Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Upper Paleocene Shales from Goouydaraq-Goouradaraq, East Azarbaijan, NW Iran

Abstract

In NW Iran, the bluish grey pencil shale intercalated with thin detritic limestone and siltstone was deposited on the grey limestone of Paleocene. Based on the X-ray diffraction results, the shale forming minerals are composed of calcite, quartz, feldspar, dolomite, muscovite, hematite and clay minerals including chlorite, illite, montmorionite, kaolinite and palygorskite. The comparison of major and trace element content of the shale with the typical samples indicates abundance in CaO, Sr, and Cs and scarcity in SiO2, Al2O3, and Ba. The values of weathering indices imply moderate weathering in the source area and deposition of sediments in an area with relatively high uplift. According to the major and trace elements ratios, provenance of the shale was probably felsic and/or intermediate igneous rock. The elemental ratios and geochemical parameters values such as Ti/Zr = 38, Th/Sc = 0.55, La/Sc = 1.9, La/Th = 3.4, ΣREE = 117.34, Eu/Eu* = 0.76, and (La/Yb)N = 8.3 suggest a immature continental arc setting for the studied shale. The inferred tectonic setting for the studied shale is in agreement with the tectonic evolutionary history of NW Iran during the Upper Cretaceous-Upper Paleocene. The detailed observation of facies distribution in the NW Iran during Cretaceous-Paleocene shows that the studied shale could be supplied from the volcanic-sedimentary succession of Upper-Cretaceous in a basin related to the Neo-Tethys II subduction.