Basalt geochemistry used to investigate past tectonic environments on Cyprus

Abstract

Study of the geochemical fingerprints of four geologically distinct suites of volcanic rocks on Cyprus are used to sketch a tectonic history of the island. Lavas from the Mamonia complex resemble alkalic within-plate basalts; lower pillow lavas and diabases of the Troodos Massif have features both of ocean-floor and island-arc tholeiites and could have been erupted in an interarc basin; the upper pillow lavas of the Troodos Massif resemble primitive tholeiitic basalts from island arcs; lavas from the Kyrenia range resemble transitional to alkalic within-plate basalts. The low TiO 2 concentrations from the Troodos Massif may indicate a slow spreading rate. The Sr concentrations in the upper pillow lavas indicate an eruption at a maximum distance of 80 km above a Benioff zone. The results suggest formation of the Troodos Massif in the Campanian by spreading in an interarc basin followed by eruption of island-arc tholeiites. Obduction of continental material and ocean islands may have taken place in the Maestrichtian and Middle Miocene.