Geochemical characteristics of an intracontinental shoshonitic association: the example of the Damavand volcano, Iran

Lavas of the Quaternary Damavand volcano (Central Alborz, Northern Iran) have been analysed for major and trace elements. The shoshonitic character of this magmatic series is definitively confirmed and most samples correspond to banakites. The Nb, Ta and Ti negative anomalies observed in all lavas suggest that they derive from of a sub-continental lithosphere metasomatised in a subduction setting. Their variable trace element enrichments are explained both by mineral fractionation and by crustal contamination in a shallow magmatic chamber. (C) 2002 Academie des sciences/Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.