0000000001167893
AUTHOR
Ian A Nicholls
The Permocarboniferous Basin and Range Province of Europe. An Application op Plate Tectonics
Distribution and development of European late Hercynian intermontane troughs and associated volcanicity are related to an upper mantle diapir which formed above two subduction zones during the Hercynian cycle of orogenesis. Lateral spreading of the diapir caused regional extension of the previously folded crust and enabled tholeiitic magmas from the upper mantle and rhyolitic magmas from the lower crust to reach the surface.
Origin and crystallization history of Permian tholeiites from the Saar-Nahe trough, SW Germany
The Hirschberg and Rodern diatremes, within the Permian Saar-Nahe trough, SW Germany, are composed chiefly of basaltic tuffs, with associated small intrusions of K-rich tholeiites. Several tholeiite bodies carry 2–20 mm crystals of magnesian clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene, the latter containing up to 5.5% Al2O3 and often extensively resorbed and rimmed by fine-grained olivine and clinopyroxene. Experimental duplication of these pyroxenes has been achieved under conditions of Pload=6–10 kb, T=1280–1080° C and 2–4 wt.-% H2O, confirming that they represent a rare occurence of high pressure phenocrysts in tholeiitic basalts. These conditions of pyroxene crystallization also place constraints o…