Giuseppe Maria Bargossi

Relationships between intermediate and acidic rocks in orogenic granitoid suites: petrological, geochemical and isotopic (Sr, Nd, Pb) data from Capo Vaticano (southern Calabria, Italy)

Abstract Major, trace element and isotopic data are reported for Hercynian granodiorites and tonalites from Capo Vaticano, Calabria, with the aim of clarifying the relationships between acidic and intermediate lithologies in orogenic intrusive suites. These granodiorites (SiO 2 = 70.5%–73.5%) are peraluminous, relatively depleted in Rb, U, Th, and Pb, and display a large variation in many geochemical and isotopic parameters. REE show fractionated, cross-cutting chondrite-normalized patterns with small but significant negative Eu anomalies. Initial (290 Ma) Sr and Nd, and present-day Pb isotope ratios are: ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) 290 = 0.7105–0.7110 ; ( 143 Nd 144 Nd ) 290 = 0.51175–0.51221 ; 206 Pb 204 Pb = 18.35–18.50 ; 207 Pb 204 Pb = 15.64–15.76 ; 208 Pb 204 Pb = 38.51–39.03 . Pb isotope ratios determined for separated feldspars show similar 207 Pb 204 Pb and 208 Pb 204 Pb and higher 207 Pb 204 Pb ratios compared to the present-day values for the whole rock. The tonalites (SiO 2 = 57.6%–67.3%) are typically calc-alkaline in composition and most of them are weakly peraluminous. They display large heterogeneities in trace-element abundances, REE patterns and Nd and Pb isotope ratios, both between and within individual intrusive units. Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions display a range of values close to that of the associated granodiorites ( 87 Sr 86 Sr ) 290 = 0.7099–0.7111 ; ( 143 Nd 144 Nd ) 290 = 0.51185–0.51224 ; 206 Pb 204 Pb = 18.31–18.56 ; 207 Pb 204 Pb = 15.65–15.72 ; 208 Pb 204 Pb = 38.41–39.59 . The obtained data indicate that the tonalites and granodiorites share many compositional features which point to a genetic linkage. Likewise, many petrological, geochemical and field data exclude the possibility that all the granodiorites derive from intermediate magmas by any common evolutionary process, such as crystal-liquid fractionation or assimilation-fractional crystallization (AFC), and point to a different genesis for the two rock types. An origin of the granodiorites by the mixing of two separate acidic melts, one of crustal anatectic origin and one probably derived from an intermediate magma by crystal/liquid fractionation or AFC, is suggested by the data presented. The tonalites appear to have been generated by interaction of a mafic magma with crustal end-member(s) with isotopic and geochemical signatures similar to those of the granodiorites. The large involvement of crustal material in the genesis of the Capo Vaticano granitoids is responsible for the many common compositional characteristics observed in the intermediate and acidic rocks. However, a contribution from mantle components is also indicated by petrological and geochemical data, as well as by the occurrence of mafic enclaves commonly present in the tonalites. Nevertheless, the geochemical and isotopic features of such a mantle component appear to be greatly diluted by a large quantity of crustal material involved in the genesis of the studied granitoids.

Petrogenesis of contrasting hercynian granitoids from the Calabrian Arc, southern Italy

Abstract The granitoids of the southern Calabrian Arc have been investigated for whole-rock and phase chemistry, zircon typology, REE, Sr and Nd isotopes. Two distinct granitoid associations, which are related in time and partly in space, are present: a calc-alkaline one and a peraluminous one. The prevailing calc-alkaline association is compositionally expanded (SiO2=48–70%) and biotite dominated, with tonalites and granodiorites as predominant rock types. The peraluminous association is compositionally restricted (SiO2=67–76%) and contains two-mica ± Al-silicates. Distinct peraluminous typologies occur also as core facies within the calc-alkaline types. All granitoids are ilmenite-bearing. The Cittanova (CN), Villa S. Giovanni (VSG) and Capo Rasocolmo (CR) peraluminous granites display zircon typology, REE patterns, ϵSrt- (+51 to +113) and ϵNdt-values (−8.5 to −4.6) at 290 Ma, suggesting a dominantly quartzofeldspathic metasedimentary source. In more detail, the CN types and the CR-VSG types require heterogeneous and different sources. The calc-alkaline granitoids display very variable REE patterns (CeN=25–227 and YbN=3.5–18.5 in the tonalites-granodiorites) and variable age-corrected ϵNdt-values (−8.5 to −0.25), whereas Sr values vary little (+82 to +93). Thus, in terms of ϵNdtϵSrt covariation, the data points define a vertical array, which is inconsistent with a model involving crustal contamination by mantle derivatives. A more viable mechanism seems to be the melting of hydrous and heterogeneous mafic lower crust (and/or basic underplate), producing distinct magma batches evolving independently. Crustal contamination, mingling and fractionation processes may all have contributed to the observed geochemical variations within the granitoids. The peraluminous granodiorites occurring within the Serre and Capo Vaticano multipulse calc-alkaline plutons exhibit isotopic ratios (ϵNdt = −6.11 to +0.33 and ϵSrt = +93 to +97) which are similar to those of the calc-alkaline host rocks, suggesting a possible genetic link. Geologic and geochemical data indicate a continental collision setting for this plutonic activity. The magmas were produced during late-thickening to exhumation phases following collision and moderate crustal overthickening, and were emplaced subsequently during a short time span. A mantle contribution should have favoured melting, which affected various sectors of the continental crust.

Evolution of Large Silicic Magma Systems: New U-Pb Zircon Data on the NW Permian Athesian Volcanic Group (Southern Alps, Italy)

During the Permian, the Southern Alps were affected by prominent igneous activity that produced voluminous basic to acidic volcanic and plutonic rocks. The magmatism originated during a period in which postorogenic extension and transtensional faulting controlled magma ascent and emplacement. Within this scenario, the Athesian Volcanic Group (AG), with lithologies ranging from basaltic andesites to rhyolites, constitutes a major part of the Permian magmatism in the central and eastern Southern Alps. We present an up-to-date stratigraphic reconstruction of the northwestern sector of the AG volcanic sequence combining detailed field mapping and new geochronological data. Single-zircon U-Pb age data suggest that the volcanism in the AG lasted ca. 10 m.yr., between 285 and 274 Ma, with a deposition rate that increased throughout the eruptive cycle. The processes of magma deposition and basin formation were strongly influenced by tectonic activity over the entire history of the AG. At least two major caldera margins have been identified. The age of the Tregiovo Basin, formerly based on palynostratigraphic constraints, is now bracketed between radioisotope ages of the underlying and overlying volcanics at 276.5 ± 1.1 to 274.1 ± 1.6 Ma. All the determined single-zircon U-Pb ages fit well into the general age pattern found for the Permian magmatism in the Southern Alps, suggesting that the process of magma generation and emplacement in the lower crust, hybridization, and upper-crustal emplacement occurred contemporaneously, that is, within a short time span between ca. 285 and 274 Ma, along the entire transect of the Southern Alps.

Petrology and geochemistry of ultrapotassic rocks from the Montefiascone Volcanic Complex (Central Italy): magmatic evolution and petrogenesis

Abstract The Montefiascone Volcanic Complex belongs to the Roman Magmatic Province of Central Italy; the volcanic activity took place in an extensional, post-collisional setting during Late Pleistocene, giving rise to lava flows and pyroclastic deposits. The extrusive products consist of moderately to strongly undersaturated K-rich lavas ranging in composition from trachybasalts through leucite basanites and leucititic tephrites to tephritic leucitites. They show the typical geochemical and isotopic characters of the Roman potassic magmas, i.e., low TiO2, low K2O/Al2O3, strong enrichment in LILE, high LILE/HFSE ratios, highly radiogenic 87 Sr / 86 Sr ratios (0.71005–0.71112) and unradiogenic 143 Nd / 144 Nd (0.51209–0.51229, corresponding to eNd=−10.7 to −6.8). Large chemical variations have been recognized within the Montefiascone volcanics, resulting both from the occurrence of different primary magmas and shallow-level fractionation processes. The differentiation mainly took place by means of closed-system fractional crystallisation with local influence of crustal assimilation. The leucite basanites represent primary mantle magmas which did not yield derivative products, whereas the leucititic tephrites, tephritic leucitites and trachybasalts comprise highly differentiated rocks strongly depleted in compatible elements and enriched in LILE. Fractional crystallisation dominated respectively by clinopyroxene+leucite and clinopyroxene+plagioclase yielded the most evolved tephritic leucitites and trachybasalts. In contrast, assimilation of metamorphic basement rocks characterized by highly radiogenic 87 Sr / 86 Sr is needed to explain the moderate increase of the 87 Sr / 86 Sr ratio within the leucititic tephrites. The geochemical and isotopic signatures shown by the Montefiascone primary magmas require a clinopyroxene- and phlogopite-rich mantle source; in particular, partial melting of a veined lithospheric mantle can account for the occurrence of different primary magmas characterized by relatively constant Sr- and Nd-isotopic compositions. Depleted mantle Nd-model ages (1.1–1.5 Ga) suggest that the mantle enrichment may be a very old event, unrelated to the subduction that preceded the Roman magmatism. This hypothesis is further supported by the strong similarity in age and isotopic composition between the Montefiascone volcanics and the kamafugitic and carbonatitic rocks of the adjoining ultra-alkaline Umbria–Latium district.

The Nevado-Filabride metaophiolitic association in the Cobdar region (Betic Cordillera, SE Spain): preservation of pillow structures and development of coronitic eclogites

AbstractThe Nevado-Filabride ophiolilic association is made up of the dismembered and metamorphosed remains of a Jurassic ocean floor. This associatiion is exceptionally well preserved, and locally unmetamorphosed, around the village of Cobdar (prov. of Almeria). It crops out in this area as lenticular metabasite and metasedimentary bodies, about 7 km in length and several hundred metres thick, tectonically intercalated between the Caldera and the Sabinas Units of the Mulhacen Group of Nappes. The ophiolitic association in this region is made up of three distinct sequences: a plutonic sequence consisting of cumulitic troctolites, olivine-pyroxene gabbros and dolerites, cut through by numerous dykes of porphyric basalts; a volcanic sequence composed of massive or vesicular olivine-pyroxene basalts, sporadically intersected by basaltic dykes and locally containing pillow-structures; and a frequently laminated sedimentary sequence made up mostly of ankerite-garnet calc-schists with interbedded lenses of mica...

The evolution of the magmatism in the external zones of the Betic Cordilleras during the mesozoic

AbstractThe Mesozoic igneous rocks from the External Zones of the Betic Cordilleras extend for some 300 km along the Subbetic Zone. They are poorly differentiated basic rocks which, altogether, correspond to a transitional series containing tholeiitic and sodium-alkaline terms. They crop out as small ophite stocks and dykes intruded into middle- and upper-Triassic rocks, or as submarine flows and sills interlayered with Jurassic materials.Geological and radiometric evidence points to an upper-Triassic-Liassic age for the ophite-generating magmatism, while the fissure volcanism began locally in the early-Liassic and extended throughout the Dogger. It reached its climax in the Tithonian and ceased abruptly in the lowermost Cretaceous.The magmas that generated the two groups of rocks originated within the mantle. During the ascent through a continental crust they were contaminated by deep-crust granitoid rocks and by the assimilation of pelites from the basement. The chemical composition and fractional-cryst...

High-P tectono-metamorphic evolution of mylonites from the Variscan basement of the Northern Apennines, Italy

Strain localization within shear zones may partially erase the rock fabric and the metamorphic assemblage(s) that had developed before the mylonitic event. In poly-deformed basements, the loss of information on pre-kinematic phases of mylonites hinders large-scale correlations based on tectono-metamorphic data. In this study, devoted to a relict unit of Variscan basement reworked within the nappe stack of the Northern Apennines (Italy), we investigate the possibility to reconstruct a complete pressure (P) – temperature (T) – deformation (D) path of mylonitic micaschist and amphibolite by integrating microstructural analysis, mineral chemistry and thermodynamic modelling. The micaschist is characterized by a mylonitic fabric with fine-grained K-white mica and chlorite enveloping mica-fishes, quartz, and garnet pseudomorphs. Potassic white mica shows Mg-rich cores and Mg-poor rims. The amphibolite contains green amphibole+ plagioclase+garnet+quartz+ilmenite defining S1 with a superposed mylonitic fabric localized in decimetre- to centimetre-scale shear zones. Garnet is surrounded by an amphibole+plagioclase corona. Phase diagram calculations provide P-T constraints that are linked to the reconstructed metamorphic-deformational stages. For the first time an early high-pressure stage at > 11 kbar and 510 °C was constrained, followed by a temperature peak at 550-590 °C and 9-10 kbar and a retrograde stage (< 475 °C, < 7 kbar), during which ductile shear zones developed. The inferred clockwise P-T-D path was most likely related to crustal thickening by continent-continent collision during the Variscan orogeny. A comparison of this P-T-D path with those of other Variscan basement occurrences in the Northern Apennines revealed significant differences. Conversely, a correlation between the tectono-metamorphic evolution of the Variscan basement at Cerreto pass, NE Sardinia and Ligurian Alps was established. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.