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–Al-rich 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, cpx-poor lherzolite and rare Mg-rich dunite. They contain small-scale assemblages occurring as pocket-like, symplectitic or irregular, deformation-assisted accumulations of metasomatic phases, generally composed of Ti–Al- and incompatible element-rich Cr-diopside, Cr–Fe–Ti-rich spinel, altered glass, olivine, apatite, ilmenite, carbonate, feldspar, and a high-TiO2 (c. 11 wt%) phlogopite. The fertile xenoliths are too rich in Al, Ca and Fe to simply represent undepleted mantle. By contrast, their composition can be reproduced by the addition of 5–20 wt% of a basanitic melt to refractory mantle. However, textural relationships found in tiny mineral assemblages inside depleted xenoliths imply the following reaction: opx+sp1 (primary mantle Cr-spinel) ±phlogopite+Si-poor alkaline melt=Ti–Al-cpx+sp2 (metasomatic Ti-rich spinel)±ol±other minor phases. Inversion modelling, performed on the least contaminated and most isotopically uniform host basanites (87Sr/86Sr=c. 0.7031; 143Nd/144Nd=c. 0.5129), implies a source that was enriched in highly and moderately incompatible elements (c. 35–40× chondrite for U–Th–Nb–Ta, 2× chondrite for heavy rare earth elements (HREE), made up of clinopyroxene, carbonate (c. 5%), and traces of ilmenite (c. 1%) and apatite (c. 0.05%). A schematic model involves: first, percolation of CO2- and H2O-rich fluids and precipitation of metasomatic hydrous minerals; and, second, the subsequent breakdown of these hydrous minerals due to the further uplift of hot asthenospheric mantle. This model links intraplate alkaline magmatism to lithospheric mantle sources enriched by sublithospheric melts at some time in the past

Data for: CRETACEOUS ULTRAPOTASSIC MAGMATISM FROM THE SAVA-VARDAR ZONE OF THE BALKANS

Data on Creatacious Sava Zone volcanis

Data for: CRETACEOUS ULTRAPOTASSIC MAGMATISM FROM THE SAVA-VARDAR ZONE OF THE BALKANS

Data on Creatacious Sava Zone volcanismTHIS DATASET IS ARCHIVED AT DANS/EASY, BUT NOT ACCESSIBLE HERE. TO VIEW A LIST OF FILES AND ACCESS THE FILES IN THIS DATASET CLICK ON THE DOI-LINK ABOV

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 euhedral crystals. Trace element patterns of the clinopyroxene selvages resemble those of adjacent orthopyroxene, whereas the coarser ones have flatter and more LREE- and LILE-enriched patterns, similar to that of metasomatic clinopyroxene. The OWB2 xenoliths are interpreted as having formed in two stages. During Stage I orthopyroxene crystallized, along with some spinel, olivine and probably hydrous phase(s). This original OWB2 lithology was a hydrous olivine-bearing orthopyroxenite that crystallised from subduction-related SiO2-saturated, boninite-like magmas. During Stage II the interstitial minerals formed due to infiltration of a low-SiO2, high-CaO and CO2-rich external melt, accompanied by decomposition of original H2O-bearing minerals. The calculated composition of the infiltrating liquid corresponds to a mafic alkaline melt similar to the basanitic host but more enriched in CO2, LREE and LILE. Metasomatism is interpreted in terms of small degree melts related to the Palaeogene mafic alkaline magmatism

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 peridotites. Geological and compositional evidence suggests that the xenoliths do not represent Archean mantle. The existence of Proterozoic mantle cannot be entirely excluded, although it is in disagreement with geological evidence. On the other hand, the studied xenoliths are compositionally very similar to peridotites of modern oceanic sub-arc settings. The existence of such a depleted lithospheric mantle segment is also inferred from the presence of rare orthopyroxene-rich xenoliths in the same suite. These are interpreted to have originated as lithospheric precipitates of high-Mg, SiO2-saturated magmas that require a highly depleted mantle source. Such source is typically required by boninitic-like magmas of intraoceanic suprasubduction settings. A proposed geodynamic model to explain these observations involves accretion or underplating of the lower parts of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere during the Upper Jurassic closure of the eastern branch of the Vardar ocean

Leucitites within and around the Mediterranean area

Leucite-bearing volcanic rocks are commonly found within and around the Mediterranean area. A specific type of this rock group are leucitites. They are found both in a hinterland position of active and fossil subduction systems as well as in foreland tectonic settings, but none have been found in the Maghreb (N Africa) and Mashreq (Middle East) areas. Here a review of the main leucitite occurrences in the circum-Mediterranean area is presented, with new whole-rock, mineral chemical and Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic ratios on key districts, with the aim of clarifying the classification and genesis of this rock type. Many of the rocks classified in literature as leucitites do not conform to the IUGS definition of leucitite (i.e., rocks with >10 vol% modal leucite and with foids/(foids + feldspars) ratio > 0.9, with leucite being the most abundant foid). Among circum-Mediterranean rocks classified as leucitites in the literature, we distinguish two types: clinopyroxene-olivine-phyric (COP) and leucite- phyric (LP) types. Only the second group can be truly classified as leucitite, being characterized by the absence or the very rare presence of feldspars, as well as by ultrapotassic composition. The COP group can be distinguished from the LP group on the basis of lower SiO2, Na2O + K2O, K2O/Na2O, Al2O3, Rb and Ba, and higher MgO, TiO2, Nb, Cr and Ni. The LP group shows multi-elemental patterns resembling magmas emplaced in subduction-related settings, while COP rocks are much more variable, showing HIMU-OIB-like to subduction-related-like incompatible element patterns. COP rocks are also characterized generally by more homogeneous isotopic compositions clustering towards low Sr and high Nd isotopic ratios, while LP leucitites plot all in the enriched Sr-Nd isotopic quadrant. LP rocks usually have lower 206Pb/204Pb and higher 207Pb/204Pb. This study shows that the geochemical signal of mantle melts does not always reflect the tectonic setting of magma emplacement, suggesting paying extreme attention in proposing geodynamic reconstructions on the basis of chemical data only

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

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 ?Hf values from 0 to -15, for less variable ?Nd -2 to -13, providing further evidence for a lithospheric origin. The Hf isotope data help to distinguish two regionally distinct crustal components both derived from zircon-bearing protoliths similar to turbiditic sediments typical for continental margins. The Hf isotopes provide unique insights into mantle mixing processes by constraining the geochemistry of the component derived from the convective mantle. This component is rich in Sr and Nb, has low Ti and HFSE⁴⁺/LREE, and isotopic compositions similar to OIB. In Hf-Nd isotope space, this component is responsible for the decoupling of Hf and Nd isotopic ratios, already recognized in lamproites worldwide. This deviation results from a strongly curved hyperbolic mixing between a proto-lamproitic melt and a small, but significant contribution from carbonatitic melts ultimately derived from the convective mantle.16 page(s