Zircon U-Pb ages and Sr-Nd isotope ratios for the Sirstan granitoid body, NE Iraq: Evidence of magmatic activity in the Middle Cretaceous Period

The Sirstan granitoid (SG), comprising diorite and granodiorite, is located in the Shalair Valley area, in the northeastern part of Iraq within the Sanandaj-Sirjan Zone (SSZ) of the Zagros Orogenic Belt. The U-Pb zircon dating of the SG rocks has revealed a concordia age of 110 Ma, which is interpreted as the age of crystallization of this granitoid body during the Middle Cretaceous. The whole-rock Rb-Sr isochron data shows an age of 52.4 ± 9.4 Ma (MSWD = 1.7), which implies the reactivation of the granitoid body in the Early Eocene due to the collision between the Arabian and Iranian plates. These rocks show metaluminous affinity with low values of Nb, Ta and Ti compared to chondrite, suggesting the generation of these rocks over the subduction zone in an active continental margin regime. The SG rocks are hornblende-bearing I-type granitoids with microgranular mafic enclaves. The positive values of ɛNd (t = 110 Ma) (+0.1 to +2.7) and the low (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios (0.7044 to 0.7057) indicate that the magma source of the SG granitoids is a depleted subcontinental mantle. The chemical and isotope compositions show that the SG body originated from the metasomatic mantle without a major role for continental contamination. Our findings show that the granitoid bodies distributed in the SSZ were derived from the continuous Neo-Tethys subduction beneath the SSZ in Mesozoic times and that the SSZ was an active margin in the Middle Cretaceous.