Origin of the Tertiary basaltic volcanism in the northern Hessian Depression

Abstract

Volcanic activity started about 20 Ma before present with quartz tholeiites (QTh), had a climax with alkali olivine basalts (AOB) 13 to 14 Ma ago and ended 7 Ma ago with nepheline basanites (NB) and olivine nephelinites (ON). AOB covers 73% of the volcanic area. About 250 basalts and peridotite xenoliths were sampled for investigation. An upper mantle layer ranging from about 90 to 60 km depth has been conditioned for a preferential alkali basalt production by advection of H2O-CO2-fluids containing Si, Al, Ca, K, Na, P as major constituents beside numerous incompatible minor elements. At the onset of the geodynamically triggered mantle conditioning locally restricted diapirism into shallow depth has caused formation of olivine tholeiite magmas (OTh) at about 1,300° C by partial melting. All of these OTh primary melts intruded due to a favourable compressibility into granulites of the lower crust. The rare QTh basalts are their derivative magmas which have been slightly contaminated in the crust. Magmas of the subsequent alkali basaltic volcanism (AOB, bAOB, NB, ON, MON) formed by in-situ partial melting at about 75 to 90 km depth after depression of the peridotite solidi by fluids to temperatures ≦1,200° C. Except many AOB these magmas are primary melts as characterized by olivine/melt distribution coefficients of Mg/Fe2+ (KD=0.29 to 0.34), by Ni concentrations (260 to 330 ppm) and the occurrence of peridotite xenoliths. Rapid rise of gas charged melts due to saturation in CO2 prevented separation of olivine etc. and of xenoliths. The sequence of magmas from OTh to ON (or MON) is formed from decreasing proportions of orthopyroxene (opx) and increasing contributions of clinopyroxene (cpx) and phlogopite (ph) at almost equal proportions of spinel (sp). Incongruent melting of opx (and cpx) for OTh, AOB, NB and ON is correlated with precipitation of olivine. The average xenolith composition (73% ol, 18% opx, 7% cpx, 1.1% sp and 1.3/0.5% ph) was used to model the sources of the investigated melts by 9 incompatible elements and to calculate degrees of partial melting. The occurrence of garnet cannot be reliably excluded by modelling on the basis of HREE distribution coefficients. The average xenolith composition was used for modelling because of its resemblance with worldwide sampled depleted mantle inclusions. For avoiding to exhaust at least one mineral of the model mantle in the support of the norm composition of OTh, AOB, NB and MON magmas the degrees of partial melting cannot exceed 12.5%, 6%, 6% and 4% respectively. Mantle containing about 500 ppm K (and the correlated incompatible elements), like the average of 36 xenoliths, allows to explain the formation of OTh magmas. AOB, NB and ON melts require peridotite with slightly less than 1,500 ppm K, 670 ppm P and proportions of the correlated elements LREE, Sr, Ba, Zr, Rb, Cs, Ta, Th, Hf, U, which are higher than their abundance in primitive mantle rocks. About 20% of the xenoliths have this composition. Metasomatism of fluids with these elements must have been an immediate precursor of the alkali basaltic volcanism. Otherwise the preservation of a local disequilibrium in 87Sr/86Sr ratios between cpx cores and total rock at upper mantle temperatures cannot be explained.