Acid and basic late neogene volcanism in central aegean sea: Its nature and geotectonic significance

Local eruptions of acid volcanic rocks occurred in the Central Aegean region around the Miocene-Pliocene boundary. Rhyolites outcrop on the Island of Antiparos, located in the central part of the Attic-Cycladic Massif. The age of these volcanic rocks ranges from 4.0 to 5.4 m.y., and chemical and Sr isotopic data suggest they were generated by partial melting of the continental crust. At the same time, along the border of the Attic-Cycladic Massif,i.e. on the island of Patmos and Caloyeri, local eruptions of Naalkaline basalts occurred. The whole of the eruptive activity is interpreted as an expression of the marked tensional tectonic phase which has affected the Central Aegean area since Middle Miocene. The contrasting nature of the erupted volcanic rocks (crustal and sub-crustal) is attributed to the different thermal state of the lithosphere beneath the two areas, as emphasized also by the presence of a wide granitic belt, of mainly Miocene age, which developed in the median sector of the Attic-Cycladic Massif.