The tectonomagmatic evolution of the Rhodope area, Bulgaria

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Carsten Münker
• Subject Area: Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry
• Term: from 2006 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 20928634

The Rhodope area in Southern Bulgaria constitutes a highly suited terrain to investigate processes active in a late- to post-collisional tectonic regime. As part of an interdisciplinary project (Bündelantrag) involving sedimentological and structural studies, the aim of the proposed project was to examine (1) HP ophiolites and (2) post-collisional high-K volcanic rocks. In the first months of the project we collected an extensive sample suite including HP eclogites and mafic to felsic volcanic rocks. The sampled lavas virtually cover the complete range of K enrichment found in such settings worldwide, including shoshonites and absarokites. In a first model, this compositional spread is interpreted to mirror variable source enrichment by subduction processes. Initial results on the geothermometry and Lu-Hf geochronology of the HP eclogites suggest two different periods of peak metamorphism (Cretaceous and Tertiary). In the second phase of the project, we intend to carry out additional trace element and isotope measurements on the volcanic rocks as well as to finalize Lu-Hf and Sm-Nd geochronology. The results will significantly contribute to the general understanding of the evolution of HP terrains and the origin of high-K magmatism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Bulgaria
• Participating Persons: Dr. Carl-Dieter Garbe-Schönberg; Professor Dr. Peter Marchev