Abstract
Orthoamphibolites within and marginal to the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome in the eastern Bohemian massif are associated with a series of Proterozoic-Lower Palaeozoic supracrustal meta-sediments of the Stronie, Nové Město and Staré Město formations. Massive and variably foliated amphibolites range from common epidote-plagioclase-blue-green/green hornblende varieties to assemblages with diopside, garnet and brown amphibole. All the amphibolites have a basaltic composition and are divided into three main chemical groups which are intimately associated in the field: main series tholeiites, low-Ti tholeiites and alkali basalts. All groups exhibit a common enrichment in LIL elements+Nb+Ta (relative to high-field-strength elements) which reflects contamination by upper continental crust and/or pelagic sediment compositions. The gross chemistry of the tholeiitesapproaches that for MORB, although the geological environment and nature of crustal contamination suggests that the basaltic precursors were probably emplaced in a rifted ensialic basinal environment. If the amphibolites are representative of an early phase of the Lower Palaeozoic fragmentation of Gondwanaland, then rifting did not fully develop ocean crust. The wider significance of the chemical interpretation implies that some of the variation from Variscan Proterozoic-Palaeozoic metabasite suites that is ascribed to a complex of different eruptive settings could be accounted for by variable contamination and/or source composition.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bellieni G, Comin-Chiaramonti P, Marques LS, Melfi AJ, Piccirillo EM, Nardy AJ, Roisenberg A (1984) High- and low-Ti flood basalts from the Parana plateau (Brazil): petrology and geochemical aspects bearing on their mantle origin. N Jb Min Abh 150:273–306
Borkowska M, Choukroune P, Hameaurt J, Martineau F (1990) Geochemical investigations of the age, significance and structural evolution of the Caledonian-Variscan granite-gneisses of the Śnieżnik metamorphic area (Central Sudetes, Poland). Geol Sudetica 25:1–27
Brueckner HK, Maderis IG, Bakun-Czubarow N (1991) Nd and Sr age of isotope patterns from Variscan eclogites of the eastern Bohemian massif. N Jb Min Abh 163:169–196
Chaloupský J (1989) Major tectonostratigraphic units of the Bohemian massif. Geol Soc Am Spec Paper 230:101–113
Cox KG (1988) The Karoo province. In: MacDougall JD (ed) Continental flood basalts. Kluwer Academic Publishers, London, pp 239–271
Cymerman Z (1993) Does the Ramzova overthrust exist in the Sudetes? Przeglad Geol 41:700–706
Cymerman Z, Piasecki MAJ (1994) The terrane concept in the Sudetes, Bohemian massif. Geol Q 38:191–210
Dallmeyer RD, Franke W, Weber K (1995) Pre-Permian geology of central and eastern Europe. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York
Depciuch T (1972) Absolute age (K-Ar) of granitoids from the Klodzko-Zloty Stok area and Niemcza zone. Kwart Geol 16:102–112
Don J (1964) Gory Zlote i Krowiarki jako elementy skladowe metamorfiku Śnieżnika. Geol Sudetica 1:79–117
Don J, Dumicz M, Wojciechowska I, Zelazniewicz A (1990) Lithology and tectonics of the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome, Sudetes — recent state of knowledge. N Jb Geol Paläont Abh 179:159–188
Floyd PA, Castillo PR (1992) Geochemistry and petrogenesis of Jurassic ocean crust basalts, ODP Leg 129, site 801. In: Larson R, Lancelot Y et al. (eds) Proc ODP Sci Results 129:361–388
Floyd PA, Winchester JA (1978) Identification and discrimination of altered and metamorphosed volcanic rocks using immobile elements. Chem Geol 21:291–306
Floyd PA, Winchester JA (1983) Element mobility associated with metashear zones within the Ben Hope amphibolite suite, Scotland. Chem Geol 39:1–15
Floyd PA, Kelling G, Gokcen SL, Gokcen N (1991) Geochemistry and tectonic environment of basaltic rocks from the Misis ophiolitic melange, south Turkey. Chem Geol 89:263–280
Franke W (1989a) Tectonostratigraphic units in the Variscan belt of Central Europe. Geol Soc Am Spec Paper 230:67–90
Franke W (1989b) Variscan plate tectonics in Central Europe — current ideas and open questions. Tectonophysics 169:221–228
Furnes H, Kryza R, Muszyński A (1989) Geology and geochemistry of early Palaeozoic volcanics of the Swierzawa unit, Kaczawa Mts., W. Sudetes. N Jb Geol Paläont Mh 3:136–154
Furnes H, Kryza R, Muszyński A, Pin C, Garmann IB (1994) Geochemical evidence for progressive, rift-related early Palaeozoic volcanism in the eastern Sudetes. J Geol Soc Lond 151:91–110
Gunia T (1984) Microflora of Pre-cambrian limestones of the Duszniki Zdroj region (Central Sudetes). Roczn Ptg 14:65–92
Hawkesworth CJ, Gallagher K, Kelley S, Mantovani M, Peate DW, Regelous M, Rogers NW (1992) Parana magmatism and the opening of the South Atlantic. In: Storey BC, Alabaster T, Pankhurst RJ (eds) Magmatism and the causes of continental break-up. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 68:221–240
Hergt J, Peate D, Hawkesworth CJ (1991) The petrogenesis of Mesozoic Gondwana low-Ti flood basalts. Earth Planet Sci Lett 105:134–148
Klemd R, Brocker M, Schramm J (1995) Characterization of amphibolite-facies fluids of Variscan eclogites from the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome (Sudetes, SW Poland). Chem Geol 119:101–114
Kossmat F (1927) Gliederung des varistischen gebirgsbaues. Abh Sachs Geol 1-amt 1:1–39
Kryza R, Muszynski A, Turniak J, Zalasiewicz A (1994) A Lower Palaeozoic shallow water sequence in the eastern European Variscides (SW Poland): provenance and depositional history. Geol Rundsch 83:5–19
Li Y (1991) Distribution patterns of the elements in the ocean: a synthesis. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 55:3223–3240
Liew DC, Hofmann AW (1988) Precambrian crustal components, plutonic associations, plate environment of the Hercynian fold belt of Central Europe: indications from a Nd and Sm isotopic study. Contrib Mineral Petrol 98:129–138
Matte PH, Maluski H, Rajlich P, Franke W (1990) Terrane boundaries in the Bohemian massif: result of large-scale Variscan shearing. Tectonophysics 177:151–170
Meschede M (1986) A method of discriminating between different types of mid-ocean ridge basalts and continental tholeiites with the Nb-Zr-Y diagram. Chem Geol 56:207–218
Mízař Z (1984) Ophiolites and related rocks of Czechoslovakia and their correlation. Krystalinikum 17:7–11
Narębski W (1993) Lower to Upper Palaeozoic tectonomagmatic evolution of the NE part of the Bohemian massif. Z Geol Pal 1:961–972
Narębski W, Dostal J, Dupuy C (1986) Geochemical characteristics of Lower Palaeozoic spilite-keratophyre series in the western Sudetes (Poland): petrogenetic and tectonic implications. N Jb Miner Abh 153:243–258
Narębski W, Wojciechowska I, Dostal J (1988) Initial rifting volcanics in the Klodzko metamorphic complex (Polish middle Sudetes), evidenced by geochemical data. Bull Polish Acad Sci Earth Sci 36:261–269
Narębski W, Wojciechowska I, Dostal J, Pin C (1989) Geochemistry of metabasic rocks of the Klodzko metamorphic unit: petrogenetic and palaeotectonic implications. In: Narębski W, Majerowicz A (eds) Lower and Upper Palaeozoic metabasites and ophiolites of the Polish Sudetes. Warsaw, pp 157–174
Oliver GJL, Corfu F, Krogh TE (1993a) U-Pb ages from Poland: evidence for a Caledonian suture zone between Baltica and Gondwana. J Geol Soc Lond 150:355–369
Oliver GJL, Andrews ST, Kelley W (1993b) Ar-Ar fusion ages from the Polish Sudetes: Variscan tectonothermal reworking of Caledonian protoliths. N Jb Geol Paläon Mh 6:321–334
Opletal M, Domecka K, Cech S (1980) Geology of the Orlicke hory mountains. Ustredni Ustav Geol, Praha (Academica), pp 202
Opletal M, Jelinek E, Pecina V, Posmourtny K, Poubova E (1990) Metavolcanites of the SE part of the Lugicum, their geochemistry and geotectonic interpretation. Sbornik Geol Ved 45:37–64
Pearce JA (1982) Trace element characteristics of lavas from destructive plate boundaries. In: Thorpe RS (ed) Andesites. Willey, Chichester, pp 525–548
Pearce JA, Norry MJ (1979) Petrogenetic implications of Ti, Zr, Y and Nb variations in volcanic rocks. Contrib Mineral Petrol 69:33–47
Perekalina TV (1981) Variscan volcanism in central and western Europe. Geol Mijnb 60:17–31
Petrini R, Civetta L, PIccirillo EM, Bellieni G, Comin-Charamonti P, Marques LS, Melfi AJ (1987) Mantle heterogeneity and crustal contamination in the genesis of low-Ti continental flood basalts from the Parana plateau (Brazil): Sr-Nd isotope and geochemical evidence. J Petrology 28:701–726
Pin C (1990) Variscan oceans: ages, origins and geodynamic implications inferred from geochemical and radiometric data. Tectonophysics 177:215–227
Pin C, Majerowicz A, Wojciechowska I (1988) Upper Palaeozoic oceanic crust in the Polish Sudetes: Nd-Sr isotope and trace element evidence. Lithos 21:195–209
Poubova E, Sokolov A (1993) The petrology and geochemistry of the metaophiolitic rocks of Staré Męsto crystalline unit. Krystalinikum 21:67–88
Shervais JW (1982) Ti-V plots and the petrogenesis of modern and ophiolitic lavas. Earth Planet Sci Lett 59:101–118
Smulikowski K (1979) Polymetamorphic evolution of the crystalline complex of Śnieżnik and Gory Zlote mountains in the Sudetes. Geol Sudetics 14:7–79
Steltenpohl MG, Cymerman Z, Krogh EJ, Kunk MJ (1993) Exhumation of eclogitized continental basement during Variscan lithospheric delamination and gravitational collapse, Sudety mountains, Poland. Geology 21:1111–1114
Sun SS, McDonough WF (1989) Chemical and isotopic systematics of oceanic basalts: implications for mantle composition and processes. In: Saunders AD, Norry MJ (eds) Magmatism in the ocean basins. Geol Soc Lond Spec Publ 42:313–345
Taylor SR, McLennan SM (1985) The Continental Crust: its composition and evolution. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 312
Thompson G (1991) Metamorphic and hydrothermal processes: basalt-seawater interactions. In: Floyd PA (ed) Oceanic basalts. Blackie, Glasgow, pp 148–173
Thompson RN, Dickin AP, Gibson IL, Morrison MA (1982) Elemental fingerprints of isotopic contamination of Hebridean Palaeocene mantle-derived magmas by Archaean sial. Contrib Mineral Petrol 79:159–168
Urbanek Z, Zelaźniewicz A, Kemnitz H, Hermsdorf N, Linnemann U (1995) western Sudetes, VI.B Stratigraphy. In: Dallmeyer RD, Franke W, Weber K (eds) Pre-Permian geology of central and eastern Europe. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 315–327
Van Breemen O, Aftalion M, Bowes DR, Dudek A, Misra Z, Povondra P, Vrana S (1982) Geochronological studies of the Bohemian massif, Czechoslovakia, and their significance in the evolution of Central Europe. Trans R Soc Edinburgh Earth Sci 73:89–108
Weigand PW, Ragland PC (1970) Geochemistry of Mesozoic dolerite dikes from eastern North America. Contrib Mineral Petrol 29:195–214
Winchester JA, Floyd PA (1977) Geochemical discrimination of different magma series and their differentiation products using immobile elements. Chem Geol 20:325–343
Winchester JA, Floyd PA, Chocyk M, Horbowy K, Kozdroj W (1995) Geochemistry and tectonic environment of Ordovician meta-igneous rocks in the Rudawy Janowickie complex, SW Poland. J Geol Soc Lond 152:105–115
Wojciechowska I (1986) Metabasites in the NW part of Śnieżnik metamorphic unit. Geol Rundsch 73:585–593
Wojciechowska I (1990) Geology of the Klodzko metamorphic unit (Sudetes, Poland). N Jb Geol Paläont Abh 179:189–195
Wojciechowska I, Gunia P (1993) Pozycja geotektoniczna matabazytow strefy graniczne metamorifku Śnieżnika i jednostki tektonicznej skrzynki. Acta Univ Wratislawiensis Pr Geol Min 33:209–238
Wojciechowska I, Narębski W, Dostal J, Pin C (1989) Palaeotectonic setting of metabasites of NW part of the Śnieżnik metamorphic unit: geological and preliminary geochemical evidences. In: Narębski W, Majerowicz A (eds) Lower and Upper Palaeozoic metabasites and ophiolites of the Polish Sudetes. Warsaw, pp 175–189
Wood DA (1980) The application of the Th-Hf-Ta diagram to problems of tectonomagmatic classification and to establish the nature of crustal contamination of basaltic lavas of the British Tertiary Volcanic province. Earth Planet Sci Lett 50:11–30
Żelaźniewicz A, Kemnitz H, Hermsdorf N (1995) Western Sudetes, VI.C Structure. In: Dallmeyer RD, Franke W, Weber K (eds) Pre-Permian geology of central and eastern Europe. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 315–327
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Floyd, P.A., Winchester, J.A., Ciesielczuk, J. et al. Geochemistry of early Palaeozoic amphibolites from the Orlica-Śnieżnik dome, Bohemian massif: petrogenesis and palaeotectonic aspects. Geol Rundsch 85, 225–238 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02422230
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02422230