The eroded Late Jurassic Kurbnesh carbonate platform in the Mirdita Ophiolite Zone of Albania and its bearing on the Jurassic orogeny of the Neotethys realm

Several Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian?-Tithonian) to Early Cretaceous (Late Berriasian-Valanginian) shallow-water carbonate clasts of different facies are contained in mass-flow deposits in a pelagic sequence in the Kurbnesh area of central Albania. These clasts are used to reconstruct shallow-water carbonate platforms, which formed on top of the radiolaritic-ophiolitic wildflysch (ophiolitic mélange) of the Mirdita Zone. Stratigraphic interpretation of the platform carbonates was compiled on basis of calcareous algae, benthic foraminifera, and calpionellids. From biostratigraphic data and microfacies analysis, the Neocomian clasts can be directly correlated with autochthonous platform carbonates of the western part of the Munella carbonate platform, which at least reaches up to the Late Aptian. A Late Jurassic precursor platform (Kurbnesh carbonate platform; nomen novum) was completely eroded until the Valanginian and is only documented by the clasts described here. It was deposited on top of the Mirdita Ophiolite Zone nappe stack, which formed during the Middle to Late Jurassic Kimmeridian orogeny. Thrusting and imbrications as well as the formation of the syntectonic wildflysch (mélange) therefore occurred much earlier than previously assumed. Our results constrain the Kimmeridian orogeny, which was controlled by the closure of the Neotethys Ocean, and show excellent correlation with the Eastalpine-Dinaric- Hellenic orogenic system.     

Genesis of the Batinah mélange above the Semail ophiolite,Oman

The Batinah mélange which overlies the late Cretaceous Semail ophiolite in the northern Oman Mountains comprises mostly sedimentary rocks of deep-water facies, alkalic lavas and intrusives, all of continental margin affinities, together with smaller volumes of Semail ophiolitic and metamorphic rocks. Four intergradational textural types of mélange can be recognized. Sheet mélange has large (>1 km) intact sheets either with little intervening matrix or set in other mélange types, and with an organised sheet orientation fabric. Slab mélange is finer textured (>100 m) and more disrupted. Block mélange has smaller (> m) blocks with some matrix and a weak to random block fabric. Clast mélange is matrix-supported rudite with a weak depositional clast fabric. Structural relationships, particularly the absence of tectonic fabrics, the decreasing strength of fragment fabrics with increasing fragmentation, and the abundance of brittle fragmentation, suggest that these mélange types formed by either gravity-driven sedimentary processes or superficial sliding or thrusting of individual rock slabs.In the slab mélange, long sequences can be pieced together, passing up from Upper Triassic mafic sub-marine extrusives and sediments into radiolarian cherts, hemipelagic and redeposited limestones, and terminating in non-calcareous radiolarities with Mn-deposits of early Cretaceous age. Mafic sills are numerous. These sequences can be matched with sub-ophiolite rocks now exposed in fault corridors through the Semail. These sequences become progressively disrupted upwards in the corridors and can be traced continuously into overlying mélange, which then thins away from the corridors.We argue that, during late Cretaceous emplacement over the Arabian margin, active fault corridors split the Semail slab and acted as conduits up which sub-ophiolite rocks were supplied to the ophiolite surface. There the rocks were redisributed by superficial processes.     

Triassic and Jurassic radiolarians from sedimentary blocks of ophiolite mélange in the Avala Gora area (Belgrade surroundings, Serbia)

Blocks of cherty rocks and Aptychus Limestone embedded into ophiolite mélange south of Avala Gora (Serbia) contain radiolarians of different ages. We distinguished here Late Jurassic (middle Oxfordianearly Tithonian), Middle-Late Jurassic (Bathonian-early Tithonian), and Middle Triassic (early Ladinian) radiolarian assemblages. The respective stratigraphic data suggest that the ophiolite mélange was formed after the early Tithonian.     

金沙江缝合带弯岛湖蛇绿混杂岩带的岩石地球化学特征及其构造背景

弯岛湖蛇绿混杂岩带是金沙江缝合带西段的重要组成部分。蛇绿岩混杂于上三叠统变质碎屑岩夹变质火山岩中,成份主要为镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩,岩石类型有变质橄榄岩、变质堆晶质辉长岩及其伴生的岛弧型花岗岩系。岩石化学及地球化学特征表明:蛇绿岩主要为低Ti(岛弧-弧后)型、富集型洋中脊(E-MORB)拉斑玄武岩;与之共(伴)生的基性喷出岩、辉绿岩脉属板内洋岛型裂谷型碱性玄武岩及其过渡类型系列。在变质辉长岩获得全岩Sm-Nd等时线年龄值为232±11Ma,代表了镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩的形成年龄,可能为洋壳初始俯冲变质的时间。在蛇绿岩上覆的硅质岩中发现有中三叠世拉丁晚期至晚三叠世卡宁早期的放射虫化石,表明弯岛湖镁铁质-超镁铁质杂岩可能形成于中三叠世多岛洋盆或弧后盆地构造环境。     

Geology of southeast Bohol,central Philippines: Accretion and sedimentation in a marginal basin

Recent field mapping has refined our understanding of the stratigraphy and geology of southeastern Bohol, which is composed of a Cretaceous basement complex subdivided into three distinct formations. The basal unit, a metamorphic complex named the Alicia Schist, is overthrust by the Cansiwang mélange, which is, in turn, structurally overlain by the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The entire basement complex is overlain unconformably by a ～2000 m thick sequence of Lower Miocene to Pleistocene carbonate and clastic sedimentary rocks and igneous units. Newly identified lithostratigraphic units in the area include the Cansiwang mélange, a tectonic mélange interpreted as an accretionary prism, and the Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member of the Lower Miocene Carmen Formation. The Cansiwang mélange is sandwiched between the ophiolite and the metamorphic complex, suggesting that the Alicia Schist was not formed in response to emplacement of the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex. The accretionary prism beneath the ophiolite complex and the presence of boninites suggest that the Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex was emplaced in a forearc setting. The Southeast Bohol Ophiolite Complex formed during the Early Cretaceous in a suprasubduction zone environment related to a southeast‐facing arc (using present‐day geographical references). The accretion of this ophiolite complex was followed by a period of erosion and then later by extensive clastic and carbonate rock deposition (Carmen Formation, Sierra Bullones Limestone and Maribojoc Limestone). The Lumbog Volcaniclastic Member and Jagna Andesite document intermittent Tertiary volcanism in southeastern Bohol.     

新疆吐尔库班套蛇绿混杂岩的发现及其地质意义

蛇绿岩作为残留洋壳的良好记录,对于研究古板块构造及其演化具有重要意义。新发现的吐尔库班套蛇绿混杂岩位于新疆阿尔泰布尔津南部,主要由超镁铁岩、辉长岩、辉绿岩、玄武岩、复理石建造等构成。其中辉长岩和片麻状花岗岩的锆石U Pb年龄在363～355 Ma,指示蛇绿岩的形成、洋壳俯冲时代在晚泥盆世晚期。岩石地球化学特征表明,该蛇绿岩套的镁铁超镁铁岩和玄武岩属低碱、低钛、富镁的拉斑玄武岩系列,具有较典型的幔源岩石特征,玄武岩形成于类似洋中脊的构造环境。混杂岩带中的片麻状花岗岩属于钠质的低钾岩石系列,形成于火山弧或同碰撞构造环境,亦为洋壳俯冲的结果。吐尔库班套蛇绿岩与科克森套、乔夏哈拉、布尔根蛇绿岩一起构成了沿额尔齐斯分布的蛇绿混杂岩带,构成了分割西伯利亚板块和哈萨克斯坦-准噶尔板块的斋桑-科克森套-南蒙古缝合带。     

Late Cretaceous Foraminiferal Faunas from the Saiqu “mélange” in Southern Tibet

As one of the mélanges in the southern side of the Yarlung-Zangbo suture zone, the Saiqu mélange in southern Tibet is important for understanding the evolution of the Neo-Tethys ocean. The age of the Saiqu mélange, however, has been debated due to the lack of reliable fossil evidence in matrix strata. Based on lithological similarities with platform strata in southern Tibet and limited fossils from exotic blocks, previous studies variously ascribed the Saiqu mélange to be Triassic in general, Late Triassic, or Late Cretaceous. Here we reported planktonic foraminiferal faunas from the matrix strata of the Saiqu mélange. The new fossils yield a Late Cretaceous age, which is so far the best age constraint for the mélange. Regional stratigraphic correlation indicates that the Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) in Saiqu may be time equivalent to the CORBs of the Zongzhuo Formation in neighboring regions. Thus the Saiqu mélange should be correlated to the Upper Cretaceous Zongzhuo Formation rather than the Triassic Xiukang Group, as previously suggested.     

藏北改则新生代早期逆冲推覆构造系统

藏北改则及邻区新生代早期发育大型逆冲推覆构造系统,由不同方向的逆冲断层、不同时代的构造岩片、不同规模的飞来峰和构造窗、不同类型的褶皱构造组成。羌塘中部发育羌中薄皮推覆构造,石炭系板岩和二叠系白云质灰岩自北向南逆冲推覆于上白垩统与古近系红层之上,形成大型逆冲岩席和弧形逆冲断层,原地系统古近纪红层下伏三叠系—侏罗系海相烃源岩。羌塘南部发育南羌塘薄皮推覆构造,导致班公—怒江蛇绿岩、三叠系—侏罗系海相地层及侏罗纪混杂岩自北向南逆冲推覆于古近纪红层与下白垩统海相沉积岩层之上,形成三条蛇绿岩片带、大量飞来峰和厚度较大的构造片岩。中新世早期火山岩层和湖相沉积呈角度不整合覆盖逆冲断层、褶皱构造和逆冲岩席,不整合面上覆火山岩年龄为23.7～19.1Ma,指示中新世早期改则及邻区基本结束了强烈逆冲推覆构造运动。估算羌中逆冲推覆构造的推覆距离约100～115km,南羌塘逆冲推覆构造的推覆距离约82～110km;新生代早期改则逆冲推覆构造系统近南北方向逆冲推覆总距离为182～225km,对应地壳缩短率为(50.3±2.7)%。     

甘肃北山火石山地区早古生代蛇绿混杂岩的发现及其地质意义

在甘肃北山火石山地区新发现了蛇绿混杂岩,该混杂岩由蛇绿岩岩块和混杂基质组成。蛇绿岩块有纯橄岩、辉石橄榄岩、辉石岩、辉长岩、玄武岩及硅质岩等。基质为志留系中上统公婆泉群,主要是一套变凝灰质砂岩夹碳酸盐岩和少量安山岩。野外调查及室内鉴定结果显示蛇绿岩岩块和基质遭受了较强的变质变形。火石山蛇绿混杂岩位于红柳河、牛圈子蛇绿岩之间,且该蛇绿岩地球化学特征显示其同红柳河蛇绿岩相似,因此认为红柳河—牛圈子蛇绿混杂岩是通过火石山相连接。火石山蛇绿混杂岩的发现对研究该带洋陆时空演化提供了新的线索,对北山古生代构造背景研究具有重要意义。     

Corundum-bearing amphibolites from the metamorphic basement of the Krivaja–Konjuh ultramafic massif (Dinaride Ophiolite Zone, Bosnia)

Summary ?Corundum-bearing amphibolites are part of the metamorphic basement of the Krivaja–Konjuh ultramafic massif in the Dinaride Ophiolite Zone in Bosnia. Pinkish corundum occurs as porphyroblasts and together with edenitic–pargasitic hornblende and anorthite within the amphibolites. Based on major and trace element contents, the protoliths of the corundum-bearing amphibolites were tholeiitic gabbro cumulates. Geothermobarometric estimations on the corundum-bearing amphibolites yielded preliminary P–T conditions of 620–830 °C and 6–10 kbar for amphibole and plagioclase inclusions inside corundum and 4.5–8 kbar for the main metamorphic assemblage. These estimates are thought to reflect the metamorphic conditions achieved during the Late Jurassic obduction of the Krivaja–Konjuh ultramafic massif onto ophiolite mélange. This study documents the mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry of these unusual corundum-bearing ophiolite-related edenite–pargasitic amphibolites. Received June 20, 2002; accepted October 22, 2002     

关于如年各组的新认识

分布于炉霍-道孚断裂带的如年各组为一套深海环境形成的构造变形强烈的含硅质岩复理石沉积,与大量的蛇绿岩残片和古生界灰岩等外来岩块共存,具有基质、原地岩块和外来岩块共存的沉积-构造混杂特征,时代可限制在中三叠世拉丁期-晚三叠世诺利期.为了与理塘蛇绿岩群及金沙江蛇绿岩群相对比,将其更名为如年各岩群.     

中亚造山带东段西拉木伦构造带的性质与演化：来自变形和低温热年代学的约束

中亚造山带东段何时与何地关闭,从俯冲到关闭的过程以及随后的陆内演化又经历了什么主要事件,目前还存在不同认识。中亚造山带东段林西地区的蛇绿混杂岩及其周围地区的区域地质调查表明,以杏树洼蛇绿混杂岩和双井片岩为代表的西拉木伦河构造带是一个晚古生代的增生楔,在该混杂岩带中发育了典型的岩块被包裹在基质中的构造。该楔体被中、晚二叠世克德河砾岩所覆盖。增生楔中最早的近东西向构造代表了向南俯冲阶段的变形,随后继续经历向北的逆冲推覆,卷入了中、晚二叠世地层,形成了碰撞期的变形;在晚二叠世末期—三叠纪早期,蛇绿混杂岩以及上覆的克德河砾岩又经历了区域性的强烈的右行韧性剪切,并发生应变分解。晚二叠世区域性的右行韧性剪切在中亚造山带南缘普遍发育,代表了中亚造山带已经全部进入陆内环境。双井片岩也经历了与蛇绿混杂岩类似的变形事件,在增生楔下部经历变质作用,并在碰撞期抬升至地表,晚期为区域性的右行剪切。同时,结合锆石与磷灰石低温热年代学测试表明,双井片岩和蛇绿混杂岩共同经历了中、晚侏罗世源自北侧蒙古-阿霍茨克大洋关闭导致的近南北向挤压、早白垩世期间遍及东亚的区域性伸展以及晚白垩世短暂的构造反转事件。     

西南“三江”格咱火山-岩浆弧中红山-属都蛇绿混杂岩带的厘定及其意义

义敦岛弧南段的格咱火山-岩浆弧的东西斑岩带在成矿期次、成矿作用等方面存在较大差异性,二者之间是否有大型构造单元的存在,与东部代表洋壳消减的甘孜-理塘主蛇绿混杂岩带关系如何等一直是悬而未决问题。研究发现,区内存在由断续出露镁铁-超镁铁堆积杂岩,以及尼汝组玄武岩、硅质板岩和复理石、灰岩等岩片组成的红山-属都蛇绿混杂岩带,属于甘孜-理塘洋壳早期俯冲残留次级蛇绿混杂岩带,与主蛇绿混杂岩带及格咱火山-岩浆弧构成了本区构造格架。其中,红山-属都蛇绿混杂岩带将格咱弧分为东西两个斑岩成矿带。本蛇绿混杂岩带的厘定,为进一步研究甘孜-理塘洋范围、俯冲时限、构造演化、甘孜-理塘洋是否存在两次俯冲,及格咱弧东西斑岩带成矿规律提供了基础资料,并对指导区域找矿具有一定意义。     

新疆北塔山构造混杂岩(带)特征、形成时代及发展演化

北塔山构造混杂岩(带)为阿尔曼泰古生代板内缝合带,该构造混杂岩(带)是由无序基质和外来岩块组成,划分为蛇绿质混杂岩和泥砂质混杂岩2种类型,并分别建立了索尔巴斯陶岩组和柯克阿得尔岩组2个构造岩石单位。综合研究证明,阿尔曼泰小洋盆洋壳形成的时代为早泥盆世—晚泥盆世,与西伯利亚古板块和古准噶尔地块再次拉张有关。     

Bimodal stable isotope signatures of Zildat Ophiolitic Mélange, Indus Suture Zone, Himalaya: implications for emplacement of an ophiolitic mélange in a convergent setup

Zildat Ophiolitic Mélange (ZOM) of the Indus Suture Zone, Himalaya, represents tectonic blocks of the fragmented oceanic metasediments and ophiolite remnants. The ZOM is sandwiched between the Zildat fault adjacent to a gneissic dome known as Tso Morari Crystalline (TMC) and thin sliver of an ophiolite called as the Nidar Ophiolitic Complex. The ZOM contain chaotic low-density lithologies of metamorphosed oceanic sediments and hydrated mantle rocks, in which carbonates are present as mega-clasts ranging from 100 meters to few centimeters in size. In this work, calcite microstructures, fluid inclusion petrography and stable isotope analyses of carbonates were carried out to envisage the emplacement history of the ZOM. Calcite microstructure varies with decreasing temperature and increasing intensity of deformation. Intense shearing is seen at the marginal part of the mélange near Zildat fault. These observations are consistent with the mélange as a tectonically dismembered block, formed at a plate boundary in convergent setup. The δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C isotope values of carbonates show bimodal nature from deeper (interior) to the shallower (marginal, near the Zildat fault) part of the mélange. Carbonate blocks from deeper part of the mélange reflect marine isotopic signature with limited fluid–rock interaction, which later on provide a mixing zone of oceanic metasediments and/or hydrated ultramafic rocks. Carbonates at shallower depths of the mélange show dominance of syn-deformation hydrous fluids, and this has later been modified by metamorphism of the adjacent TMC gneisses. Above observations reveal that the mélange was emplaced over the subducting Indian plate and later on synchronously deformed with the TMC gneissic dome.     

Imbricate structure of the Luobusa Ophiolite and surrounding rock units,southern Tibet

The Cretaceous Luobusa Ophiolite is a tectonic slice less than 1.2 km thick. The structurally underlying unit is the Tertiary Luobusa Formation and the overlying unit is composed of feebly metamorphosed Triassic sedimentary rocks. The top and bottom contacts of the ophiolite dip gently to the south. The major part of the Luobusa Ophiolite is mantle peridotite, including podiform chromitite. This chromitite has received much attention because it contains an ‘unusual mineral assemblage’ which includes diamond and moissanite. A serpentinite mélange zone, including clasts of basaltic and sedimentary rocks, occurs underneath the mantle peridotite. Mesoscopic–microscopic structures were observed in the sheared rocks. Shear-indicating structures (C′-type shear bands and σ-type porphyroclasts) in the rocks near the top and bottom boundaries of the Luobusa Ophiolite show consistent top-to-the-north (or northeast) reverse displacement. The results reveal that the Luobusa Ophiolite was overturned and intercalated into an imbricate structure. The thrust faults on the top and bottom of the ophiolite can be correlated with north-vergent back-thrusting which was associated with crustal shortening along the Main Central Thrust due to the continued northward movement of India, after the welding of India to Asia.     

Geology,Geochemistry, and Evolution of the Divrigi and Kuluncak Ophiolitic Melanges,with Reference to Serpentinites in East-Central Turkey

The Divrigi and Kuluncak ophiolitic mélanges are located in central Anatolia in the Tauride ophiolite belt. The stratigraphic sequence in the Divrigi ophiolitic mélange includes, from bottom to top, the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Akdag limestone, Upper Cretaceous Çalti ultramafic rocks, and the Curek listwaenite. The Divrigi ophiolitic mélange is intruded by the Late Cretaceous-Eocene Murmano pluton. The above stratigraphic sequence is followed by the Eocene-Paleocene Ekinbasi metasomatite and the Quaternary Kilise Formation.

The oldest sequence of rocks in Kuluncak ophiolitic mélange in the GuvenÇ area is the Karadere serpentine/ultramafic body overlain successively by the Kurtali gabbro, Gundegcikdere radiolarite, the GuvenÇ listwaenites, and the Buldudere Formation. All of these units are Late Cretaceous in age. The Karamagra siderite deposit in the Hekimhan area probably was formed in the Lower Cretaceous at the contact between Çalti ultramafic rocks and the Buldudere Formation. The Kuluncak ophiolitic mélange was intruded by a subvolcanic trachyte in the Late Cretaceous. The Eocene-Paleocene Konukdere metasomatite, the Miocene Yamadag volcanic rocks, and Quaternary slope deposits are late in the stratigraphic sequence in the GuvenÇ area.

The Kuluncak ophiolitic mélange in the Karakuz area is similar to that at GuvenÇ; however, gabbro, radiolarite, and Miocene volcanic rocks are not present. The Miocene is represented by the Ciritbelen Formation at Karakuz and the Karakuz iron deposit is hosted by a Late Cretaceous subvolcanic trachyte.

The rareearth and trace-element concentration of serpentinite in the Divrigi and Kuluncak ophiolitic mélanges indicate that all of the ultramafics and their alteration products were derived from a MORB, which was depleted in certain elements and oxides. The results expressed in this study support the idea that the Divrigi and Kuluncak ophiolitic mélanges within the Tauride ophiolite belt originated from Northern Tauride oceanic lithosphere (Poisson, 1986), instead of a northern branch of Neo-Tethys (Sengor and Yilmaz, 1981).     

Volcanic rocks of the Khabarovsk accretionary complex,southern Far East Russia

The results of study of the volcanic rocks of the Khabarovsk accretionary complex, a fragment of the Jurassic accretionary prism of the Sikhote Alin orogenic belt (the southern part of the Russian Far East), are presented. The volcanic rocks are associated with the Lower Permian limestones in the mélange blocks and Triassic layered cherts. The petrography, petrochemistry, and geochemistry of the rocks are characterized and their geodynamic formation conditions are deduced. The volcanic rocks include oceanic plume basalts of two types: (i) OIB-like intraplate basalts formed on the oceanic islands and guyots in the Permian and Triassic and (ii) T(transitional)-MORBs (the least enriched basalts of the E-MORB type) formed on the midoceanic ridge in the Permian. In addition to basalts, the mélange hosts suprasubduction dacitic tuff lavas.     

Middle to late Triassic mélange exhumation along a pre-Andean transpressional fault system: coastal Chile (26°–42° S)

Mélanges occur as discontinuous, mappable, units along an extensive N–S-trending, steeply dipping zone of distributed shear in metamorphic complexes along the coast of central Chile. Large mélange zones, from north to south, near Chañaral, Los Vilos, Pichilemu, and Chiloé Island, contain variations in lithologic and structural detail, but are consistent in exhibiting cross-cutting fabric features indicating a progressive transition from earlier ductile to more brittle deformation. In the Infiernillo mélange near Pichilemu, Permian to Early Triassic, sub-horizontal schistosity planes of the Western Series schist are disrupted, incorporated into, and uplifted along high-angle, N–S- to NNE–SSW-trending brittle–ductile shears. Mylonitic and cataclastic zones within the mélange matrix indicate active lateral shear during cumulative exhumation from depths exceeding 12 km in some areas. Exotic lithologies, such as Carboniferous mafic amphibolite and blueschist, formed during earlier Gondwanide subduction, match well with similar rocks in the Bahia Mansa to Los Pabilos region 750 km to the south, suggesting possible dextral offset. The development of the Middle to Late Triassic, N–S=trending, near-vertical shear zones formed weaknesses in the crust facilitating later fault localization, gravitational collapse, and subduction erosion along the continental margin. The length and linearity of this zone of lateral movement, coincident with a general hiatus of regional arc magmatism during the Middle to Late Triassic, is consistent with large-scale dextral transpression, or possible transform movement, during highly oblique NNE–SSW convergence along the pre-Andean (Gondwana) margin. The resultant margin parallel N–S-trending shear planes may be exploited by seismically active faults along the present coastal area of Chile. The palaeo-tectonic setting during the transitional period between earlier Gondwanide (Devonian to Permian) and later Andean (Late Jurassic to present) subduction may have had some similarity to the presently active San Andreas transform system of California.     

New radiolarian biostratigraphic age constraints on Middle Triassic basalts and radiolarites from the Inner Hellenides (Northern Pindos and Othris Mountains, Northern Greece) and their implications for the geodynamic evolution of the early Mesozoic Neotethys

The Avdella Mélange in the northern Pindos Mountains and its equivalent formation, the Loggitsion Unit in the Othris Mountains expose early Mesozoic (Mid-Late Triassic) oceanic fragments beneath the Western Greek Ophiolite Belt of the Inner Hellenides, Northern Greece. The mélange consists of locally interfingering blocks and slices of ribbon radiolarite, radiolarian chert and pillow basalt and is usually overthrust by Jurassic ophiolites. New Middle and Upper Triassic radiolarian biostratigraphic data are presented from radiolarites and basalt-radiolarite sequences within mélange blocks. Pillow basalts associated with the radiolarites provide clues to the opening of the Neotethyan ocean basin. The radiolarians indicate a Middle Triassic age (latest Anisian, probably early Illyrian), which is documented for the first time in the northern Pindos Mountains. The new radiolarian biostratigraphic data suggest that rift-type basalt volcanism already began in pre-Ladinian time (late Scythian?—Anisian). These basalts were then overlain by Upper Anisian to Carnian (?Norian) radiolarites.