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The Late Paleozoic felsic lava-dominated large igneous province in northeast Germany: volcanic facies analysis based on drill cores

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Abstract

In the deep subsurface of the northeast German basin products of extensive volcanism are present that formed during the waning phase of the Variscan orogeny (Permian–Carboniferous boundary). Large volumes (≥48,000 km3) of dominantly felsic magma were emplaced in the northern foreland of the Variscan mountains in a terrestrial semi-arid environment. Most of these units were inferred by previous authors to represent the products of explosive volcanic eruptions such as ignimbrites. However, a detailed analysis of the volcanic texture and lithofacies association shows that most units are best interpreted as coherent lavas emplaced either as extrusive units or as shallow intrusions, with important implications for the reconstruction of the paleo-environment. This study shows that detailed textural examination of drill cores provide important observations, which can be applied as criteria for the interpretation of the mode of volcanic eruptions. Furthermore, phenocryst logging and geochemical fingerprinting based on immobile element ratios can be employed for the classification and discrimination of individual emplacement units.

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Acknowledgements

This research would not have been possible without the generous access to core, thin sections and unpublished reports provided by Erdöl Erdgas GmbH (Berlin). The permission to publish these results is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to emphasis the contribution of K. Hoth, D. Huebscher, D. Korich and others to the understanding of Late Paleozoic volcanism in NE Germany within the framework of the hydrocarbon exploration program of the German Democratic Republic between the 1970s and 1990s. The cooperation with the Geological State Surveys of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Brandenburg is highly acknowledged. Discussions with M. Geißler contributed to our understanding of the CEBLIP volcanology. This research was supported by grants of the German Research Foundation (DFG) to CB. This paper benefited from the comments by L. Viereck-Götte and an anonymous reviewer.

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  1. Mineralogisch - Petrologisches Institut, Universität Bonn, Poppelsdorfer Schloss, 53115, Bonn, Germany

    Holger Paulick

  2. Institut für Geologie, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, 09596, Freiberg, Germany

    Christoph Breitkreuz

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  1. Holger Paulick
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Correspondence to Holger Paulick.

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Paulick, H., Breitkreuz, C. The Late Paleozoic felsic lava-dominated large igneous province in northeast Germany: volcanic facies analysis based on drill cores. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 94, 834–850 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-005-0017-y

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