The evolution of the volcanism in the Eastern Aegean (Greece): A Geochronological and Geochemical study

Since the Cretaceous the evolution of the Aegean subduction zone has been controlled by convergence and northward subduction of the African plate beneath the Eurasian plate. Additionally, the realm is dominated by the westward extrusion of Anatolia and north-south extension in the Aegean. Satellite based velocity field measurements show that Anatolia is extruding to the west along the North Anatolian Fault zone, while the southern part of the Aegean domain is moving southward. The southward movement is facilitated by subduction transform edge propagator (STEP) faults in the east and west of the Aegean subduction zone, which mark the transition between the Aegean slab and the Cyprus slab. The southern Aegean domain moves faster to the south than Anatolia is moving to the west and a southward directed sub-lithospheric mantle flow is coupled with slab rollback. This is in agreement with the extensional tectonic processes in the Aegean back-arc. Furthermore, subduction-related processes, including collision and subduction of micro-continents, magma generation at different depth, addition of slab-derived fluids, assimilation, fractionation and magma mixing, add to the diversification of magmatic products. In addition, intra-plate magmatic processes, such as asthenospheric mantle upwelling, are facilitated by slab rollback, slab edge and an approximately vertical gap between the neighbouring Aegean and Cyprus slabs. The seismic anomaly of the gap is situated underneath western Anatolia and reaches in shallower levels into the eastern Aegean. Back-arc tectonic processes, subduction-related processes and intra-plate magmatic processes result diverse Cenozoic magmatic activities. The central aim of this study is the chemical characterization of the magmatic evolution and the timing of Miocene to Quaternary volcanism in the Eastern Aegean. Questions which follow from this aim are: Which magma fluxes from which mantle source are documented in the (isotope) geochemistry of