Chemical study of basaltic rocks at the Tartous patch

Abstract

To achieve the objectives of the study, six rock samples were analyzed using a neutron activation device .The results of the geochemical study of the basalt rocks in the Tartous patch showed that the magma did not show any kind of differentiation on the Harker and MgO diagrams. The samples also fall into the olivine basalt field on the TAS chart. The samples were found to be in the subalkaline, high-aluminium range on the Rogers chart. The AFM diagram showed that the samples in the Tartous area fall into the field of iron thiolite. A gypsum diagram of the local differential showed that the samples were located in the limestone end, which is of the thiolitic type. The geodynamic classification scheme also showed that the volcanism in the Tartous region is a plate volcanism resulting from the partial melting of the upper layer with low melting points, and it is similar to the eastern end of the Ghab collapse and many regions of the world. This confirms that the majority of Pliocene basalt is of the theolitic type.

In conclusion, the characteristics of volcanism in the Tartous patch have been identified as slit-type volcanism, and it has been shown that some of the Pliocene basalt is generally thiolitic (ferro-calcareous), as the basalt rocks in the study area are located in the initial differential phase of the original basalt clays and did not appear to spread along the differential sedimentation trend. When comparing the Tartous basalt with the Safita basalt on the geochemical charts, it was found that there was an almost complete match on all the charts, with some slight differences between them, and this indicates that they were formed from the same cremated chamber during the Pliocene period.