Type-II xenoliths and related metasomatism from the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field, Carpathian-Pannonian region (northern Hungary–southern Slovakia)

Abstract

Xenoliths from the upper mantle and lower crust are abundant in Plio–Pleistocene alkali basalts of the Nógrád-Gömör Volcanic Field (NGVF; northern Pannonian Basin, northern Hungary/southern Slovakia), representing a valuable ‘probe’ of lithospheric structures and processes. Ultramafic xenoliths have been divided into two groups: (1) Type-I, composed mostly of olivine with subsidiary orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene and spinel, and (2) Type-II, containing mostly Al- and Ti-rich clinopyroxene with subordinate olivine, spinel and plagioclase. Both types often contain amphibole and, to a lesser extent, mica. The refractory character of Type-I xenoliths suggests they represent mantle depleted by prior episodes of partial melting. In contrast, Type-II series (wehrlites, olivine clinopyroxenites, clinopyroxenites and plagioclase-bearing ultramafic lithologies), on the basis of their textural features, thermobarometric histories and major and trace element variation, appear to have formed as magmatic cumulates. Petrologic and geochemical studies of Type-II xenoliths from Nógrád-Gömör suggest they crystallized from basaltic melts emplaced within the lithospheric mantle and lower crust, prior to the onset of Plio–Pleistocene volcanic activity. After their consolidation, metasomatic agents reacted with the anhydrous cumulate phases producing amphiboles and micas at the expense of olivine and clinopyroxene. The metasomatic agents appear to have been adakitic rather than basaltic in composition, possibly linked to a retreating arc–forearc system. Large-scale contamination of the lithospheric mantle can therefore be attributed to fluid and melt fractions related to subduction beneath the outer Carpathian arc.