Subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath Central Europe

Jacek Puziewicz,Anna Kukuła,Magdalena Matusiak-Małek,Michel Grégoire,Theodoros Ntaflos

doi:10.1007/s00531-014-1134-2

Jacek Puziewicz, Anna Kukuła + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-014-1134-2

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Abstract

Mantle xenoliths in Oligocene-Miocene alka- line lavas in Lower Silesia (SW Poland) and adjacent part of Upper Lusatia (SE Germany) are samples of the subcon- tinental lithospheric mantle at the time of culmination of rifting in the Eger Rift (Bohemian Massif, Central Europe). The xenoliths come from the spinel mantle facies and show that two major lithologies occur in the area: A—highly magnesian (olivine Fo 90.5-92.0) harzburgites, and B— less magnesian (olivine Fo 84.0-90.0) harzburgites. The protolith of group A was clinopyroxene-free harzburgite being the residue after extensive melting. It was affected by chromatographic carbonatite/silicate melt metasomatism, with the carbonatite metasomatism only recorded in distal parts of the chromatographic systems. The B harzburgites were penetratively metasomatised by percolating alkaline silicate melts at the time of volcanism. That metasomatism was mostly anhydrous and typically cryptic; it lowered the Mg/(Mg + Fe) ratio of olivine and orthopyroxene in the peridotites subjected to melt percolation and led in places to dissolution of clinopyroxene. The mostly harzburgitic subcontinental mantle lithospheric domain beneath Lower Silesia and Upper Lusatia differs from the lherzolitic/

Highlights

IntroductionThe area of volcanism stretches from Massif Central in France to Lower Silesia in Poland and is often termed as the “Central European Volcanic Province” (CEVP; Wimmenauer 1974)
The subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath Central and Western Europe was sampled by numerous volcanoes active since late Mesozoic until Quaternary
The lithospheric mantle of Lower Silesia and adjoining part of Upper Lusatia exhibits “Saxothuringian” seismic characteristics (Plomerová et al 2012), suggesting that it is a coherent fragment of mantle root of one of the terranes accreted to the Variscan orogen

Summary

Introduction

The area of volcanism stretches from Massif Central in France to Lower Silesia in Poland and is often termed as the “Central European Volcanic Province” (CEVP; Wimmenauer 1974). The alkaline lavas of CEVP have various compositions (Lustrino and Wilson 2007) The study of their chemical characteristics provides indirect information on the— commonly asthenospheric—source region. Many of those lavas contain lithospheric mantle xenoliths, which enable direct—sample based—study of lithospheric mantle at the time of volcanism. We summarise our studies of mantle xenoliths occurring in the lavas of the eastern part of CEVP, comprising Lower Silesia (SW Poland) and adjacent part of Upper Lusatia (SE Germany).

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