Chemo-probe into the mantle origin of the NW Anatolia Eocene to Miocene volcanic rocks: Implications for the role of, crustal accretion, subduction, slab roll-back and slab break-off processes in genesis of post-collisional magmatism

Post-collisional Cenozoic magmatic activity in NW Anatolia produced widespread volcanism across the region. In the Biga Peninsula, in the west, medium-K calc-alkaline to ultra-K rocks with orogenic geochemical signature were emplaced at similar to 43-15 Ma (Biga orogenic volcanic rocks; BOVR). Volcanic activity in the Central Sakarya region, to the east, is mainly restricted to-53-38 Ma, but also continued during the Early Miocene with small basaltic extrusives (Sakarya orogenic volcanic rocks; SOVR). This study presents a new set of geochemical data (whole rock major and trace elements and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions), obtained from the Cenozoic calc-alkaline volcanic rocks from these t…

Geochemical characteristics of lawsonite blueschists in tectonic mélange from the Tavşanlı Zone, Turkey: Potential constraints on the origin of Mediterranean potassium-rich magmatism

Tertiary Ultrapotassic Volcanism in Serbia: Constraints on Petrogenesis and Mantle Source Characteristics

The Serbian province of Tertiary ultrapotassic volcanism is related to a post-collisional tectonic regime that followed the closure of the Tethyan Vardar Ocean by Late Cretaceous subduction beneath the southern European continental margin. Rocks of this province form two ultrapotassic groups; one with affinities to lamproites, which is concentrated mostly in the central parts of the Vardar ophiolitic suture zone, and the other with affinities to kamafugites, which crops out in volcanoes restricted to the western part of Serbia. The lamproitic group is characterized by a wide range of Sr/Sri (0 70735–0 71299) and Nd/Ndi (0 51251–0 51216), whereas the kamafugitic group is isotopically more ho…

An experimental study of the role of partial melts of sediments versus mantle melts in the sources of potassic magmatism

Abstract Potassium-rich lavas with K/Na of >2 are common in orogenic and anorogenic intraplate magmatic provinces. However, in the primitive mantle, the concentration of Na exceeds that of K by 10 times. The source of K-rich lavas thus needs to be either K-enriched or Na-depleted to account for high K/Na ratios. The geochemical and isotopic compositions of high 87Sr/86Sr post-collisional lavas show that their mantle source contains a recycled crustal component. These highly K-enriched lavas with crustal like trace element patterns are termed “orogenic lamproites” and are compositionally distinct from K-rich “anorogenic lamproites” that show lower 87Sr/86Sr and a trace element pattern that r…

Mafic alkaline metasomatism in the lithosphere underneath East Serbia: evidence from the study of xenoliths and the host alkali basalts

Effects of mafic alkaline metasomatism have been investigated by a combined study of the East Serbian mantle xenoliths and their host alkaline rocks. Fertile xenoliths and tiny mineral assemblages found in depleted xenoliths have been investigated. Fertile lithologies are represented by clinopyroxene (cpx)-rich lherzolite and spinel (sp)-rich olivine websterite containing Ti-Alrich Cr-augite, Fe-rich olivine, Fe-Al-rich orthopyroxene and Al-rich spinel. Depleted xenoliths, which are the predominant lithology in the suite of East Serbian xenoliths, are harzburgite, cpxpoor lherzolite and rare Mg-rich dunite. They contain small-scale assemblages occurring as pocket-like, symplectitic or irreg…

Magmatic response to the post-accretionary orogenesis within Alpine–Himalayan belt—Preface

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Melting phlogopite-rich MARID: Lamproites and the role of alkalis in olivine-liquid Ni-partitioning

Abstract In this study, we show how veined lithospheric mantle is involved in the genesis of ultrapotassic magmatism in cratonic settings. We conducted high pressure experiments to simulate vein + wall rock melting within the Earth's lithospheric mantle by reacting assemblages of harzburgite and phlogopite-rich hydrous mantle xenoliths. These comprised a mica-, amphibole-, rutile-, ilmenite-, diopside (MARID) assemblage at 3–5 GPa and 1325–1450 °C. Melting of the MARID assemblages results in infiltration of melt through the harzburgite, leading to its chemical alteration. At 3 and 4 GPa, melts are high in K2O (> 9 wt%) with K2O/Na2O > > 2 comparable to anorogenic lamproites. Higher pressure…

Lamproites as indicators of accretion and/or shallow subduction in the assembly of south-western Anatolia, Turkey

IntroductionThe Western Anatolian region of Tur-key is tectonically one of the mostcomplex parts of the Alpine–Himala-yan orogenic belt (Fig. 1) because ofits long accretional palaeotectonicevolution. One of the major tectonicfeatures shaping the structure ofwestern Anatolia is the Menderesmetamorphic massif, which consistsof several assembled and imbricatedterranes exhumed during the exten-sion that affected the entire Aegeanprovince during the Late Miocene(Yilmaz et al., 2000; Okay, 2002).The Menderes Massif is usually inter-preted as a core complex delineated bylow-angle detachment faults (Bozkurtand Park, 1994; Hetzel et al., 1995;Ring et al., 2003). An alternativeexplanation associates …

Constraints on the sources of post-collisional K-rich magmatism: The roles of continental clastic sediments and terrigenous blueschists

Abstract The possible role of continental sediments in the generation of potassium-enriched lavas of the Alpine-Himalayan belt depends on their melting behaviour either during subduction or during post-collisional relaxation. Although usually classed as orogenic lavas, these volcanic rocks may result from re-melting of newly formed mantle lithosphere 30–40 million years after collision ends, and can thus be considered as the first stage of intraplate volcanism. The potassic component in these volcanics is characterized by a high Th/La signature for which there are two competing explanations: melting of subducted continental clastic sediments, and the involvement of lawsonite blueschists in …

The demir kapija ophiolite, Macedonia (FYROM): A Snapshot of subduction initiation within a back-arc

The Demir Kapija ophiolitic complex in southern Macedonia–FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) represents the southernmost exposure of the Tethyan Eastern Vardar ophiolitic unit in the Eastern Mediterranean. It consists of a mafic volcanic sequence (pillow basalts, sheeted dyke diabases and gabbros) that was subsequently intruded by island arc magmas with and without adakitic affinity. The mafic volcanic sequence is characterized by slightly increased ratios of large ion lithophile elements to high field strength elements (LILE/HFSE), flat rare earth element (REE) patterns, radiogenic 143Nd/144Nd (up to 0·51272) and high TiO2 contents (which reflect Pl + Ol + Cpx fractionation). Th…

Petrological characterization of the mantle source of Mediterranean lamproites: Indications from major and trace elements of phlogopite

Lamproites are among the most enigmatic mantle generated melts, and are typically abundant in phlogopite. We investigated the major and trace element chemistry of phlogopite crystals from Mediterranean lamproite occurrences in Spain, Serbia and Turkey. The most primitive lamproite samples were selected in order to evaluate the generation of the different phlogopite populations in their distinct mantle setting(s). Phlogopite hosted in Mediterranean lamproites can be grouped into different compositional arrays on the basis of their major element chemistry using Al2O3, FeOT and TiO2 concentrations. Contents of Cr, F and presumably Ti allow discrimination of the macrocrysts into phlogopite phen…

Cretaceous tectonic evolution of the Sava-Klepa Massif, Republic of North Macedonia – Results from calcite twin based automated paleostress analysis

Abstract The Sava-Klepa Massif represents an approximately 5 × 2 km sized fault-bounded block of dominantly basaltic rocks located within the Sava-Zone, an important suture zone between the Eurasian (Europe) and Gondwana (Adria) continental plates in the Balkans. Its nature and tectonic evolution is controversial: It is either interpreted as a remnant of the youngest Tethyan oceanic realm left behind after the main closure in the Late Jurassic or as the delimiter of a diffuse tectonic boundary between Adria and Europe, which had already collided in the Late Jurassic and was dominantly controlled by transtensional tectonics during Cretaceous times. In order to strengthen one or the other mod…

Two-Stage Origin of K-Enrichment in Ultrapotassic Magmatism Simulated by Melting of Experimentally Metasomatized Mantle

The generation of strongly potassic melts in the mantle requires the presence of phlogopite in the melting assemblage, while isotopic and trace element analyses of ultrapotassic rocks frequently indicate the involvement of subducted crustal lithologies in the source. However, phlogopite-free experiments that focus on melting of sedimentary rocks and subsequent hybridization with mantle rocks at pressures of 1&ndash

Ultrapotassic Mafic Rocks as Geochemical Proxies for Post-collisional Dynamics of Orogenic Lithospheric Mantle: the Case of Southwestern Anatolia, Turkey

High-Mg ultrapotassic volcanic rock occurrences of lamproitic affinity are exposed in southwestern Anatolia, mostly within the Menderes Massif. From north to south the lamproitic volcanism shows increasingly younger ages ranging from 20 to 4 Ma. Volcanism is contemporaneous with more voluminous shoshonitic, high-K calc-alkaline, and ultrapotassic magmatic activity in the Simav-Selendi, Usak, Kirka, Koroglu, Afyon and Isparta-Golcuk areas. The southward decrease in the age of the volcanism correlates with changes in geochemical composition, particularly a decrease in Sr-87/Sr-86, Pb-207/Pb-204, Zr/Nb and Th/Nb, and an increase in Nd-143/Nd-144, Hf-176/Hf-177, Pb-206/Pb-204, Pb-208/Pb-204 and…

The analcime problem and its impact on the geochemistry of ultrapotassic rocks from Serbia

AbstractTertiary ultrapotassic volcanic rocks from Serbia occasionally display low levels of K2O and K2O/ Na2O. In these rocks, analcime regularly appears as pseudomorphs after pre-existing leucite microphenocrysts. The process ofleucite transformation in Serbian ultrapotassic rocks is very thorough: fresh leucite survives only in ugandites from the Koritnik lava flows as well as in rare inclusions in Cpx. This paper focuses on the impact of ‘analcimization’ on the mineralogy and geochemistry ofthe Serbian ultrapotassic rocks, using the samples where leucite survived as a monitor for the process.Analcimization has had a great impact on the geochemistry of the rocks, but affects only a restr…

An anorogenic pulse in a typical orogenic setting: The geochemical and geochronological record in the East Serbian latest Cretaceous to Palaeocene alkaline rocks

Abstract This study focuses on the East Serbian latest Cretaceous to Palaeocene Mafic Alkaline Rocks (hereafter, ES-MAR). This alkaline magmatism developed along the Eurasian border after the closure of the Mesozoic Tethys in the Balkan sector. Olivine(± clinopyroxene)-phyric and olivine- and nepheline-normative basanite, tephrite and theralite rocks are studied using Ar/Ar ages and major elements, trace elements and Sr–Nd–Pb isotopes. The ES-MAR are geochemically similar to other alkaline rocks of the Circum-Mediterranean Anorogenic Cenozoic Igneous (CiMACI) province, showing elevated contents of high field strength elements (HFSE) (e.g., Nb = 50–100 ppm) and high HFSE/LILE (large ion lith…

Accretion of arc-oceanic lithospheric mantle in the Mediterranean: Evidence from extremely high-Mg olivines and Cr-rich spinel inclusions in lamproites

Abstract Si-rich Mediterranean type lamproites (48–56 wt.% SiO2) are olivine-phyric, mantle-derived volcanics, in which both phenocrystic and xenocrystic olivine are present. Here we demonstrate the phenocrystic origin of the most extremely NiO–MgO enriched olivine in lamproites with Mg# up to 0.95, that host Cr-rich (Cr# around 0.95) spinels. Our comprehensive study of olivine–spinel pairs from Mediterranean lamproites enables us to constrain the extent of depletion of their mantle source. Olivine–spinel pairs from primitive Mediterranean lamproites plot in the most refractory part of the olivine–spinel mantle array diagram, showing even more refractory character than mineral pairs from bo…

Orogenic vs anorogenic lamproites in a single volcanicprovince: Mediterranean-type lamproites from Turkey

Lamproites are mantle-derived ultrapotassic volcanic rocks, derived from phlogopite-bearing harzburgitic source. The origin of the metasomatism which enriched their mantle source is either an old event with a metasomatic component derived from the convecting mantle, or is a more recent introduction of an already aged metasomatic component. Together with different trace element signatures, this view serves for a general distinction between anorogenic and orogenic lamproites worldwide. In Turkey, lamproitic volcanism resulted from interplay of subduction/collisional and postcollisional/extensional regime since Miocene until Pliocene, in the Western Anatolia-Aegean and Kirka-Afyon-Isparta regi…

U-Pb Zircon Geochronology Of The Paleogene - Neogene Volcanism In The Nw Anatolia: Its Implications For The Late Mesozoic-Cenozoic Geodynamic Evolution Of The Aegean

The northern Aegean region was shaped by subduction, obduction, collision, and post-collisional extension processes. Two areas in this region, the Rhodope-Thrace-Biga Peninsula to the west and Armutlu-Almacik- Nallihan (the Central Sakarya) to the east, are characterized by extensive Eocene to Miocene post-collisional magmatic associations. We suggest that comparison of the Cenozoic magmatic events of these two regions may provide insights into the Late Mesozoic to Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Aegean. With this aim, we present an improved Cenozoic stratigraphy of the Biga Peninsula derived from a new comprehensive set of U-Pb zircon age data obtained from the Eocene to Miocene volcani…

40Ar-39Ar ages and petrogenesis of middle Eocene post-collisional volcanic rocks along the Izmir-Ankara-Erzincan suture zone, NE Turkey

Abstract The central and northeastern of Turkey were shaped by the transition from collisional to post-collisional tectonics and coeval magmatism during Early Cenozoic. However, the temporal and spatial evolution of the magmatism during the middle Eocene remains elusive. In this paper, we provide petrological, isotopic and radiometric data from two middle Eocene volcano-sedimentary successions, from the northern (Almus) and southern (Yildizeli) parts of the Izmir–Ankara–Erzincan Suture Zone, and discuss their generation in the post-collisional setting. Our results indicate that the volcanic units from these regions display similar stratigraphic and petrological evolution during the narrow w…

Variation of olivine composition in the volcanic rocks in the Songliao basin, NE China: lithosphere control on the origin of the K-rich intraplate mafic lavas

Abstract Lithospheric thickness and the heterogeneity of the mantle lithosphere are two major parameters that play a role in determining the final composition of the mafic melts and their minerals. The Songliao basin in northeast China represents an ideal natural laboratory to study the effect of these two parameters on early Pliocene to Holocene K-rich mafic lavas (K2O > 4 wt.%; K2O/Na2O > 1). A series of Cenozoic volcanic edifices (Erkeshan, Wudalianchi, Keluo and Xiaogulihe) are tentatively divided into three groups (Group 1 — thin, Group 2 — middle, and Group 3 — thick) according to the lithosphere thickness. They are located in the northern region of the Songliao basin extending in a n…

Minor and trace elements in olivines as probes into early igneous and mantle melting processes

Abstract The trace element composition of olivine is a rapidly growing research area that has several applications of great potential. Mantle olivines can be distinguished from volcanic olivines by lower concentrations of Ca (

Petrogenesis of Potassic Basalts from Northeast China: New Constraints from Trace Elements in Olivine

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Mediterranean Tertiary lamproites derived from multiple source components in postcollisional geodynamics

Abstract In the Mediterranean area, lamproitic provinces in Spain, Italy, Serbia and Macedonia have uniform geological, geochemical and petrographic characteristics. Mediterranean lamproites are SiO2-rich lamproites, characterized by relatively low CaO, Al2O3 and Na2O, and high K2O/Al2O3 and Mg-number. They are enriched in LILE relative to HFSE and in Pb, and show depletion in Ti, Nb and Ta. Mediterranean lamproites show huge regional variation of Sr, Nd and 207Pb/204Pb isotopic values, with 87Sr/86Sr range of 0.707–0.722, eNd range from −13 to −3, and 207Pb/204Pb range of 15.62–15.79. Lamproitic rocks are derived from melts with three components involved in their origin, characterized by c…

The olivine macrocryst problem: New insights from minor and trace element compositions of olivine from Lac de Gras kimberlites, Canada

This study presents detailed petrographical and geochemical investigations on remarkably fresh olivines in kimberlites from the EKATI Diamond Mine™ located in the Tertiary/Cretaceous Lac de Gras kimberlite field within the Slave craton of Canada. Olivine, constituting about 42 vol.% of the analyzed samples, can be divided into two textural groups: (i) macrocrystic olivines, > 100 μm sub-rounded crystals and (ii) groundmass olivines, < 100 μm subhedral crystals. Olivines from both populations define two distinct chemical trends; a “mantle trend” with angular cores, showing low Ca (< 0.1 wt.% CaO) and high Ni (0.3–0.4 wt.% NiO) at varying Mg# (0.86–0.93), contrasts with a “melt trend” typifie…

Petrogenesis of orogenic lamproites of the Bohemian Massif: Sr–Nd–Pb–Li isotope constraints for Variscan enrichment of ultra-depleted mantle domains

Abstract During convergence of Gondwana-derived microplates and Laurussia in the Palaeozoic, subduction of oceanic and continental crusts and their sedimentary cover introduced material of regionally contrasting chemical and isotopic compositions into the mantle. This slab material metasomatised the local mantle, producing a highly heterogeneous lithospheric mantle beneath the European Variscides. The eastern termination of the European Variscides (Moldanubian and Saxo-Thuringian zones of Austria, Czech Republic, Germany and Poland) is unusual in that the mantle was modified by material from several subduction zones within a small area. Orogenic lamproites sampled this lithospheric mantle, …

A review of petrogenesis of Mediterranean Tertiary lamproites: A perspective from the Serbian ultrapotassic province

ChemInform Abstract: Kimberlite, Carbonatite, and Potassic Magmatism as Part of the Geochemical Cycle

Cretaceous ultrapotassic magmatism from the Sava-Vardar Zone of the Balkans

Highlights • Geochemically diverse Late Cretaceous small-volume magmatism in the Sava-Vardar Zone. • Late Cretaceous ultrapotassic lava, equivalent of minette and kersantite. • Magma derivation from a LREE and K enriched, garnet-bearing anciently metasomatized mantle source. • Magmatism occurred either in a fore-arc setting or is associated with transtensional tectonics. Abstract Late Cretaceous global plate reorganization associated with the inception of counterclockwise rotation of Africa relative to Europe initiated in the Balkan region small-volume magmatism of diverse geochemical signature along the enigmatic Sava-Vardar Zone. We study a Late Cretaceous lamprophyric sill in Ripanj vill…

Potassium-rich magmatism from a phlogopite-free source

The generation of strongly potassic melts in the mantle is generally thought to require the presence of phlogopite in the melting assemblage. In the Mediterranean region, trace element and isotope compositions indicate that continental crustal material is involved in the generation of many potassium-rich lavas. This is clearest in ultrapotassic rocks like lamproites and shoshonites, for which the relevant chemical signals are less diluted by extensive melting of peridotite. Furthermore, melting occurs here in young lithosphere, so the continental crust was not stored for a long period of time in the mantle before reactivation. We have undertaken two types of experiments to investigate the r…

Geochemistry and origin of ultramafic enclaves and their basanitic host rock from Kula Volcano, Turkey

Abstract The Quaternary Kula Volcanic Province is located in western Anatolia, Turkey. This Na-alkaline anorogenic volcanism includes exposures of around 80 cinder cones, lava flows, and tuffs, representing one of the youngest volcanic activities in this region (1.9–0.026 Ma). The magmatism is related to an extensional regime and is interpreted as being derived predominantly from the asthenospheric mantle. The lava flows are mostly of a basanitic composition and host rare comagmatic enclaves. The enclaves are composed of two dominant lithologies: amphibolites and clinopyroxenites with and without olivine. Amphibole is usually resorbed and replaced by a rhoenite-rich breakdown corona. The mi…

The Late Cretaceous Klepa basalts in Macedonia (FYROM) – Constraints on the final stage of Tethys closure in the Balkans

The waning stage(s) of the Tethyan ocean(s) in the Balkans are not well understood. Controversy centres on the origin and life-span of the Cretaceous Sava Zone, which is allegedly a remnant of the last oceanic domain in the Balkan Peninsula, defining the youngest suture between Eurasia- and Adria-derived plates. In order to investigate to what extent late-Cretaceous volcanism within the Sava zone is consistent with this model, we present new age data together with trace-element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data for the Klepa basaltic lavas from the central Balkan Peninsula. Our new geochemical data show marked differences between the Cretaceous Klepa basalts (Sava Zone) and the rocks of other volca…

Geodynamic significance of ultramafic xenoliths from Eastern Serbia: Relics of sub-arc oceanic mantle?

A suite of highly depleted peridotite xenoliths in East Serbian Palaeogene basanites represents the lithospheric mantle beneath the Balkan Peninsula. The xenoliths are harzburgites, clinopyroxene-poor lherzolites and rare dunites. They contain mostly 91), high Cr# in spinel (mostly 0.5–0.7), and by distinctively low Al2O3 contents in orthopyroxene (mostly 1–2 wt.%). They have experienced some mantle metasomatism which has slightly obscured their original composition. Nevertheless, the general characteristics of the xenoliths imply a composition which is significantly more depleted than most non-cratonic sub-continental mantle xenolith suites, as well as orogenic peridotites and abyssal peri…

Carboniferous granites on the northern margin of Gondwana, Anatolide-Tauride Block, Turkey - Evidence for southward subduction of Paleotethys

Carboniferous metagranites with U-Pb zircon crystallization ages of 331-315 Ma crop out in the Afyon zone in the northern margin of the Anatolide-Tauride Block, which is commonly regarded as part of Gondwana during the Late Palaeozoic. They are peraluminous, calc-alkaline and are characterized by increase in Rb and Ba, decrease in Nb-Ta, and enrichment in Sr and high LILE/HFSE ratios compatible with a continental arc setting. The metagranites intrude a metasedimentary sequence of phyllite, metaquartzite and marble; both the Carboniferous metagranites and metasedimentary rocks are overlain unconformably by Lower Triassic metaconglomerates, metavolcanics and Upper Triassic to Cretaceous recry…

Modification of the subcontinental mantle beneath East Serbia: Evidence from orthopyroxene-rich xenoliths

Orthopyroxene-rich olivine websterite xenoliths (OWB2) in Palaeogene basanites in East Serbia are mostly composed of tabular low-Al2O3 orthopyroxene (> 70 vol.%, Mg# 85–87) containing tiny Cr spinel inclusions. Orthopyroxene shows a slightly U-shaped primitive mantle-normalized trace element pattern with strong peaks at U and Pb, similar to that of orthopyroxene from normal regional peridotitic mantle. In between the orthopyroxenes are interstitial spaces composed of partially altered olivine (Mg# 85–87), clinopyroxene, Ti-rich spinel, Mg-bearing calcite, K-feldspar, apatite, ilmenite and relicts of a hydrous mineral. Clinopyroxene appears as selvages around orthopyroxene and as coarser euh…

Kimberlite, carbonatite, and potassic magmatism as part of the geochemical cycle

M20 M21

Relationship of Mediterranean type lamproites to large shoshonite volcanoes, Miocene of Lesbos, NE Aegean Sea

Abstract Shoshonites, which are high-K trachyandesitic rocks, are found in many orogenic belts and are commonly of post-collisional origin. The petrogenesis of shoshonites has been widely debated. Small lava flows and dykes of lamproite and related lamproitic rocks of early Miocene age in Lesbos are coeval with voluminous shoshonite volcanoes. Their distinctive petrology and isotope geochemistry provide an exceptional opportunity to assess the petrogenetic relationship between lamproites and shoshonites. The lamproitic rocks contain phenocrysts of forsteritic olivine (as high as Fo93) and clinopyroxene, both with inclusions of chrome spinel (Cr# ~ 0.9 or ~ 0.6) and carbonate melt inclusions…

Os-isotope constraints on the dynamics of orogenic mantle: The case of the Central Balkans

Abstract We used Os isotopic systematics to assess the geochemical relationship between the lithospheric mantle beneath the Balkans (Mediterranean), ophiolitic peridotites and lavas derived from the lithospheric mantle. In our holistic approach we studied samples of Tertiary post-collisional ultrapotassic lavas sourced within the lithospheric mantle, placer Pt alloys from Vardar ophiolites, peridotites from nearby Othris ophiolites, as well as four mantle xenoliths representative for the composition of the local mantle lithosphere. Our ultimate aim was to monitor lithospheric mantle evolution under the Balkan part of the Alpine-Himalayan belt. The observations made on Os isotope and highly …

Recycling plus: A new recipe for the formation of Alpine-Himalayan orogenic mantle lithosphere

Abstract The origin of the lithospheric mantle beneath accretionary orogens is enigmatic; although severe compression of the buoyant crust occurs, the mantle lithosphere is generally thought to be removed and returned to the convecting mantle. We suggest that during the accretion of oceanic arcs and small continental blocks in the Mediterranean region, and more generally throughout the whole Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt, the mantle lithosphere is newly created and composed of intimately mixed peridotite and crustal material from the forearc region. Potassium-rich volcanic rocks emplaced sometimes more than 30 Ma after the formation of this lithosphere carry evidence for the presence of ex…

Temporal–spatial evolution of low-SiO2 volcanism in the Pleistocene West Eifel volcanic field (West Germany) and relationship to upwelling asthenosphere

Abstract The temporal–spatial evolution of low-SiO 2 lavas from the Pleistocene West Eifel volcanic field (Central European Volcanic Province) and linked petrogenetic variations are evaluated using 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age and geochemical data. Geochronological and petrological evidence is related to the physical structure of the previously established seismologically anomalous asthenosphere interpreted as thermally upwelling mantle (Eifel Plume). Lava flows >480 ka (Middle Pleistocene) occur exclusively in the NW of the volcanic field. After a time span of ca. 400 ka lacking significant activity, volcanism has migrated to the SE generating flows At melting depth >70 km of parental asthenospheric m…

Melt evolution beneath a rifted craton edge: 40Ar/39Ar geochronology and Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotope systematics of primitive alkaline basalts and lamprophyres from the SW Baltic Shield

A new high-precision Ar-40/Ar-39 anorthoclase feldspar age of 176.7 +/- 0.5 Ma (2-sigma) reveals that small-volume alkaline basaltic magmatism occurred at the rifted SW margin of the Baltic Shield in Scania (southern Sweden), at a time of global plate reorganization associated with the inception of Pangea supercontinent break-up. Our combined elemental and Sr-Nd-Hf-Pb isotope dataset for representative basanite and nephelinite samples (>8 wt.% MgO) from 16 subvolcanic necks of the 30 by 40 km large Jurassic volcanic field suggests magma derivation from a moderately depleted mantle source (Sr-87/(86)Sri = 0.7034-0.7048; epsilon Nd-i = +4.4 to +5.2; epsilon Hf-i = +4.7 to +8.1; Pb-206/(204)Pb…

Hf isotope compositions of Mediterranean lamproites: Mixing of melts from asthenosphere and crustally contaminated mantle lithosphere

Abstract Mediterranean lamproites from Spain, Italy, Serbia and Macedonia are mantle-derived ultrapotassic volcanic rocks that occur exclusively in postcollisional, extension-related geodynamic settings within the Alpine–Himalaya orogenic belt. Previous studies inferred them to be multi-component melts, originating by mixing of several mantle end-members: (1) provenance-controlled crust-contaminated mantle component(s), (2) an ultra-depleted mantle component, and (3) a component ultimately derived from the convecting mantle. Hf isotope ratios of Mediterranean lamproites reported here cover a large range of eHf values from 0 to −15, for less variable eNd −2 to −13, providing further evidence…

Melting and dynamic metasomatism of mixed harzburgite + glimmerite mantle source: Implications for the genesis of orogenic potassic magmas

Abstract Tectonically young, orogenic settings are commonly the sites of post-collisional silica-rich ultrapotassic magmas with extreme K2O-contents of up to 9 wt% and K2O/Na2O > 2. Many experimental studies investigating the generation of these melts have concentrated on melting of homogenous phlogopite bearing peridotites, whereas geochemical signatures indicate the involvement of at least two types of source rocks: ultra-depleted and K and trace elements-enriched ones. We report the results of melting experiments at 1–2 GPa of mixed glimmerite and harzburgite, in which these rock types make up two halves each capsule. Melting begins in the glimmerite, and its metasomatic effects on the h…