Structural and Tectonic Aspects of the Kuh-E Surmeh Pb-Zn Deposit, a Rare Case of Metallic Mineralization in the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum, Faculty of Earth Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Geology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, University of Hormozgan, Hormozgan, Iran

Abstract

The Surmeh deposit is a rare case of metallic mineralization in the Zagros FT-Belt. The regional structures with geological conditions from Paleozoic sequences to Late Paleozoic-Early Mesozoic extensional faulting, Cenozoic continental convergence and collision, thrust tectonic, reactivation of inherited and basement faults, basinal-atmospheric fluids interactions and salt diapirism have crucial role in MVT-type Surmeh deposit formation. The Surmeh anticline is double plunging and its southern limb is cut by thrust faults, which formed at the southern termination of the Mengharak segment of the Karehbas fault. New field data highlights three fault trends. The first trend is thrust faults parallel to the Zagros trend cutting the southern limb of Surmeh anticline and pushed the older units over the younger units from NE to SW. The second is normal faults mainly in the Permian and Triassic rocks and their strike varies from NW-SE to N_S. The third trend is ~N-S surface manifestations of the Karehbas basement strike-slip fault. Some of them can be easily mapped in satellite images. Small strike-slip faults have caused displacement and destruction of mineralized zones. Normal faults were important structures in ore-formation process. These findings can be utilized as an exploratory sign for similar ore deposits in the Zagros Range, where the Paleozoic rocks are intensely folded, faulted and uplifted within the cores of anticlines near the intersection of salt domes and basement faults. This case is an interesting metallic mineralization in a foreland area, where is affected by basement and thrust faults, folding and salt tectonics.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Agard, P., Omrani, J., Jolivet, L., Whitechurch, H., Vrielynck, B., Spakman, W., Monie, P., Meyer, B. & Wortel, R., 2011. Zagros orogeny: a subduction-dominated process. Geological Magazine, 148(5-6), 692-725.
Ahmadnejad, F. & Mongelli, G., 2023. Geochemistry of Upper cretaceous bauxite deposits, Zagros Fold Thrust Belt, SW Iran: Paleoenvironment and provenance constraints. Sedimentary Geology, 454, 106461.
Ala, M.A., 1982. Chronology of trap formation and migration of hydrocarbons in Zagros sector of southwest Iran. American Association of Petroleum Geology Bulletin, 66(10), 1535-1541.
Alavi, M., 1994. Tectonics of the Zagros orogenic belt of Iran: new data and interpretations. Tectonophysics, 229(3-4), 211-238.
Alavi, M., 2004. Regional stratigraphy of the Zagros fold-thrust belt of Iran and its proforeland evolution. American Journal of Science, 304(1), 1-20.
Alavi, M., 2007. Structures of the Zagros fold-thrust belt in Iran. American Journal of Science, 307(9), 1064-1095.
Almasi, A., Karimpour, M.H., Arjmandzadeh, R., Santos, J.F. & Nasrabadi, K.E., 2019. Zircon U-Pb geochronology, geochemistry, Sr-Nd isotopic compositions, and tectonomagmatic implications of Nay (NE Iran) postcollisional intrusives in the Sabzevar zone. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 28(3), 372-397.
Alipour, M., 2024. Petroleum systems of the Iranian Zagros Fold and Thrust Belt. Results in Earth Sciences, 100027.
Bachmanov, D.M., Trifonov, V.G., Hessami, K.T., Kozhurin, A.I., Ivanova, T.P., Rogozhin, E.A., Hademi, M.C. & Jamali, F.H., 2004. Active faults in the Zagros and central Iran. Tectonophysics, 380(3-4), 221-241.
Berberian, M., 1995. Master “blind” thrust faults hidden under the Zagros folds: active basement tectonics and surface morphotectonics. Tectonophysics, 241(3-4), 193-224.
Berberian, M. & King, G.C.P., 1981. Towards a paleogeography and tectonic evolution of Iran. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 18(2), 210-265.
Berberian, M. & Tchalenko, J., 1976. Earthquakes of the southern Zagros (Iran): Bushehr region. Geological Survey of Iran, 39, 343-370.
Beydoun, Z.R., Clarke, M.H. & Stoneley, R., 1992. Petroleum in the Zagros basin: a late tertiary foreland basin overprinted onto the outer edge of a vast hydrocarbon-rich paleozoic-mesozoic passive-margin shelf. In: Macqueen, R.W., & Leckie, D.A. (Eds.), Foreland basins and fold belts, vol. 55. American Association of Petroleum Geologists. https://doi.org/10.1306/M55563C12.
Carminati, E., Aldega, L., Bigi, S., Minelli, G. & Shaban, A., 2016. Not so simple “simply-folded Zagros”: The role of pre-collisional extensional faulting, salt tectonics and multi-stage thrusting in the Sarvestan transfer zone (Fars, Iran). Tectonophysics, 671, 235-248.
Cheng, Y., Hu, Y., Zhou, J.X., Guan, S., Xu, S., Cui, M., Zhang, J., Tan, X., Zhou, L., Zhou, Y. & Liu, Z., 2024. Genetic link between Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Pb–Zn mineralization and hydrocarbon accumulation in the Niujiaotang ore field, SW China. Ore Geology Reviews, 105929.
de Oliveira, S.B., Juliani, C., Monteiro, L.V. & Tassinari, C.C., 2020. Structural control and timing of evaporite-related Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposits in Pucará Group, northern central Peru. Journal of South American Earth Sciences, 103, 102736.
Eskandari, S., 2013. Mineralogical, Geochemistry Studies, and Genesis of the Kuh-e-Surmeh Pb-Zn Deposit, Fars Province. Thesis, Shiraz University.
Evans, AM., 1980. An introduction to ore geology. Blackwell, 231 pp.
Fakhari, M., Setudenia, A. & Nasr, M., 1994a. 1:250000 Geology Quadrangle of Jahrum. National Iranian Oil Campany.
Fakhari, M., Setudenia, A. & Nasr, M., 1994b. 1:250000 Geology Quadrangle of Khormoj. National Iranian Oil Campany.
Farahpour, M.M. & Hessami, K., 2012. Cretaceous sequence of deformation in the SE Zagros fold–thrust belt. Journal of the Geological Society, 169(6), 733-743.
Fazli, S., Taghipour, B. & Lentz, D.R., 2018. The Zn-Pb sulfide and Pb-Zn-Ag non-sulfide Kuh-e-Surmeh ore deposit, Zagros Belt, Iran: Geologic, mineralogical, geochemical, and S isotopic constraints. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 194, 146-166.
Fazli, S., Taghipour, B., Moore, F. & Lentz, D.R., 2019. Fluid inclusions, S isotopes, and Pb isotopes characteristics of the Kuh-e-Surmeh carbonate-hosted Zn–Pb deposit in the Zagros Fold Belt, southwest Iran: Implications for the source of metals and sulfur and MVT genetic model. Ore Geology Reviews, 109, 615-629.
Hassanpour, J., Jahani, S., Ghassemi, M.R., Alavi, S.A. & Zeinali, F., 2018. Evolution of the Karebas Fault System and adjacent folds, central Zagros fold-and-thrust belt, Iran: Role of pre-existing halokinesis (salt structures and minibasins) and detachment levels. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 164, 125-142.
Heibati, Z., Bakhshi Jahromi, E., Qodrat, M. & Tayebi, M.H., 2013. Geological and remote sensing report of Kuh-e Sormeh. Surmeh Mining Company.
Hessami, K., Koyi, H.A., Talbot, C.J., Tabasi, H. & Shabanian, E., 2001. Progressive unconformities within an evolving foreland fold–thrust belt, Zagros Mountains. Journal of the Geological Society, 158(6), 969-981.
Jafari, A., Ao, S., Jamei, S. & Ghasemi, H., 2023. Evolution of the Zagros sector of Neo-Tethys: Tectonic and magmatic events that shaped its rifting, seafloor spreading and subduction history. Earth-Science Reviews, 241, 104419.
Jamei, S., Ghorbani, M., Williams, I.S. & Moayyed, M., 2021. Tethyan oceans reconstructions with emphasis on the‎ Early‎‎ Carboniferous Pir-Eshagh A-‎‎ type rhyolite and the‎ Late Palaeozoic magmatism in Iran. International Geology Review, 63(11), 1389-1405.
Kendrick, M.A., Burgess, R., Leach, D. & Pattrick, R.A.D., 2002. Hydrothermal fluid origins in Mississippi valley-type ore districts: combined noble gas (He, Ar, Kr) and halogen (Cl, Br, I) analysis of fluid inclusions from the Illinois-Kentucky fluorspar district, Viburnum Trend, and Tri-State districts, midcontinent United States. Economic Geology, 97(3), 453-469.
Kordi, M., 2019. Sedimentary basin analysis of the Neo-Tethys and its hydrocarbon systems in the Southern Zagros fold-thrust belt and foreland basin. Earth-Science Reviews, 191, 1-11.
Liaghat, S., Moore, F. & Jami, M., 2000. The Kuh-e-Surmeh mineralization, a carbonate-hosted Zn-Pb deposit in the simply folded belt of the Zagros Mountains, SW Iran. Mineralium Deposita, 35, 72-78.
Madani-Kivi, M. & Zulauf, G., 2015. Tectono-sedimentary evolution of the Permian–Triassic extension event in the Zagros basin (Iran): results from analogue modelling. Journal of the Geological Society, 172(2), 237-250.
Maghfouri, S. & Choulet, F., 2021. Ore-forming processes, O–C isotopes geochemistry, and fluid inclusions in the Darreh-Zanjir fault control MVT-type Zn–Pb deposit: Iran. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 14, 1-16.
Marie, J.S. & Kesler, S.E., 2000. Iron-rich and iron-poor Mississippi Valley-type mineralization, Metaline district, Washington. Economic Geology, 95(5), 1091-1106.
Mohajjel, M. & Fergusson, C.L., 2014. Jurassic to Cenozoic tectonics of the Zagros Orogen in northwestern Iran. International Geology Review, 56(3), 263-287.
Navabpour, P., Angelier, J. & Barrier, E., 2010. Mesozoic extensional brittle tectonics of the Arabian passive margin, inverted in the Zagros collision (Iran, interior Fars). Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 330(1), 65-96.
Navabpour, P., Angelier, J. & Barrier, E., 2011. Brittle tectonic reconstruction of palaeo-extension inherited from Mesozoic rifting in West Zagros (Kermanshah, Iran). Journal of the Geological Society, 168(4), 979-994.
Navabpour, P., Barrier, E. & McQuillan, H., 2014. Oblique oceanic opening and passive margin irregularity, as inherited in the Zagros fold‐and‐thrust belt. Terra Nova, 26(3), 208-215.
Nissen, E., Tatar, M., Jackson, J.A. & Allen, M.B., 2011. New views on earthquake faulting in the Zagros fold-and-thrust belt of Iran. Geophysical Journal International, 186(3), 928-944.
Palano, M., Imprescia, P., Agnon, A. & Gresta, S., 2018. An improved evaluation of the seismic/geodetic deformation-rate ratio for the Zagros Fold-and-Thrust collisional belt. Geophysical Journal International, 213(1), 194-209.
Paul, A., Kaviani, A., Hatzfeld, D., Vergne, J. & Mokhtari, M., 2006. Seismological evidence for crustal-scale thrusting in the Zagros mountain belt (Iran). Geophysical Journal International 166(1) 227-237.
Pousti, M., 2005. A study of lead and zinc in Paleozoic rocks in the south of Zagros with a special perspective on the Kuh Surmeh region. PhD thesis, Shahid Beheshti University.
Pousti, M., Rasa, H. & Adabi, M., 2005. Facies, stable isotopes, and genesis of kuh-e-Surmeh Pb-Zn deposit (Dalan formation) in the south of Firouzabad, Fars province. Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences, 15 (57), 40-53.
Poustim M. & Safari, S., 2014. Stratigraphic horizons mineralized anticline in the Kuh-E-Surmh, Firoozabad. 34th National Geoscience Conference, Geological Survey of Iran.
Ramdohr, P., 1980. The Ore Minerals and Their Intergrowths. Pergamon, Oxford, 440 pp.
Sahabi-Fard, M., Yassaghi, A. & Hassan-Goodarzi, M.Gh., 2015. Structural analysis of the southern segment of the Karehbas transverse fault zone in the south of Firuzabad, Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt. Scientific Quarterly Journal of Geosciences, 24(95), 181-190.
Sajedi, S.H., Faghih, A., Sarkarinejad, K. & Soleimany, B., 2024. The Palaeozoic of a future high potential hydrocarbon fold-thrust belt through the Zagros Basin, Iran. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 168, 107008.
Sepehr, M., Cosgrove, J. & Moieni, M., 2006. The impact of cover rock rheology on the style of folding in the Zagros fold-thrust belt. Tectonophysics, 427(1-4), 265-281.
Sepehr, M. & Cosgrove, J.W., 2004. Structural framework of the Zagros fold–thrust belt, Iran. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 21(7), 829-843.
Sheikholeslami, M.R., Ghassemi, M.R. & Hassanzadeh, J., 2019. Tectonic evolution of the hinterland of the Zagros Orogen revealed from the deformation of the Golpaygan Metamorphic Complex, Iran. Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 182, 103929.
Sherkati, S., Letouzey, J. & Frizon de Lamotte, D., 2006. Central Zagros fold‐thrust belt (Iran): New insights from seismic data, field observation, and sandbox modeling. Tectonics, 25(4), TC4007.
Song, Y., Hou, Z., Liu, Y., Zhuang, L. & Hu, G., 2023. Mississippi Valley-type Zn–Pb deposits in orogenic thrust belts: ore formation in response to synorogenic crustal transpression or extension. Mineralium Deposita, 58(7), 1333-1350.
Stern, R.J. & Johnson, P., 2010. Continental lithosphere of the Arabian Plate: a geologic, petrologic, and geophysical synthesis. Earth-Science Reviews, 101(1-2), 29-67.
Symons, D.T., Lewchuk, M.T. & Leach, D.L., 1998. Age and duration of the Mississippi Valley-type mineralizing fluid flow event in the Viburnum Trend, southeast Missouri, USA, determined from palaeomagnetism. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 144(1), 27-39.
Taghipour, B. & Eskandari, S., 2014. Stable isotope evidence for the genesis of Zn-Pb sulfide mineralization in the Kuh-e-Surmeh deposit. Petrology, (2228-5210) 5(17), 1.
Talbot, C.J. & Alavi, M., 1996. The past of a future syntaxis across the Zagros. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 100(1), 89-109.
Talbot, C.J., Medvedev, S., Alavi, M. & Shahrivar, H., Heidari, E., 2000. Salt extrusion at Kuh-e-Jahani, Iran, from June 1994 to November 1997. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 174(1), 93-110.
Tavana, M., 1993. Petrography and fluid inclusion studies for determining the genesis of carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn mineralization in the Kuh Surmeh. Msc. thesis, Shiraz University.
Vatandoust, M., Farzipour Saein, A. & Tanzadeh, P., 2023. How a basement fault has controlled Pb-Zn ore deposition within the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt? a focus on remote sensing approaches. European Journal of Remote Sensing, 56(1), 2166875.
Wei, H., Xiao, K., Shao, Y., Kong, H., Zhang, S., Wang, K., Li, Q., Chen, B., Xiang, J. & Wen, C., 2020. Modeling-based mineral system approach to prospectivity mapping of stratabound hydrothermal deposits: A case study of MVT Pb-Zn deposits in the Huayuan area, northwestern Hunan province, China. Ore Geology Reviews 120, 103368.
Yu, L., Zou, H., Li, M., Pirajno, F., Cao, H., Xiao, B., Yu, H., Wu, J., Shen, J., Liu, X. & Chen, X., 2024. Fingerprinting Pb-Zn mineralization events in the SW Yangtze Block, South China: A case from Yuanbaoshan deposit. Ore Geology Reviews, 105878.
Yucai, S.O.N.G., Zengqian, H.O.U., Yingchao, L.I.U. & Hongrui, Z.H.A.N.G., 2017. Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) Pb-Zn deposits in the Tethyan domain: A review. Geology in China, 44(4), 664-689.
Zamani, B., 2023. Geodynamics and tectonic stress model for the Zagros fold–thrust belt and classification of tectonic stress regimes. Marine and Petroleum Geology, 155, 106340.
Zamin Kav Gostar., 1995. Salt domes of Hormozgan Province. Industry and Mines Organization of Hormozgan Province, 213 p.
Zarasvandi, A., Carranza, E.J.M. & Ellahi, S.S., 2012. Geological, geochemical, and mineralogical characteristics of the Mandan and Deh-now bauxite deposits, Zagros Fold Belt, Iran. Ore Geology Reviews, 48, 125-138.
Zarasvandi, A., Fereydouni, Z., Alizadeh, B., Absar, N., Shukla, A.D., Raza, M.Q., Ashok, M. & Zentilli, M., 2021. Phosphogenesis in the Zagros fold-thrust belt, Iran: The link between the Tethyan paleoenvironment and phosphate ore deposition. Ore Geology Reviews, 139, 104563.

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics