The Roud-e-Shour Agate Field

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Roud-e-Shour agate field, Karadj, Tehran province

Roud-e-Shour is one of the nearest agate fields to Tehran, the capital of Iran. This less known agate field situated in the south of Malard, a suburb in southwest Tehran. This name in Persian language means “Salty River” which refers to a long brine river that passes through these dry lands. This seasonal river in south of Bidgineh village cut an extended volcanic state which is Eocene in age. These volcanic rocks mainly composed of alternate layers of tuff and lava which are basalt to trachy-andesite, trachyte and andesite in composition. Agates and geodes found as loose nodules in altered tuffs which outcropped in both riverbanks. However we have never seen the nodules in situ but relation between agate abundance and vein barite mineralization seems possible. Scatter barite and red jasper mineralization as small non-economic small veins could be seen in volcanic rocks.

Abundance of nodules is too low and you have to be so lucky to find good quality large nodules at first visit. Most of nodules are broken or cracked which is the dominant curse of Iranian agates at surface of the earth, which is concern with desert climate and conspicuous differ between day and night temperature in such fields.

However Roud-e-Shour is not a rich agate field but by presence of Rare types of agate like porcelain agate, pom pom agate and sagenitic agate, this agate field worth to visit more than one time. High quality geodes have not been expected.

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