Three age ranges of Cenozoic basaltic rocks from Lower Silesia (SW Poland) based on 40Ar/39Ar step-heating data

Abstract

The precise ages of Cenozoic basaltic rocks from 20 localities (24 samples) in south-western Poland were studied by means of the 40Ar/39Ar isotope method. Three phases of volcanic activity were identified in this area. The older, Ruphelian phase took place 31–29 Ma ago and the younger, Aquitanian phase occurred 22–21 Ma ago. Significantly younger ages (4.8–4.6 Ma: Zanclean phase) were obtained for the basalts cropping out in the vicinity of Lądek Zdrój only. Most of the analyzed basalts from the Ruphelian phase are classified as nephelinites. They occur in the area of Lausitz Masif, south of Sudetic Marginal Fault and in the Opole Depression. The volcanic rocks from the Aquitanian phase crop out in the wide area north of the Sudetic Marginal Fault. They are composed of alkali basalts. The youngest phase is represented by the basanites only. The deep discontinuous tectonic structures intersecting the areas of volcanic activity in SW Poland, parallel or oblique to the tectonic stress directions previously reconstructed for the Oligocene and Miocene in the Bohemian Massif, were most probably reactivated by an extension approximately parallel or slightly oblique to them, thus opening pathways for the migration of basaltic magma in the Sudetes and their foreland.