Petrogenesis of strongly alkaline primitive volcanic rocks at the propagating tip of the western branch of the East African Rift

Abstract Strongly silica-undersaturated potassic lavas (kamafugites) and carbonatitic tuffs are characteristic of the Toro-Ankole volcanic field in southwestern Uganda, forming the youngest and most northward volcanics of the western branch of the East African Rift. Lavas contain exceptionally low SiO2 (31.8–42.8 wt.%), high CaO (up to 16.6 wt.%) and K2O (up to 7 wt.%). They exhibit moderately enriched correlated Nd (eNd − 0.1 to − 4.7) and Hf (eHf − 0.1 to − 8.8) isotope signatures, indicating time-integrated enrichment in incompatible elements in the source, attributed to mixing between two metasomatic assemblages, a phlogopite-rich MARID-type and a later carbonate-rich assemblage. The re…