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…