The petrogenesis and tectonic setting of lavas from the Baft Ophiolitic Mélange, southwest of Kerman, Iran
A Late Cretaceous ophiolite complex in the Baft area, southwest of Kerman, Iran, is characteristic of the Central Iranian Ophiolitic Melange Belt, which wraps around the Lut Block. Despite the extensive tectonic disruption of the Baft complex, most ophiolitic lithologies are present and many original igneous contacts are preserved. A lack of cumulate gabbros within the sequence suggests that a large and continuous magma chamber did not exist beneath the Baft spreading axis. Geochemical data confirm the presence of two distinct compositional groups in the mafic lavas: (1) tholeiitic basalt and (2) transitional tholeiitic basalt. The tholeiitic lavas are similar to typical mid-ocean-ridge basalt compositions, whereas the transitional tholeiites are similar to intraplate basalts. The available data suggest that the Baft ophiolite complex formed in a small ocean basin, possibly at or near a ridge–transform intersection. Emplacement may have occurred as a result of conversion of the transform fault to a subduc...