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The geology of Damavand volcano, Alborz Mountains, northern Iran

Jon Davidson^,1, Jamshid Hassanzadeh^,2, Reinis Berzins^,3, Daniel F. Stockli^,4, Behrooz Bashukooh^,5, Brent Turrin^,6 and Ali Pandamouz^,7

¹ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA, and Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK
² Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, and Institute of Geophysics, Tehran University, P.O. Box 14155-6466, Tehran, Iran
³ Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095-1567, USA, and GSi/water, 520 Mission Street, South Pasadena, California 91030, USA
⁴ Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, MS 100-25 Pasadena, California 91125, USA, and Department of Geology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
⁵ Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, and Institute of Geophysics, Tehran University, P.O. Box 14155-6466, Tehran, Iran, and Human and Environment R and D Engineering Company (HEENCO), No. 23, Persia Tower (6th floor, No. 62), Tehran, Iran
⁶ Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, RT 9W, Palisades, New York 10964, USA, and Department of Geological Sciences, Rutgers University, Wright Geological Laboratory, 610 Taylor Road, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854-8066, USA
⁷ Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, and Institute of Geophysics, Tehran University, P.O. Box 14155-6466, Tehran, Iran and Department of Geology, P.O. Box 4099, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011, USA

Damavand volcano, located in northern Iran, is a large (>400 km³) composite cone that is currently dormant; it shows fumarolic activity near the summit but no evidence of eruption in the past 1000 yr. The volcano represents an isolated focus of magmatism of uncertain tectonic affinity, although geophysical and geochemical constraints point toward a local hotspot/plume origin, possibly associated with lithospheric delamination, rather than any association with subduction. New (U-Th)/He and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar geochronological constraints indicate that the present cone (Young Damavand) has been constructed over 600 k.y. on an older, eroded edifice of indistinguishable composition (younger than 1.8 Ma). Damavand activity has been characterized by the eruption of radially directed trachyandesite lava flows, almost exclusively from summit vents. Limited pyroclastic activity has yielded thin fallout pumice lapilli layers and a few pyroclastic flows. Only one significant pyroclastic event is recognized in the remnants of a welded ignimbrite, ponded and preserved along the Haraz River drainage.

Relatively short periods of volcanic eruptive activity were interspersed with longer periods of erosion in which volcanic products were transported, particularly as hyperconcentrated flows, into the surrounding drainage systems to be further reworked into epiclastic deposits. Occasional catastrophic events punctuated this interplay between volcanism and erosion. At least one sector collapse is signified by the presence of a large debris avalanche deposit, and the regional drainage systems appear to have been frequently dammed by incursions of volcanic material.

Key Words: Alborz Mountains • Damavand volcano • argon-argon • geochronology • (U-Th)/He • volcanic centers • volcaniclastic rocks

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