Time-dependent Sr and Nd isotope variations during the evolution of the ultrapotassic Sabatini Volcanic District (Roman province, Central Italy)

Abstract

The Sabatini Volcanic District (SVD), active between 0.8 and 0.07 Ma, is a volcanic field in the Roman province (Central Italy) located along the Tyrrhenian margin of the Italian peninsula. In this volcanic region, high-K magmas originated from a metasomatised phlogopite-bearing peridotite mantle recording subduction-related fluids and/or melting processes. Here, we investigate magma evolution during the six main eruptive phases of the SVD by means of chemical and isotopic (Sr and Nd) analyses. Specifically, we analyzed clinopyroxene crystals from juvenile pumice and scoria clasts and lavas, from 40 major SVD eruptive units chronologically well constrained by 40Ar/39Ar dating. 87Sr/86Sr and 144Nd/143Nd ratios in SVD clinopyroxene range 0.7095–0.7115 and 0.51210-0.51214, respectively. The mean Sr and Nd isotope compositions of each eruptive phases show a gradual, long-term decrease over the entire SVD eruptive history. However, when considering the distinct temporal windows of the individual eruptive phases, a significant variability of the Sr-Nd isotope ratios emerges, thus highlighting a more complex, time-dependent geochemical trend for the erupted magmas, with respect to a previously described trend at the nearby Colli Albani Volcanic District (0.6–0.04 Ma). Geochemical features of clinopyroxene in lavas and juvenile pyroclasts suggest that magma differentiation occurred in an open system due to assimilation of siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. Moreover, a critical review of the available geochemical data, in light of 40Ar/39Ar ages, allows the recognition of the SVD as the source of widespread tephra markers recorded in the central Mediterranean area by previous works.