Geochemical evidence for arc-type volcanism in the Aegean Sea: the blueschist unit of Siphnos, Cyclades (Greece)

Abstract

Blueschists, eclogites, chlorite–actinolite rocks and jadeite-gneisses of the blueschist unit of Siphnos have been investigated for their geochemical composition. Their protolith nature is characterised and a geodynamic model for the pre-metamorphic evolution of these metavolcanic rocks is proposed on the basis of immobile elements, especially trace elements and rare earth elements (REE). The protoliths of the eclogites are characterised as calc-alkaline basalts, andesites and Fe-rich tholeiites evolving in an island-arc setting. Trace element data indicate that subducted marine sediments were assimilated in the magma chamber, enriching the protoliths in LILE and Pb. Produced in the early stage of back-arc basin opening, a protolith with affinities to both island-arc and MORB formed the precursor of the chlorite–actinolite rocks. They were created by low degrees of partial melting of very primitive magmas, akin to spinel-peridotites and have affinities to boninites, probably through melting of the peridotitic mantle wedge. Tholeiitic basalts and andesites with N-MORB affinity, especially in their REE-patterns, were then produced by partial melting, possibly in an embryonic back-arc basin. These rocks were the protoliths of the blueschists of Siphnos. Their enrichment in some LILE and Pb indicates a N-MORB source contaminated by marine sediments, probably shales or other Pb-rich sediments. Because the jadeite-gneisses show affinities to MOR-granites and volcanic arc granites, intrusion of their protoliths in a back-arc environment is likely. The protoliths of the quartz-jadeite gneisses are rhyodacites/dacites and rhyolites, those of the glaucophane-jadeite gneisses were andesites. The proposed geodynamic model, solely based on geochemical data, is consistent with geochemical data from neighbouring islands, though those rock units show much higher chemical variability. Consistent with geotectonic models, which are based on structural and geophysical data, the volcanic protoliths of the Siphnos blueschist unit reflect the transition from subduction to spreading environment and record in detail: subduction, formation of an island-arc, and the evolution of a back-arc basin.