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Comments on the eruption of basaltic magma at Tor Zawar, Balochistan, Pakistan on 27 January 2010, with a discussion of the geochemical and petrological constraints on its petrogenesis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

A. M. Kassi ,
A. K. Kasi ,
A. Tawab Khan  and
A. Salam Khan
A. M. Kassi
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan
A. K. Kasi*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan
A. Tawab Khan
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan
A. Salam Khan
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Balochistan, Quetta, Pakistan
*
E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

An article by A. C. Kerr and coworkers published in 2010 in Mineralogical Magazine (74, 1027–1036), reviewed an event that was interpreted as the eruption of a basaltic flow on 27th January 2010, at Tor Zawar, Ziarat, Pakistan. The regional and local geology, volcanological aspects, petrography and major-element and trace-element analyses of two samples were presented. On the basis of these data it was proposed that this was a magmatic event and that the lava was derived from the mantle. On the basis of our extensive field work in the this area, and observations at the site of another similar incident that happened almost a year later (in January 2011) ∼300 m north of the first locality, we wish to clarify the geological context and propose an alternative origin.

Our field observations suggest that both events were the result of localized surface melting at the base of metal electricity pylons, and their associated steel cable supports. The metal pylons and cable supports provided a path to earth for lightning discharges into the volcanic conglomerate of the Late Cretaceous Bibai Formation. We propose that this transmitted sufficient energy to melt the outcrop. We disagree with the proposal that the 'lava flows' at Tor Zawar were magmatic events and that the rocks formed are derived from the mantle. Alternatively, we propose that these 'lavas' were produced in a manner similar to fulgurites.

Keywords

basaltic magmafulguriteTor ZawarBalochistan
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 76 , Issue 3 , June 2012 , pp. 717 - 723
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2016

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