22.5 119 7.9 20 18 1.5 3.1 17.2 30 13 73 0.009 0.5 25.1 < 0.5 4 385 0.74
NTI-60 3 239 2 28.2 233 3.2 31 16 1.5 4.4 13.8 68 <5 41 0.006 0.3 20.5 < 0.5 2 368 0.61
NTI-61 6 527 2 7.1 12.3 29.2 12 16 1.5 5.7 15.9 4 16 142 0.014 0.9 8.37 < 0.5 3 303 0.89
NTI-62 8 519 2 7.6 7.2 6.3 8 17 1.4 6.2 18.7 6 16 145 0.041 1.4 8.84 < 0.5 3 281 0.87
NTI-63 55 555 2 2.7 2.9 7.5 5 13 1.7 4 17.6 2 18 149 0.008 1.2 3.74 < 0.5 2 142 0.95
NTI-65 <1 717 1 6.2 16.5 0.8 27 13 1.1 3.9 8.9 8 10 70 0.009 < 0.1 5.93 < 0.5 <1 323 0.81
 TABLE A3. (Cont.)

Sample no. Th U V Y Zn Zr La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tl Tm Yb Lu

NTI-6 4.87 1.48 520 19 75 83 20.4 40.9 5.01 20.2 4.53 1.29 4.1 0.62 3.48 0.68 2.05 0.09 0.319 2.18 0.35

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
NTI-7 8.56 2.1 109 28 64 175 21.6 47 5.64 22.4 5.24 1.21 5.13 0.87 5.19 1.02 3 0.24 0.454 3.05 0.468
NTI-13 9.04 2.06 160 20 68 143 19.5 39.8 4.72 18.2 3.91 0.971 3.94 0.64 3.84 0.77 2.25 0.12 0.335 2.29 0.376
NTI-14 15.4 3.57 142 22 57 202 31.4 62.1 6.9 25.5 4.87 1.04 4.24 0.68 3.86 0.78 2.32 0.32 0.344 2.36 0.378
NTI-18 16.7 3.76 154 21 80 201 26.9 54.3 6.06 22.1 4.4 0.881 3.99 0.66 3.88 0.75 2.2 0.42 0.331 2.27 0.375
NTI-19 5.1 1.31 262 20 78 100 16.3 35 4.31 17.7 4 1.07 3.92 0.65 3.85 0.76 2.23 0.15 0.341 2.35 0.375
NTI-20 43.1 12.7 97 16 61 267 57.2 105 10.9 36.8 5.96 1.27 4.37 0.61 3.25 0.62 1.79 0.62 0.27 1.84 0.295
NTI-22 3.06 0.89 8 13 14 75 8.76 19.1 2.28 7.94 1.66 0.348 1.59 0.3 1.92 0.39 1.19 0.1 0.199 1.39 0.221
NTI-27 7.86 2.26 193 17 79 108 23.8 47.8 5.86 23.2 4.73 1.22 3.85 0.57 3.17 0.62 1.83 0.33 0.277 1.84 0.307
NTI-31 5.03 1.75 160 17 67 86 19.8 40.2 4.99 20.1 4.34 1.22 3.73 0.56 3.13 0.61 1.8 0.19 0.274 1.87 0.309
NTI-32 8.34 2.27 124 14 64 104 21.5 44.2 5.34 21 4.26 1.11 3.36 0.5 2.71 0.52 1.53 0.28 0.236 1.66 0.27
NTI-33 5.24 1.77 173 18 61 84 20.6 41.4 5.17 21.2 4.39 1.19 3.68 0.58 3.14 0.63 1.84 0.36 0.282 1.95 0.312
NTI-35 7.38 4.33 159 19 87 115 29.2 57 6.87 27.5 5.58 1.59 4.53 0.65 3.57 0.67 1.97 0.74 0.299 2.03 0.332
NTI-36 7.49 1.54 164 19 42 121 36.4 67.7 7.92 30.5 5.79 1.39 4.68 0.66 3.44 0.67 1.94 0.51 0.29 1.94 0.328
NTI-37 7.67 2.06 202 20 32 110 31.7 61.8 7.39 29.3 5.89 1.65 4.75 0.69 3.74 0.71 2.1 0.35 0.312 2.11 0.345
NTI-38 7.77 2.15 136 19 30 121 33.7 65.4 7.9 30.9 6.18 1.68 4.97 0.68 3.63 0.7 2.03 0.2 0.306 2.06 0.339
NTI-39 10 2.76 136 17 62 127 27.3 53.3 6.2 24.3 4.73 1.22 3.86 0.57 3.13 0.6 1.75 0.45 0.271 1.87 0.314
NTI-40 9.82 2.66 130 16 61 118 27 52.6 6.11 23.9 4.56 1.17 3.71 0.55 3.03 0.6 1.73 0.34 0.267 1.8 0.302
NTI-41 11.5 2.95 139 23 60 164 21.2 44.6 5.17 20.4 4.37 0.994 4.17 0.7 4.01 0.8 2.37 0.24 0.357 2.37 0.382

329
NTI-42 16.3 4.75 168 20 65 146 26.8 51.9 5.95 22.4 4.61 1.14 3.86 0.6 3.35 0.65 1.92 0.13 0.293 1.98 0.312
NTI-43 2.62 0.72 200 17 55 76 11.4 25.7 3.35 14.7 3.53 1.1 3.41 0.54 3.21 0.62 1.83 < 0.05 0.274 1.81 0.297
NTI-44 12.1 3.2 210 14 80 130 26.1 50.1 5.82 22.6 4.46 1.19 3.75 0.52 2.84 0.54 1.57 0.19 0.24 1.67 0.279
NTI-46 5.15 1.32 209 20 81 132 20.6 44.1 5.32 21.3 4.66 1.27 4.17 0.68 3.89 0.76 2.19 0.11 0.334 2.19 0.349
NTI-47 14 3.57 103 24 55 245 29.9 62.7 6.9 25.9 5.25 1.02 4.48 0.74 4.24 0.83 2.45 0.34 0.374 2.54 0.413
NTI-48 12.6 2.87 33 18 44 135 33.4 61.4 6.5 22.5 3.86 0.846 3.18 0.49 2.87 0.57 1.76 0.37 0.291 2.12 0.366
NTI-50 9.52 3.02 34 8 64 128 18.3 31.6 3.31 11.4 1.99 0.565 1.81 0.26 1.44 0.27 0.79 0.47 0.116 0.81 0.137
NTI-51 10.3 2.45 67 9 43 145 29.3 52.7 5.51 18.7 3.22 0.835 2.5 0.33 1.67 0.31 0.87 0.21 0.127 0.84 0.129
NTI-52 8.32 2.07 92 9 48 119 28.9 53.1 5.65 19.6 3.36 0.937 2.6 0.36 1.91 0.37 1 < 0.05 0.143 0.9 0.142
NTI-53 1.73 0.68 37 6 33 173 17.9 39.5 4.56 16.7 3 0.886 2.09 0.26 1.24 0.22 0.58 < 0.05 0.08 0.49 0.075
NTI-54 8.97 1.72 41 29 67 305 39.8 84.5 9.58 35.4 6.76 1.61 5.79 0.96 5.47 1.05 3.04 0.21 0.464 3.16 0.501
NTI-55 17.3 3.35 74 22 52 231 36 69.5 7.54 27 5.15 1.14 4.53 0.72 4.01 0.8 2.35 0.38 0.357 2.4 0.406
NTI-56 10.1 2.8 82 23 59 194 26 53.1 6.07 22.3 4.47 1.05 4.28 0.69 3.97 0.79 2.34 0.31 0.348 2.34 0.39
NTI-57 15.8 3.76 141 25 58 184 39.2 78.3 8.74 31.8 6.28 1.23 5.32 0.79 4.5 0.88 2.54 0.35 0.373 2.35 0.367
NTI-58 9.44 3.57 22 13 22 83 17.8 36.2 4.09 14.4 3.04 0.623 2.79 0.48 2.66 0.47 1.3 1.29 0.196 1.36 0.217
NTI-59 7.45 2.08 210 20 62 117 27.6 55.1 6.41 24 5.05 1.38 4.48 0.68 3.9 0.76 2.14 0.2 0.316 2.05 0.32
NTI-60 4.52 1.12 141 22 61 186 22.6 48.5 5.98 23.1 4.96 1.39 4.63 0.76 4.19 0.8 2.26 0.26 0.336 2.24 0.36
NTI-61 17.3 4.19 54 25 51 219 37.3 74.7 8.14 28.7 5.52 1.09 4.77 0.75 4.39 0.85 2.5 0.66 0.389 2.63 0.408
HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN

NTI-62 16.8 3.18 58 26 53 244 37.2 74.8 8.2 28.8 5.54 1.15 4.84 0.75 4.29 0.83 2.47 0.44 0.389 2.59 0.412
NTI-63 15.2 2.03 14 20 37 155 41.6 79.6 8.13 27.3 4.66 0.772 3.62 0.57 3.32 0.68 2.02 0.58 0.32 2.27 0.371
NTI-65 12.2 2.85 51 10 51 154 29.4 50.8 5.04 17.3 2.98 0.765 2.43 0.35 1.85 0.36 1.03 0.24 0.155 1.04 0.161
329
 330

TABLE A4. Sample Locations, Descriptions, and Geochemical Analyses from the Chagai Belt, Western Pakistan

UTM UTM
Sample no. 41R (E) 41R (N) Regional grouping Ar-Ar age (Ma) Petrographic notes TAS classification (alteration)

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NT1 405713 3221266 Juzzak Fm. Hbl(reacted)-Plag-(Cpx)porphyry; fairly fresh Medium-K dacite
NT2 365249 3236504 Saindak 22.30 0.05 Potassic alteration (Biot) with minor Mt-Cp; minor Chl-Py overprint Medium-K dacite porphyry(K)
or granodiorite
NT3 365094 3236680 Saindak Strong potassic alteration: Biot (with retrograde Chl-Ep), minor Mt-(Hm) Medium-K andesite
porphyry(K+) or diorite
NT6 394169 3234757 Reko Diq (Sorborut) 15.96 0.29 Qz-Hbl-plag porphyry with abundant secondary Ep Medium-K diorite(Pr)
NT7 394673 3235585 Intrusion in Sinjrani Diorite with secondary Qz-Ep Medium-K gabbroic diorite(Pr)
Volcanic Group
NT8 394751 3235528 Intrusion in Sinjrani Stongly propylitically altered (Qz-Ep) diorite Medium-K granite(Pr+)
Volcanic Group
NT9 393464 3236230 Sinjrani Volcanic Group Fine-grained volcanic with fine-grained secondary Mt-Py-Biot Low-K andesite
NT11 393579 3236219 Intrusion in Sinjrani Propylitically altered diorite (Qz-Chl) Medium-K granodiorite(Pr)
Volcanic Group
NT12 408093 3227469 Reko Diq Fm. 14.8 Ma Fresh Hbl porphyry Medium-K andesite
NT13 399308 3237214 Intrusion in Sinjrani 86.79 0.38 Diorite with fresh primary and secondary Biot Medium-K granodiorite
Volcanic Group
NT14 392367 3238326 Sinjrani Volcanic Group Weakly sericite-Qz altered volcanic High-K rhyolite
NT15 393015 3238036 Intrusion in Sinjrani Granodiorite with interstitial Qz, abundant subophitic green amphibole Medium-K diorite

330
Volcanic Group (partially altered) and Biot (partially altered to Chl), Mt
NT16 392803 3237957 Sinjrani Volcanic Group Moderately altered volcanic with secondary sericite Biot (Mt, rare Py) Low-K basaltic andesite
NT17 419150 3222224 Juzzak Fm. Fine-grained felsic volcanic with abundant Plag crystals Medium-K dacite
RICHARDS ET AL.

NT18 419048 3222099 Juzzak Fm. Fine-grained felsic volcanic with abundant Plag crystals Medium-K dacite
NT19 420658 3221945 Juzzak Fm. Propylitically altered (Chl-Ct) volcanic Low-K basaltic andesite(Pr)
NT20 421670 3221167 Juzzak Fm. Propylitically altered (Chl-Ep) Plag-porphyritic volcanic Medium-K andesite(Pr)
NT21 423934 3223942 Juzzak Fm. Propylitically altered (Ep-Qz-Chl) Plag-porphyritic volcanic Low-K dacite(Pr)
NT22 422776 3223823 Koh-i-Sultan Hbl(oxidized rims)-Plag-porphyritic volcanic Medium-K andesite
Volcanic Group
NT24 425240 3223846 Juzzak Fm. Ol-Plag-Cpx-porphyritic volcanic, with rare Qz xenocrysts (partially resorbed) Medium-K basaltic andesite
NT25 410135 3229138 Intrusion in Sinjrani Contact metamorphosed(?) mafics altered but some fresh pyroxene(?) Medium-K diorite
Volcanic Group
NT26 405763 3231464 Sinjrani Volcanic Group Contact metamorphosed(?) fine-grained Mt + granular pyroxene(?) Low-K basaltic andesite
NT27 425866 3221888 Juzzak Fm. Ol(altd)-Plag-Cpx-porphyritic volcanic, medium-grained Medium-K basaltic andesite
NT28 417866 3231359 Juzzak Fm. Trachytic Plag-Ol(altd.) volcanic, med-to-fine grained Medium-K basaltic andesite
NT29 420751 3229626 Koh-i-Sultan 5.63 0.09 Hbl (fresh, red), Plag (sieve textured), Biot porphyritic volcanic Medium-K andesite
Volcanic Group
H14-RD510- 407752 3222196 Reko Diq Qz-Plag-Biot-porphyry; moderate K-silicate alteration Medium-K dacite (ganodiorite)
1306G (Biot-Kspar-Mt, with minor Chl, trace Ep)
H15-RD567- 408256 3223299 Reko Diq Qz-Plag-Biot-porphyry with fine-grained K-altered aphanitic groundmass Medium-K dacite (ganodiorite)
499G
H13-RD146- 408398 3220700 Reko Diq Qz-Plag-Biot-porphyry; weak potassic (Biot-Kspar-Mt) Medium-K dacite (ganodiorite)
437G alteration overprinted by Chl, Ep
 TABLE A4. (Cont.)

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Wt % ppm

Sample no. SiO2 Al2O3 Fe2O3(T) MnO MgO CaO Na2O K2O TiO2 P2O5 LOI Total As Ba Co Cr Cs Cu Ga Hf Nb Ni Pb Rb S

NT1 61.69 16.61 4.97 0.10 2.54 5.59 3.60 1.41 0.44 0.16 1.84 98.95 8 497 13.3 34.1 0.4 58 15 2.5 4.4 19 10 37 0.043
NT2 66.03 15.52 5.24 0.03 2.33 4.14 3.46 1.96 0.38 0.13 1.17 100.40 6 491 9.6 66.8 2.9 494 14 2.8 6.2 299 15 74 0.207
NT3 58.25 15.52 8.23 0.05 5.79 4.70 3.19 2.20 0.55 0.15 1.81 100.40 6 208 13.3 281 12.2 194 16 3.6 6.4 663 14 148 0.048
NT6 60.02 16.92 6.37 0.11 3.34 5.84 3.30 1.57 0.50 0.15 2.52 100.60 <1 497 17.1 27.2 1 55 15 2.2 3.8 51 6 40 0.009
NT7 54.43 16.91 8.69 0.15 4.98 7.47 3.35 0.91 0.67 0.10 1.94 99.58 9 142 31.1 109 2 128 16 2.2 1.8 86 9 21 0.025
NT8 70.66 13.40 3.70 0.11 1.34 3.34 3.62 2.38 0.45 0.09 1.44 100.50 8 328 9.5 24.3 0.3 42 12 4.3 2.5 9 9 53 0.018
NT9 58.61 16.42 11.15 0.22 7.54 0.28 3.65 0.13 0.66 0.09 0.45 99.20 <1 12 20.7 5.3 1.1 2 15 0.6 0.9 34 6 1 0.040
NT11 62.07 15.45 6.60 0.11 3.26 5.41 3.25 1.53 0.65 0.12 1.55 100.00 3 192 19.9 55.6 1.2 53 13 2.4 2.1 31 10 29 0.017
NT12 55.08 17.74 6.98 0.11 4.22 7.42 3.10 0.90 0.70 0.18 2.88 99.31 9 369 22.6 45 < 0.1 63 16 1.8 4.9 35 5 16 0.022
NT13 65.80 15.03 5.82 0.09 2.30 5.21 3.32 1.90 0.62 0.12 0.27 100.50 8 236 15.6 52.6 2.8 58 14 4.7 2.4 18 8 56 0.003
NT14 73.65 12.74 2.01 0.02 0.56 1.60 3.47 4.32 0.21 0.05 2.04 100.70 3 470 3.7 61.7 1.5 7 11 4.2 3.4 6 <5 103 0.209
NT15 57.01 16.85 7.26 0.14 4.42 8.09 2.90 0.77 0.62 0.12 1.28 99.45 3 132 25.7 128 0.5 73 15 1.5 1.3 37 <5 17 0.061
NT16 54.61 16.20 10.31 0.27 10.66 4.66 0.36 0.53 0.47 0.05 1.72 99.83 2 47 36.9 126 0.8 6 14 0.7 0.9 31 5 10 0.079
NT17 63.78 16.51 4.01 0.09 1.77 4.97 4.03 1.39 0.36 0.17 1.88 98.95 2 511 10 39.9 1.5 24 17 2.4 5.1 9 6 42 0.093

331
NT18 64.22 16.53 3.98 0.09 1.75 5.03 4.05 1.40 0.36 0.17 2.33 99.90 2 522 10.3 51.5 1.4 21 16 2.4 4.8 10 9 41 0.105
NT19 49.67 16.67 8.73 0.22 6.03 7.17 2.28 0.18 0.79 0.26 8.58 100.60 2 72 29 138 12.7 1 15 1.8 3.5 43 6 8 0.008
NT20 57.33 17.07 7.18 0.18 2.88 6.82 2.61 1.67 0.53 0.14 3.32 99.72 8 374 20.7 57.6 2.6 4 14 1.5 1.7 14 11 30 0.006
NT21 62.61 17.06 4.83 0.12 2.11 5.87 3.52 0.83 0.41 0.18 2.96 100.50 2 324 7.6 36.7 1.1 15 16 2.3 5.5 6 <5 17 0.009
NT22 57.11 17.73 6.56 0.11 3.88 8.28 3.57 1.13 0.68 0.19 0.66 99.91 <1 341 20.7 42.8 < 0.1 77 20 2.5 3.3 16 <5 13 0.018
NT24 52.13 16.94 8.41 0.14 8.15 9.21 3.20 0.82 0.89 0.22 0.21 100.30 <1 220 34.3 309 < 0.1 64 17 2.4 5 117 <5 11 0.014
NT25 59.36 15.80 7.31 0.14 3.83 5.00 3.38 1.63 0.64 0.13 2.52 99.73 7 350 20.2 58.9 1.5 89 15 3.2 2.1 8 9 37 0.131
NT26 56.02 16.78 9.06 0.15 3.72 9.12 2.01 0.53 0.82 0.14 1.18 99.53 34 145 24.4 71.1 4.1 68 15 1.6 2.8 24 7 11 0.048
NT27 52.13 17.45 8.21 0.14 7.38 9.53 3.25 0.79 0.92 0.23 0.58 100.60 14 222 34 258 0.2 66 18 2.5 5.1 79 <5 13 0.009
NT28 55.75 18.28 7.60 0.12 4.18 7.81 4.04 1.05 0.85 0.28 0.26 100.20 14 316 23.9 49.3 0.5 47 18 2.9 8 28 <5 20 0.078
NT29 62.37 17.08 4.81 0.10 2.67 5.78 4.13 1.44 0.53 0.16 0.77 99.84 7 603 14.2 40.9 1 34 18 2.6 6.4 11 7 28 0.007
H14- 62.12 15.99 4.59 0.06 1.71 4.71 4.01 1.37 0.33 0.13 1.18 98.70 442 8.0 10 2.3 48 17.3 2.5 6.90 5 5 45.6
RD510-
1306G
H15- 62.08 16.13 5.09 0.02 1.80 4.91 3.94 1.75 0.35 0.18 1.93 100.00 443 8 10 1.25 3150 14.9 2.1 6.50 6 6 48.8
RD567-
499G
H13- 62.34 16.26 4.57 0.06 1.70 4.13 3.69 1.86 0.40 0.14 1.20 98.80 522 8.5 10 2.56 469 17.5 2.5 6.90 5 7 45.8
HIGH Sr/Y MAGMAS AND TETHYAN ARCS, CENTRAL & EASTERN IRAN AND W. PAKISTAN

RD146-
437G
331
 332

TABLE A4. (Cont.)

0361-0128/98/000/000-00 $6.00
Sample no. Sb Sc Sr Ta Th U V Y Zn Zr La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tl Tm Yb Lu

NT1 0.3 11.3 532 0.29 7.9 1.83 99 10 61 88 15.6 29 3.14 10.4 2.14 0.707 2.01 0.34 1.96 0.41 1.24 0.33 0.187 1.14 0.185
NT2 0.6 9.99 560 0.56 23.1 4.29 78 8 35 105 27.1 44 4.27 12.6 2.04 0.626 1.82 0.28 1.57 0.31 0.89 0.68 0.129 0.82 0.127
NT3 1.1 18.5 515 0.52 16.9 5.27 134 11 58 128 35 57.7 5.91 17.9 3.14 0.737 2.41 0.38 2.19 0.45 1.3 2.53 0.198 1.23 0.182
NT6 0.3 15.7 453 0.26 8.95 1.83 140 9 58 81 14.8 26.6 2.89 10.8 2 0.696 1.88 0.32 1.88 0.38 1.11 0.31 0.168 1.03 0.153
NT7 0.3 27.8 305 0.06 1.16 0.46 219 17 85 62 5.9 12.3 1.67 7.91 2.26 0.806 2.79 0.53 3.3 0.65 1.87 0.27 0.282 1.88 0.272
NT8 0.5 12.7 167 0.17 5.51 1.52 77 29 70 145 9.82 23.7 3.12 13.2 3.49 0.706 3.84 0.75 4.91 1.06 3.26 0.38 0.484 3.11 0.486
NT9 0.7 39.6 32 < 0.01 0.44 0.12 158 14 186 19 1.5 4.03 0.61 3.33 1.14 0.576 1.59 0.35 2.6 0.57 1.75 < 0.05 0.261 1.65 0.248
NT11 0.7 20.5 238 0.08 2.44 0.82 155 18 61 80 5.97 14.5 2.07 9.06 2.41 0.698 2.69 0.5 3.28 0.67 2.06 0.12 0.303 1.84 0.267
NT12 0.8 19.7 914 0.28 2.85 0.63 170 11 60 61 10.6 21.7 2.63 10 2.24 0.764 2.11 0.36 2.2 0.44 1.26 0.14 0.181 1.13 0.161
NT13 0.9 17 226 0.14 4.46 1.6 134 23 57 147 8.78 21.2 3.05 12.7 3.32 0.754 3.52 0.63 4.1 0.89 2.77 0.35 0.414 2.62 0.407
NT14 0.3 5.85 113 0.37 10 2.93 19 26 23 125 19.6 39.4 4.89 16.2 3.52 0.451 3.38 0.59 3.88 0.87 2.75 0.56 0.445 2.98 0.462
NT15 0.3 26 338 0.03 1.07 0.37 205 14 78 45 5.42 12.8 1.76 7.83 2.16 0.723 2.29 0.44 2.84 0.58 1.7 0.1 0.239 1.5 0.233
NT16 < 0.1 41.8 121 < 0.01 0.27 0.11 279 9 133 18 1.01 3.09 0.48 2.77 0.94 0.414 1.34 0.3 2.13 0.46 1.39 0.13 0.207 1.32 0.2
NT17 < 0.1 7.71 556 0.34 6.63 1.6 71 7 60 88 17 31.2 3.38 11 2.09 0.726 1.95 0.3 1.78 0.34 1.02 0.29 0.16 1.02 0.146
NT18 1.2 7.72 710 0.3 6.47 2.36 72 7 65 91 18.4 33.6 3.58 11.6 2.28 0.721 1.92 0.27 1.62 0.32 0.97 0.23 0.138 0.86 0.138
NT19 0.6 22.4 364 0.18 1.26 0.29 211 14 84 64 7.87 18.4 2.47 10.2 2.62 1.01 2.64 0.45 2.75 0.55 1.64 < 0.05 0.229 1.41 0.218

332
NT20 1.1 19.1 425 0.07 2.53 0.59 176 12 112 49 6.32 13.7 1.76 7.48 1.96 0.699 1.92 0.38 2.35 0.49 1.44 0.15 0.21 1.29 0.21
NT21 0.2 9.18 478 0.35 2.42 0.63 87 12 63 91 11.4 23 2.73 9.84 2.13 0.759 2.09 0.35 2.17 0.45 1.34 0.26 0.201 1.33 0.199
NT22 < 0.1 23.1 920 0.15 4.01 0.97 288 10 52 83 19.1 38.1 4.34 14.3 2.78 0.901 2.45 0.4 2.29 0.46 1.36 < 0.05 0.201 1.22 0.174
RICHARDS ET AL.

NT24 < 0.1 28.3 538 0.28 3.08 0.72 212 15 57 83 12.6 25.9 3.24 12.9 2.95 1.08 2.88 0.49 3.04 0.61 1.78 < 0.05 0.254 1.58 0.247
NT25 0.6 24.5 300 0.11 3.1 0.99 180 21 63 101 8.65 19.4 2.7 11.5 2.99 0.739 3.15 0.57 3.68 0.79 2.47 0.24 0.377 2.44 0.354
NT26 2 30.1 316 0.14 0.98 0.32 232 17 76 52 4.71 11 1.55 7.48 2.14 0.821 2.46 0.49 3.3 0.7 2.11 0.08 0.3 1.87 0.292
NT27 1.2 31 554 0.3 3.27 0.67 216 15 56 87 13.4 27.6 3.5 13.6 3.24 1.11 3.11 0.54 3.37 0.69 2 < 0.05 0.278 1.7 0.261
NT28 3.4 17.3 665 0.5 3.8 0.79 156 15 61 104 15.7 30.9 3.7 14.1 3.05 1.06 2.86 0.48 2.97 0.6 1.75 0.05 0.243 1.44 0.215
NT29 2.4 13.1 789 0.44 6.36 1.46 140 8 53 86 20.5 37.9 4.14 13.6 2.57 0.84 2.3 0.34 1.92 0.37 1.04 0.15 0.149 0.88 0.129
H14- 0.025 508 0.5 8.7 1.94 72 8.7 36 83 17.8 30.8 3.49 11.8 2.07 0.62 2.03 0.27 1.5 0.33 0.98 0.25 0.14 1 0.17
RD510-
1306G
H15- 0.05 523 0.4 6.56 0.97 67 9 30 74 18 32.2 3.53 12.5 2.22 0.73 2.15 0.31 1.69 0.34 1.01 0.25 0.14 1.09 0.17
RD567-
499G
H13- 539 0.5 9.05 1.75 68 9.5 45 88 18.1 32.2 3.57 12.3 2.08 0.68 2.26 0.3 1.66 0.34 1.07 0.25 0.16 1.09 0.18
RD146-
437G