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The long-lasting Lusatian Central Volcano: Insights into the center of a Cenozoic volcanic field

The Lusatian Volcanic Field (LVF) is part of the Central European Volcanic Province, exhibiting magmatic compositions that manifest an alkaline trend, spanning from olivine nephelinites and basanites over trachytes to phonolites typical for intraplate settings.The volcanic field covers an area of about 6,000 km² and is situated in the border triangle between Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. It represents the northeastern margin of the Ohře/Eger Graben (OEG). More than 1,000 volcanic structures associated with approximately 500 to 600 vents have been located within the LVF. Residuals of scoria cones, lava lakes, lava flows and maar-diatreme fillings occur in situ near the level of the original pre-volcanic terrain. Evolved rocks occur as monogenetic domes or intrusions in diatremes, while their volcaniclastic equivalents are rarely observed. In the center of the volcanic field, a central volcano is assumed which is proved by widely distributed tephra and a large variety of different volcanic lithologies. Parasitical smaller volcanoes are situated on the so-called Lusatian Central Volcano. The volcanic center of LVF occurs within the graben (OEG) structure. Based on recently determined eruption ages spanning from 32.9 to 29.3 Ma by 40Ar/39Ar dating, it has been established that the Lusatian Central Volcano remained active for a considerable period of 3.6 million years. This duration corresponds to the temporal emphasis observed throughout the entire volcanic field.

Details

Author
Jörg Büchner1, Olaf Tietz1, Lothar Viereck2, Alexander Repstock3, Hripsime Gevorgyan4, Masafumi Sudo5
Institutionen
1Senckenberg Museum für Naturkunde Görlitz, Germany; 2Institut für Geowissenschaften, Friedrich Schiller Universität Jena, Germany; 3Section Geological Survey and Geophysics, Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology; 4Institute for Mineralogy, TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany; 5Institute of Geosciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
Veranstaltung
GeoSaxonia 2024
Datum
2024
DOI
10.48380/pvf9-qg41
Geolocation
Bohemian Massif