Academician ZHAI MingGuo, working at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited Shahrood University of Technology, Iran, in September 2014 for eight days.

Academician ZHAI MingGuo has carried out years of collaborative research work with professor Mahmood Sadeghian at Shahrood University of Technology, on the Kopet-Dag Structure Zone and Zagros orogenic belt, located in northern and southern Iran. Together, they guided a Ph.D student (Zari Balaghi). They discussed and decided to focus new research on the evolution of the Iranian Kopet-Dag Structure Zone. This student visited China and carried out experiments in our institute’s laboratories. During this visiting, Dr. Zari Balaghi conducted her PhD thesis defense. With large amounts of advanced data and well-thought interpretation, her Ph.D thesis was unanimously praised, and she awarded a national awards fund.

Leaders of the Shahrood University of Technology expressed their warmest welcome, and held discussions on the manner and content of continuing co-operation. The Shahrood government attached great importance to this visit. TV reporters interviewed ZHAI MingGuo and reported his visiting on the evening TV news.

Professor LI Qiuli and associate professor ZHANG Yanbin gave talks titled "Introduction to SIMS technique" and “Introduction to (MC)-ICPMS technique”, respectively. In these presentations, they introduced in-situ geochronology, isotope geochemistry of technique and applications developed in Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry Lab and MC-ICPMS Lab of our institute.

Together they carried out field work to investigate the Kopet-Dag Structure Zone in northern Iran, which included detailed examination of the Neoproterozoic metamorphic basement, the Late Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, the Phanerozoic granites and related metal deposits. Through this visit, we have deepened understanding of the Pan-African geological evolution of the Iran microplate (500 million years ago).

PhD thesis defense of Zari Balaghi, who is a Ph.D student guided by Prof. Mahmood and Prof.Zhai

Field work on the Kopet-Dag Structure Zone in northern Iran