Petrologic Evolution of the Gysian Ophiolitic Serpentinites, NW Iran

The Gysian ophiolite of NW Iran is located at the intersection of the ophiolite belts of SE Turkey, NE Iraq, and Iran, and provides the opportunity to investigate the preserved subduction and obduction history of an important tectonic site that has not previously been studied. The serpentinized peridotites of the Gysian ophiolite contain the assemblage lizardite + chrysotile + spinel/Mg-spinel with relict clinopyroxene (diopside) and very rare relict orthopyroxene and olivine. The compositions of clinopyroxenes and spinels are more consistent with the formation of the inferred protolith harzburgites in a fore-arc or supra-subduction zone instead of an abyssal environment. The Gysian ophiolite is a remnant of the Neo-Tethyan arc-ophiolitic system and records shallow subduction (< 50 km, indicated by the absence of antigorite) in the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene before obduction along thrust faults over the continental margin. We review the spatial trends of the metamorphic grade of the Neo-Tethyan ophiolites in this region and provide detailed information about the petrology and mineral chemistry of the Gysian ophiolite.