Combined U/Pb and (U–Th)/He geochronometry of basalt maars in Western Carpathians: implications for age of intraplate volcanism and origin of zircon metasomatism

Abstract

The age of intraplate volcanism in northern Pannonian Basin of Carpathians is revisited using a combination of zircon U/Pb, zircon (U–Th)/He and apatite (U–Th)/He dating techniques, complemented by electron microprobe (EMP) characterisation of dated minerals. A total of six maar structures and diatremes in the South-Slovakian Volcanic Field (SSVF) were dated and the obtained new ages yielded the following key findings: Two isolated maars in SE part indirectly dated by geomorphologic constraints to Late Pleistocene are actually of Pliocene (2.8 ± 0.2 Ma) and Late Miocene (5.5 ± 0.6 Ma) ages. In contrast, two maars in NW part of the study area are of Late Pliocene age (4.1 ± 0.4 and 5.2–5.4 Ma), younger than the Late Miocene age (~6.5 Ma) inferred previously from K/Ar data on the proximal basaltic lava flows. These maars therefore belong to the second volcanic phase that was previously identified only in SE part of the SSVF. In the light of the new geochronologic data, it seems likely that the Pliocene phreatomagmatic eruptions may have occurred along extension-related, NW- and NE-trending orthogonal faults. EMP analyses and imaging revealed an extensive syn- and post-growth metasomatic replacement by dissolution-reprecipitation in the majority of zircons. Abundant silicate melt inclusions in porous metasomatised parts of the zircons are diagnostic of magmatic rather than hydrothermal metasomatism. Consistent ages of the metasomatised and non-metasomatised zones do not indicate disturbance of the U–Pb system during the metasomatism. Enrichment in U and Th loss in the metasomatised zircons are diagnostic of an increasing oxygen fugacity triggered by degassing of the volatile residual melt during the final stages of alkali basalt fractionation. Rare zircon-to-baddeleyite transformation was probably connected with lowered silica activity in carbonated basaltic magmas in south-eastern part of the study area.