himmerkus_zachariadis_reischmann_kostopoulos_2011_mount_athos_basement-libre.pdf

ORIGINAL PAPER

The basement of the Mount Athos peninsula, northern Greece:

insights from geochemistry and zircon ages

F. Himmerkus P. Zachariadis T. Reischmann

D. Kostopoulos

Received: 11 August 2009 / Accepted: 30 January 2011

Springer-Verlag 2011

Abstract The Mount Athos Peninsula is situated in the

south-easternmost part of the Chalkidiki Peninsula in

northern Greece. It belongs to the Serbo-Macedonian

Massif (SMM), a large basement massif within the Internal

Hellenides. The south-eastern part of the Mount Athos

peninsula is built by fine-grained banded biotite gneisses

and migmatites forming a domal structure. The southern tip

of the peninsula, which also comprises Mount Athos itself,

is built by limestone, marble and low-grade metamorphic

rocks of the Chortiatis Unit. The northern part and the

majority of the western shore of the Mount Athos peninsula

are composed of highly deformed rocks belonging to a

tectonic melange termed the Athos-Volvi-Suture Zone

(AVZ), which separates two major basement units: the

Vertiskos Terrane in the west and the Kerdillion Unit in the

east. The rock-types in this melange range from metase-

diments, marbles and gneisses to amphibolites, eclogites

and peridotites. The gneisses are tectonic slivers of the

adjacent basement complexes. The melange zone and the

gneisses were intruded by granites (Ierissos, Ouranoupolis

and Gregoriou). The Ouranoupolis intrusion obscures the

contact between the melange and the gneisses. The granites

are only slightly deformed and therefore postdate the

accretionary event that assembled the units and created the

melange. PbPb- and UPb-SHRIMP-dating of igneous

zircons of the gneisses and granites of the eastern Athos

peninsula in conjunction with geochemical and isotopic

analyses are used to put Athos into the context of a regional

tectonic model. The ages form three clusters: The basement

age is indicated by two samples that yielded Permo-Car-

boniferous UPb-ages of 292.6 2.9 Ma and 299.4

3.5 Ma. The main magmatic event of the granitoids now

forming the gneiss dome is dated by PbPb-ages between

140.0 2.6 Ma and 155.7 5.1 Ma with a mean of

144.7 2.4 Ma. A within-error identical age of 146.6

2.3 Ma was obtained by the UPb-SHRIMP method. This

Late Jurassic age is also known from the Kerdillion Unit

and the Rhodope Terrane. The rather undeformed granites

are interpreted as piercing plutons. The small granite stocks

sampled have Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary ages of

66.8 0.8 Ma and 68.0 1.0 Ma (UPb-SHRIMP)/

62.8 3.9 Ma (PbPb). The main accretionary event was

according to these data in the Late Jurassic since all

younger rocks show little or no deformation. The age dis-

tribution together with the geochemical and isotopic sig-

nature and the lithology indicates that the eastern part of

the Mount Athos peninsula is part of a large-scale gneiss

dome also building the Kerdillion Unit of the eastern SMM

and the Rhodope Massif. This finding extends the area of

this dome significantly to the south and indicates that the

tectonic boundary between the SMM and the Rhodope

Massif lies within the AVZ.

Keywords Greece Geochronology Isotope

geochemistry Terranes Serbo-Macedonian Massif

Rhodope Massif

F. Himmerkus P. Zachariadis

Institut fur Geowissenschaften, Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat,

Becherweg 21, 55099 Mainz, Germany

F. Himmerkus (&) P. Zachariadis T. Reischmann

Abteilung Geochemie, Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie,

55128 Mainz, Germany

e-mail: [email protected]

D. Kostopoulos

Faculty of Geology and GeoEnvironment,

Department of Mineralogy and Petrology,

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,

Panepistimioupoli, Zographou, 15784 Athens, Greece

123

Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch)

DOI 10.1007/s00531-011-0644-4

Introduction

The Serbo-Macedonian Massif (SMM) is a basement

massif forming the central part of the Internal Hellenides

(Dimitrijevic 1997; Kockel et al. 1977, see Fig. 1). This

part of the Hellenic orogen was built by the accretion of

different terranes during the Mesozoic (Papanikolaou

1997, 2009; Himmerkus et al. 2007). The Athos peninsula

is located at the boundary of two major tectonic units, the

Vertiskos Terrane in the west and the Kerdillion unit in

the east, and is therefore the area to test new regional

models (Himmerkus et al. 2009a; Turpaud and Reisch-

mann 2009).

This study was initiated to clarify the regional plate

tectonic context of the gneisses and granites on the Mount

Athos peninsula on the basis of geochronological, geo-

chemical and isotope geochemical data and to investigate

their affinity to similar units in the adjacent basement

complexes. The rocks of the north-western and southern

part of the peninsula that complete the regional geological

framework but were not the scope of this work. Never-

theless, several of the samples taken from these units are

discussed in the text.

The geology of the Mount Athos peninsula was estab-

lished during regional mapping of the Chalkidiki peninsula

by the Greek (IGME) and the German (BGR) geological

Strim

on Valley

Vertiskos M

ts.

Kerdillion Unit

Rhodope Massif

Athos

Thessaloniki

Volvi-Ophiolite-

Complex

Kassandra

Chalkidiki

Circum

Rhodope Belt

Arnea

Kavalla

Granite

Mt. Falakron

Mt. Vrontou

N

b

Fig. 6

Sithonia0 25 50 km

0 50 100km0 50 100km

Rhodope

Massif

Vadar Z

onePe

lagonia

n Z

one

Pin

dos Z

one

Exte

rnal H

elle

nid

e P

latfo

rm

N

Serbo-Macedonian

Massif

Athens

Thessaloniki

Attic-C

ycladic Massif

ab

Greece

Legend

Cenozoic Sediments

Cenozoic Granites

Marbles

Chortiatis Unit

Melissochori Schists

Mafic and Ultramafic Rocks

Kerdillion Unit

Arnea Granitic Suite (AGS)

Vertiskos Unit

Gneisses of the Lower

Tectonic Unit (Rhodope Massif)

Athos-Volvi-Suture Zone

Circ

um

Rhodope

Belt (C

RB

)V

ertis

kos

Terra

ne

Fig. 1 Simplified geological

map of the Serbo-macedonian

Massif and the adjacent areas


123

surveys in the 1960s (Kockel et al. 1971). Several of the

large Tertiary granites on the peninsula were dated

including the Gregoriou Granite (KAr-method, Bebien

et al. 2001), the Ouranoupolis Granite (ArAr-method, De

Wet et al. 1989, De Wet 1989) and the Ierissos granite (U

Pb-Method, Frei 1996) all of which yielded Eocene ages of

intrusion (ages and localities, see Figs. 3 and 5) resembling

the granites in the south-eastern Kerdillion Unit (see Lips

et al. 2000 for overview). On the adjacent Sithonia pen-

insula, the Tertiary Sithonia Plutonic Complex was studied

in detail (Christofides et al. 1990, 2007), and an elaborate

magmatic evolution model was proposed. However, the

age of the melange zone and the gneisses forming the

basement for the granites remained unknown. This infor-

mation is important to fit the rocks of Mount Athos into a

regional geodynamic scenario.

The Early Tertiary Ouranoupolis granite intrusion

obscures the contact between rocks of the Athos-Volvi-

Suture and the gneisses (Fig. 1) (Bebien et al. 2001);

therefore, the relation of the basement units to the melange

zone and the adjacent Kerdillion Unit cannot be deduced by

intrusive relationships, and the age of the granites can only

provide a minimum age for the accretion. The eastern part

of the SMM, the Kerdillion Unit, is the western extension of

the Rhodope Massif (Ricou et al. 1998; Brun and Sokoutis

2004, 2007; Himmerkus et al. 2007), and the structure of the

whole Rhodope is a large-scale gneiss dome, which is

intersected by several Neogene basins. The lithologies

present in the eastern part of Mount Athos peninsula toge-

ther with the proximity to the melange zone indicates that

the Athos dome may be the western continuation of this

Rhodope gneiss dome. This reasoning will be supported in

this paper my geochronological and structural data.

Geological setting

The Internal Hellenides of northern Greece form the

crystalline basement in the hinterland of the Alpine Hel-

lenic orogen. They are composed of three main basement

complexes: The Pelagonian Zone in the west (e.g. Moun-

trakis 1986; Anders 2005), the Serbo-Macedonian Massif

(SMM) in the centre (Kockel et al. 1977; Himmerkus et al.

2007) and the Rhodope Massif in the east (Burg et al. 1996;

Turpaud 2006) (see Fig. 1).

The Mount Athos peninsula in eastern Chalkidiki is the

south-easternmost part of the Serbo-Macedonian Massif

(see Fig. 1). This massif is built by two different basement

units or Terranes: the Vertiskos Terrane in the west and the

Kerdillion Unit in the east (Kockel et al. 1977; Burg et al.

1995; Himmerkus et al. 2003).

Vertiskos is an exotic terrane of Gondwanan origin,

accreted to the southern margin of Laurussia during the

closure of the eastern Rheic Ocean in the Early Carbonif-

erous (see von Raumer and Stampfli 2008; Spiess et al.

2010). The basement of the terrane is composed of Silurian

augengneisses, which, judging from their trace element

pattern and their Sr-isotopic composition (Himmerkus et al.

2009a), originated in an active continental margin. Leuc-

ocratic rift-related granites intruded the Silurian basement

in the Triassic, forming the Arnea Granite Suite (Himm-

erkus et al. 2009b).

In contrast to theVertiskos Terrane, theKerdillionUnit on

the eastern SMM is built by migmatised dark foliated biotite

gneisses, which incorporate variable amounts of leucosomes.

This unit is related to the adjacent RhodopeMassif in terms of

lithology, intrusion ages and structure (Burg et al. 1993).

The Rhodope Massif is also built by two terranes: the

lower Thracia Terrane (Lower Tectonic Unit of Papa-

nikolaou and Panagopoulos 1981) composed of Permo-

Carboniferous gneisses overlain by massive marbles, and

the Rhodope Terrane consisted of Late Jurassic and Early

Tertiary gneisses and granites (Turpaud 2006; Turpaud and

Reischmann 2003). The relation of the Kerdillion Unit and

the Rhodope Terrane is underlined by the presence of

marble horizons, which are faulted into the otherwise

entirely magmatic succession.

The boundary between the Vertiskos Terrane and the

Kerdillion Unit (Rhodope terranes) is defined by the

ophiolitic melange zone of the Athos-Volvi-Suture Zone

(AVZ, Himmerkus et al. 2005) comprising mafic and ultra-

mafic rocks like the complexes of Thermes, Volvi and

Gomati (Dixon and Dimitriadis 1984; Bonev and Dilek

2009) as well as metasediments and gneisses, which rep-

resent tectonic slivers of the adjacent basement complexes

as indicated by petrological and in places also geochrono-

logical similarity (Himmerkus et al. 2009a). The metase-

diments within the AVZ are characterised by amphibolite-

facies metamorphism, which is significantly higher than the

metamorphic grade of the metasediments in the eastern

Vardar Zone (Kockel et al. 1977; Meinhold et al. 2009a, b).

The southern continuation of this melange zone makes

up the northern part of the Mount Athos peninsula (see

Figs. 3 and 6). The rocks of the melange crop out west of

Ouranoupolis, further north towards Ierissos, and they are

covered by Neogene sediments. At the north-eastern shore,

near Nea Roda, there is a large body of serpentinized ul-

tramafics accompanied by metasediments and amphibo-

lites; some of the latter may originally have been eclogites

(Dimitriadis and Godelitsas 1991). More mafic and ultra-

mafic rocks of the melange crop out at the western shore

near Dafni and in the southern part of the peninsula. The

Mount Athos itself is built by limestones and marbles of

presumably Triassic age (Kockel et al. 1977). The mafic

and ultramafic rocks incorporated in the melange zone of

the Mount Athos peninsula represent dismembered


123

ophiolites, and the geochemical and isotopic signature

indicates that they originated in a supra-subduction-zone

tectonic setting (Himmerkus et al. 2005).

The south-eastern part of the peninsula is built by foli-

ated biotite gneisses and granites forming a domal structure

(see Figs. 2 and 3). The gneisses are migmatitic, and

deformed leucosomes and rootless folds indicate a top-to-

the west simple shear tectonic movement. The late-stage

granites are stocks of different sizes intruding the basement

and the melange. The most prominent intrusions are the

Ierissos granite (see Fig. 1) north of the Athos peninsula

(Frei 1996) and the Ouranoupolis and Gregoriou granites in

its central part (De Wet et al. 1989; Bebien et al. 2001).

Geology of the Mount Athos peninsula

The rocks on the Mount Athos peninsula form 3 major

groups:

Gneisses

In the eastern part of the peninsula occurs a large and

lithologically homogeneous gneiss dome, built by mig-

matitic biotite gneisses. The rocks are more migmatised in

the west, and this may be related to the vicinity of the

granitic stocks there, whereas in the north-east, they are

intensely foliated. This distribution of fabrics may be also

caused by the fact that the eastern part of the gneisses is

positioned near the top of the dome leading to a more

intense deformation there. The grain size in the gneisses is

highly variable depending on the state of deformation. In

some cases, nearly undeformed coarse-grained diorites and

granodiorites are preserved, but the majority of the rocks

are highly foliated (see Fig. 2). Two samples of greenshist

facies overprinted metagranitoids from the western and one

from the eastern part of the peninsula were incorporated in

this study, as they have a strong arc and are considered part

of the basement unit of Mount Athos.

The melange

In the northwest and the south of the peninsula, the highly

variable rocks of the AVZ are exposed. They are am-

phibolites and ultramafics, marbles, minor clastic metase-

diments and gneisses. The size of the lithological units

within the melange ranges from several metres to hundreds

of metres. Parts of these rocks are covered by Neogene

sediments. From this rock association, only the crystalline

lithological units were studied in order to constrain the

tectonic setting of the mafic complexes incorporated in the

suture zone. The overall composition of the melange and

the sedimentary rock incorporated in it clearly distinguish

this unit from the Chortiatis Unit west of the Vertiskos

Terrane. The metamorphic and deformational grade indi-

cates a formation of the melange prior to the Tertiary

intrusion of the granites.

Several samples of amphibolites, garnet-amphibolites

and ultramafic rocks indicate that the rocks were formed in

an oceanic setting with some arc influence, most probably a

back arc basin (Himmerkus et al. 2005).

Mafic and ultramafic rocks are also faulted into the

basement gneisses at the margins of the Athos gneiss dome.

The rocks of the melange are not the scope of this work;

nevertheless, several samples show a genetic relation to the

basement rocks of the Mount Athos peninsula and are

therefore incorporated into the discussion.

Granites

The third group of rocks are the late Cretaceous to Early

Tertiary granites of Ouranoupolis and Gregoriou (De Wet

et al. 1989; Bebien et al. 2001), which are associated with

Fig. 2 Outcrop Photographs. Ath 10 (top) is a typical sample of fine-

grained foliated migmatitic biotite gneiss. Ath 2 (bottom) is also

highly. Ath 2 is also highly transposed biotite gneiss, but in this case,

the rock contains undeformed melt, which correlates with the late-

stage intrusion of the Tertiary granites of Ouranoupolis and Gregoriou


123

smaller granites intruding the basement gneisses. In the

cases of the smaller bodies, intrusive relations with the

basement are rather clear, whereas the large granites show

merely faulted contacts to the basement and the rocks of

the melange indicating a post-tectonic intrusion of the

granites. The western contact of the gneiss dome against

the Ouranoupolis granite is characterised by a ductile shear

zone associated with marbles and amphibolites, a situation

similar to the shear zone west of the Kerdillion Unit (Brun

and Sokoutis 2007; Himmerkus et al. 2007).

Petrography

Granites and gneisses were sampled along an east west

transect south of the Ouranoupolis granite, from Dochia-

riou to Pantokrataros monasteries (see Fig. 6 for location of

samples and monasteries). A second sampling transect was

from the port of Dafni to the village of Karies. In the

eastern part of the peninsula, samples were collected along

the coastline from the monastery of Iviron to the monastery

of Megistis Lavras.

Gneisses

Sample Ath 2 is a migmatitic orthogneiss with large pat-

ches of partial melt from the coastal slope north of the

Dochiariou monastery, which is located at the western

boundary of the basement gneisses. It is fine-grained with

quartz, plagioclase and biotite as main mineral compo-

nents; the accompanying leucosome consists mainly of

coarse-grained quartz and feldspar (see Fig. 2).

Sample Ath 3 is a fine-grained leucocratic homogeneous

gneiss with little biotite; Ath 2 and Ath 3 show a strong

non-coaxial deformation indicating a top-to-the-west sense

of movement.

Samples Ath 7, Ath 8 and Ath 10 are fine-grained layered

biotite gneisses sampled on the high plain east of the monas-

tery of Dorchiariou. Ath 7 and Ath 8 are fine-grained gneisses

with small augen in the lowermmrange.Both gneisses showa

strong foliation. Ath 10 is a banded migmatised gneiss com-

posed of leucosome, mesosome and melanosome within

which intrafolial folds may be seen (see Fig. 2).

Sample Ath 13 is a hornblende-gneiss from the centre of

the peninsula. It is rather little deformed either due to the fact

that it is more competent material or because it escaped

deformation in a strain pocket. Nevertheless, the amphibole

and the feldspars define a well-developed foliation. Ath 13

differs from the other samples, as it has a high feldspar con-

tent, which makes it a gneiss, but also has a rather undiffer-

entiated chemistry and isotopic composition (see below). The

samples for geochemistry and geochronology were selected

on the basis of homogeneity and alteration state.

Melange

The fine-grained amphibolite Ath 5 was collected from the

westernmost part of the melange zone north of the

Dorchiariou

Dafni

Karies

Pantokratoros

Megistis

Lavras

Ivirion

Gregoriou

Granite

Mount

Athos

Ouranopolis

Granite

35

60

10 50

48

30

32

38

20

20

30

30

30

25

20

50

-1000

+1000

A'A

A'

A

Athos

gneiss dome

0 5 10 km

N

Legend

Cenozoic Sediments

Cenozoic Granites

Marbles


Gneisses of Kerdillion Unit


Strike and Dip of Foliation

Trend and Plunge of Lineation

Strike and Dip (Kockel, 1977)

Traces of Foliation

50

30

Fig. 3 Structure of the gneiss

dome on the Mount Athos

peninsula including a cross-

section across the central part of

the peninsula


123

monastery of Dochiariou. The outcrop was in the road cut,

and the lithology is a fine-grained dark amphibolite with a

strong foliation.

Within the melange zone in the western part of Athos

peninsula, greenschists containing primary quartz crop

out. Two samples (Ath30 and Ath 31) were collected

1,000 m away from the port of Dafni, on the road leading

from that port to Karies. Both are representative samples

of this unit and contain greenschist facies minerals

(chlorite) in addition to quartz. The grain size ranges for

quartz from 0.2 to 3 mm. Their chemical and isotopic

composition (see below) indicates a volcanic arc origin.

These rocks are interpreted as granitic gneisses or diorites

belonging to the basement unit of Mount Athos, meta-

morphosed under greenschist facies conditions. In the

further sections, the samples will be discussed together

with the gneisses.

In the south-eastern part of the peninsula, along the

coast and between the monasteries of Iviron and Megistis

Lavras, a gradual transition from biotite gneisses to

greenschists can be observed. The rocks mapped as

Chortiatis Unit by Kockel et al. (1977) may be gneisses

that experienced a latestage greenschistfacies overprint.

Several larger bodies of mafic and ultramafic rocks also

occur in this area including amphibolites, harzburgites

and serpentinites. Ath 23 is a fresh, dark-grey deformed

amphibolite from this area, containing plagioclase, biotite

and amphibole. The field relations are not clear; the rock

crops out in a zone containing also mafic and ultramafic

rocks and is interpreted as being faulted into the succes-

sion. The structure indicates that north of Mount Athos is

a highly deformed zone, where the carbonates and low-

grade rocks are in faulted contact with the basement

gneisses.

Granites

Ath 4 is an undeformed coarse-grained granite sampled

near Dochiariou monastery. Its main minerals are quartz

and plagioclase with little biotite. This rock is more coarse-

grained and leucocratic than the adjacent Ouranoupolis

granite. However, albitic plagioclase is its main feldspar,

and its biotite content is very low, leading to the inter-

pretation that this granite formed as trapped melt from the

migmatised basement gneisses.

Ath 22 is a slightly deformed granite from the eastern

part of the peninsula south of the monastery of Iviron and is

mapped on the geological map of Greece as part of the

Gregoriou Granite. The rock is a biotite granite with

roundish quartz grains aligned k-spar phenocrysts and a

foliation defined by the biotite. The outcrop is in the

roadcut near to the shoreline; the overall outcrop of this

granite body is in the range of 200 m.

Geochemistry

The major and trace elements concentrations were deter-

mined by wave-length dispersive XRF at the Department of

Geosciences of the University of Mainz. The data set toge-

ther with the calculatedCIPWvalues is displayed in Table 1.

Gneisses

According to the classification scheme of De La Roche

et al. (1980) and the distribution in the TAS diagram (Le

Maitre 1989, not shown), the precursor rocks of samples

Ath 2, Ath 7 and Ath 8 are granodiorites and granites.

Sample Ath 13 is a meta-diorite.

The major element composition of the gneisses is rather

consistent, with SiO2 around 73.0 wt.%, Fe2O3 ranging

between 1.05 and 1.63 wt.% and TiO2 between 0.11 and

0.17 wt.%. Na dominates over K in all gneisses. The

greenschist facies rocks have different signatures, which

cover a wide range, because they derive either from dif-

ferent precursor rocks or suffered different alteration.

Ath 5, Ath 13, Ath 30 and Ath 31 form a distinct group,

with SiO2 around 63.5 wt.%, high Fe2O3 of 4.526.20 wt.%

and high TiO2 of 0.661.25 wt.%.

The amount of incompatible elements, such as Nb, Y

and Rb, in granitic gneisses from Athos indicates a mag-

matic-arc setting for their precursor rocks. In the Rb versus

(Y ? Nb) discrimination diagram of Pearce et al. (1984),

the rocks also plot in the volcanic-arc granite field (Fig. 4).

The rocks are high in compatible elements; the Sr/Rb

ratio is rather high indicating an undifferentiated origin. In

a RbSrBa ternary diagram, the rocks plot close to the Sr

Ba side, within the field of undifferentiated granitoids

(Fig. 5). The results of the two discrimination diagrams fit

the petrological observations.

The majority of the trace elements are characterised by a

wide scatter, which is caused on the one hand by different

chemical compositions and on the other hand by the

metamorphic overprint in the case of the greenschist facies

rocks and the migmatites. In the case of the migmatites, the

separation of leucosome and melanosome may change the

trace-element pattern due to different distribution coeffi-

cients of the elements in the minerals of the two phases.

However, the geochemical data indicate that the rocks are

gneisses derived from typical I-type granitoids as indicated

by the trace element patterns and the CIPW-Norm.

The Sr-isotopic signature (see Isotope geochemistry,

below) and the presence of amphibole in Ath 13 further

support its I-type character.

The geochemical signature of sample Ath 13 differs from

that of the rest of the granitic gneisses. Its SiO2 content

(61.54 wt.%) is rather low, whereas Al2O3 and CaO (18.36

and 6.36 wt.% respectively) are higher than those in the


123

Table 1 Major and trace elements of the gneisses, diorites, amphibolites and greenschists sampled in the Athos gneiss dome

Sample Ath2 Ath4 Ath7 Ath8Lithology Migmatic gneiss Granite Biotite gneiss Biotite gneissLocality Dorchiariou Dorchiariou No. of Karies No. of Karies

a

SiO2 (wt%) 72.16 72.04 72.64 74.05

TiO2 0.17 0.16 0.13 0.11

Al2O3 14.20 14.91 14.35 14.02

Fe2O3(t) 1.63 1.10 1.33 1.05

MnO 0.02 0.01 0.08 0.03

MgO 0.48 0.45 0.37 0.29

CaO 2.34 2.60 1.94 2.23

Na2O 4.54 4.95 3.44 4.21

K2O 1.91 1.09 4.17 2.62

P2O5 0.04 0.03 0.09 0.05

Loss on ignition 0.83 0.77 0.82 0.58

Sum 98.31 98.11 99.34 99.23

Sc (ppm) 2 1 1 3

V 15 16 14 11

Cr 8 5 7 8

Co 1 0 0 2

Ni 1 1 3 3

Cu 20 1 5 3

Zn 31 28 31 23

Ga 14 16 15 16

Rb 42 29 153 74

Sr 482 429 372 252

Y 11 7 19 23

Zr 155 59 67 64

Nb 3 4 6 9

Ba 470 275 477 598

Pb 20 19 41 35

Th 6 4 11 11

U 2 1 5 6

La 8 11 20 15

Ce 16 11 29 29

Pr 1 2 5 2

Nd 10 6 15 13

Sm 7 1 3 4

Quartz 32.83 32.92 32.22 34.47

Orthoclase 11.29 6.44 24.64 15.48

Albite 38.42 41.89 29.11 35.62

Anorthite 11.35 12.70 9.04 10.74

Diopside 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Hypersthene 1.20 1.12 0.92 0.72

Olivine 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

Illmenite 0.04 0.02 0.17 0.06

Apatite 0.09 0.07 0.21 0.12

Hematite 1.63 1.10 1.33 1.05

Corundum 0.51 0.93 0.87 0.32

Rutile 0.15 0.15 0.04 0.08P

97.50 97.35 98.55 98.67

Sample Ath13 ATH30 ATH31 ATH23 ATH5Lithology HBl Gneiss Greenschist facies Gneiss Greenschist facies Gneiss Amphibolite AmphiboliteLocality No. of Karies No. of Dafni No. of Dafni Ivirion Dorchiariou

b

SiO2 (wt%) 61.54 63.02 63.34 43.62 60.44

TiO2 0.60 1.25 1.15 1.16 0.77

Al2O3 18.36 14.52 14.99 19.78 17.33

Fe2O3(t) 4.52 4.88 5.06 10.48 6.20


123

granitic gneisses. The rather high value of Sc (20 ppm) and

the low value of Rb (7 ppm) also indicate that the rock is

less differentiated than the other gneisses. The isotopic

signature of this rock supports further (see Isotope geo-

chemistry below) this argument. The hornblende gneiss

may be representative of the little differentiated parts of a

volcanic arc, which is also indicated by its slightly older

time of emplacement (see Geochronology below).

The greenschist-facies rocks may show similarities in

their major-element content; however, their trace-element

compositions differ significantly, and this is clearly

depicted in the two discrimination diagrams discussed and

in Table 1.

Melange

Ath 23 has only 43.62% SiO2 and no normative quartz.

This rock may according to the major and trace element

composition originally have been a gabbro. Samples Ath

30 and 31 may have been diorites or leuco-gabbros; they

Table 1 continued

Sample Ath13 ATH30 ATH31 ATH23 ATH5Lithology HBl Gneiss Greenschist facies Gneiss Greenschist facies Gneiss Amphibolite AmphiboliteLocality No. of Karies No. of Dafni No. of Dafni Ivirion Dorchiariou

MnO 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.13 0.15

MgO 1.40 3.21 2.60 5.63 2.18

CaO 6.36 3.37 3.10 10.64 6.16

Na2O 4.65 3.07 3.03 2.68 4.45

K2O 0.28 4.25 4.33 1.52 0.35

P2O5 0.14 0.37 0.24 0.27 0.15

Loss on ignition 0.78 1.15 1.41 3.02 0.86

Sum 98.70 99.17 99.31 98.94 99.05

Sc (ppm) 20 8 47 30 18

V 94 101 411 290 95

Cr 4 144 77 17 11

Co 12 13 45 29 11

Ni 3 94 53 22 8

Cu 9 11 72 29 12

Zn 31 97 158 81 60

Ga 17 22 22 23 17

Rb 7 173 5 62 12

Sr 298 231 100 790 356

Y 21 21 51 29 16

Zr 64 352 185 129 69

Nb 2 20 8 8 2

Ba 54 821 0 585 72

Pb 6 21 4 16 6

Th 1 21.4 1 10.3 0

U 2 2.9 1.6 3 0

La 5 70 6 26 1

Ce 13 155 32 67 8

Pr 1 18 7 7 3

Nd 6 70 20 33 6

Sm 4 11 7 3 2

Quartz 18.59 18.16 19.31 0.00 17.91

Orthoclase 1.65 25.11 25.59 8.98 2.07

Albite 39.35 25.98 25.64 19.60 37.66

Anorthite 28.40 13.29 13.81 37.45 26.28

Diopside 0.33 0.00 0.00 7.81 0.94

Hypersthene 3.33 7.99 6.47 0.00 4.99

Olivine 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.29 0.00

Illmenite 0.15 0.12 0.12 0.28 0.32

Apatite 0.33 0.88 0.57 0.64 0.36

Hematite 4.52 4.88 5.06 10.48 6.20

Corundum 0.00 0.00 0.26 0.00 0.00

Rutile 0.00 0.90 1.09 0.00 0.00P

97.93 98.03 97.92 95.93 98.19


123

show higher contents in K2O (4.25% and 4.33% respec-

tively). Samples Ath 13, Ath 30 and Ath 31 (from the

melange) form a distinct group with SiO2 around 63.5%,

high Fe2O3 (4.525.05%) and high TiO2 (0.661.25%).

These rocks are interpreted as part of the base of the Athos

magmatic arc. Alternatively, they may belong to the

ophiolitic melange and represent oceanic material; this last

is, however, not supported by the isotopic signature of the

rocks (see Isotope geochemistry below).

Granites

The geochemical signature of Ath 4 is typical for granite;

the trace elements indicate a relation to a volcanic arc

environment (see Fig. 4). Despite its leucocratic appear-

ance, the rock has a rather low Rb content (29 ppm) and

K2O (1.09%), resulting in plagioclase being its main feld-

spar phase. The rock is interpreted as trapped leucosome,

which was directly extracted from the migmatised biotite

gneisses. The low content in K and the high Na/K-ratio can

be either explained by a stable K-bearing mineral phase in

the source of the melt or a general depletion of the source

rock in K (I-type material in the source). For sample Ath 22,

no geochemical data were produced.

Geochronology

The rocks of the Athos peninsula are, apart from some

metasediments in the melange zone, exclusively crystalline

rocks which can only be dated by radiogenic methods. The

method applied is the Pb/Pb and UPb-SHRIMP method of

single zircon grains to evaluate the primary intrusion age of

the precursor rocks of the gneisses and to establish a

relation to the Early Tertiary granites. The ages of the

individual samples are shown in Fig. 6, and the full dataset

displayed in Tables 2 and 3.

Methods applied

The ages of the granitoid rocks fromAthos were acquired by

the PbPb-single zircon evaporation method (Kober 1986,

1987) and by the UPb-SHRIMP Method (Williams 1992).

The zircons were separated using a Wilfley table, a Franz

magnetic separator and heavy liquids, and were subse-

quently hand-picked. A representative number of zircons

from each sample were mounted in low-luminescent epoxy

resin and investigated in an electron microscope using both

SEM and cathodo-luminescence images (see Fig. 9).

For PbPb dating, single-zircon grains were mounted on

rhenium filaments and then loaded into the mass spec-

trometer. The measurement routine follows the method

described by Kober (1986, 1987). The zircon is heated to

1,5501,600C to break down the crystal structure. The

vapour, along with the trace elements, is deposited on an

adjacent filament from which the lead is measured in a

second step at temperatures around 1,100C. The isotope

Y (ppm)

Nb (

ppm

)

1

10

100

1000

WPG

VAG +

syn - COLG

ORG

Rb (

ppm

)

Y + Nb (ppm)

Syn - COLG

VAG

WPG

ORG

10 100 1000 10 100

100

1000

1000

10

1

Biotite-gneisses

Greenschists

Ath 2

Ath 4

Ath 8

Ath 13

Ath 7Ath 30

Ath 2

Ath 8

Ath 13

Ath 7

Ath 30

Ath 4Ath 31

Ath 31Ath 23

Ath 23

Ath 5

Ath 5

Fig. 4 Discrimination diagram

for the tectonic setting of the

gneisses and granites from the

Mount Athos peninsula (after

Pearce et al. 1984)

Ath 2

Ath 4

Ath 8

Ath 13

Ath 7

Ath 30

Ath 23

Ath 31

Ath 5

Sr

aBbR

Diorites

Granodiorites

and Granites

Anomalous

granites

GranitesDifferentiated Granites

Biotite-gneisses

Greenschists

Fig. 5 Ba-RbSr ternary plot for the AGS (after Bouseley and

Sokkary 1975)


123

ratios analysed are the 207Pb/206Pb ratio as well as the206Pb/204Pb ratio for the assessment of the amount of non-

radiogenetic lead (common lead). The age of the grain is

calculated from the 207Pb/206Pb ratio after the common-

lead correction assuming the terrestrial lead evolution after

Stacey and Kramers (1975).

Selected samples were additionally dated by secondary-

ionisation mass spectrometry (SIMS) using a sensitive high-

resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP) at the Centre for Iso-

topic Research, VSEGEI, St. Petersburg, Russia using the

zircon mounts used for the SEM following the procedures

described by Compston et al. (1984) and Williams (1992).

Gneisses

The ages of gneisses acquired by the PbPb-evaporation

technique range from 140.0 2.6 Ma (Ath 7) to

155.7 5.1 Ma (Ath 13) with a mean of 144.7 2.4 (see

Figs. 6, 7 8). There are also several grains indicating

inherited components. These data are marked with a star in

Table 2 and not used for age determination. These ages are

mixed ages between the true Permo-Carboniferous base-

ment age (see UPb data below) and the Late Jurassic age

of the majority of the zircon grain, yielding uninterpretable

ages (Fig. 9).

The large scatter of the ages is due to problems of the

method with inherited components and lead loss caused by

opening of the system during metamorphism and tectonic

reworking. Therefore, the data evaluation has to follow

statistical methods to exclude artefacts.

Despite the problems with the method, the ages indicate

a Late Jurassic magmatic event, which has been also

observed in the Kerdillion Unit further north in the SMM

(Himmerkus et al. 2007). The 155.7 5.1 Ma age of the

diorite Ath 13 is significantly older than those of the granitic

gneisses; this may be due to either a slightly earlier phase of

intrusion or due to inheritance, equally distributed in all

grains causing thus a homogeneous shift towards older ages.

We favour the first interpretation, as the geochemistry and

the isotopic signature also indicate that the rock is less

evolved and may represent an earlier phase of magmatism.

To better constrain the ages, selected samples were

analysed by the SHRIMP technique. Because of its high

spatial resolution, SHRIMP allows the age determination

of individual zones within single zircon grains showing

growth zones and inherited cores, thus revealing the entire

history of the rocks and overcoming the problems of zircon

grains that give a mixed signal in the PbPb and conven-

tional UPb methods (sample localities and results in Pb

Pb and UPb are shown in Fig. 6).

The samples analysed by SHRIMP (Ath 10, ATH 22,

Ath 4) were selected on the basis of the experiences using

the PbPb-single zircon evaporation method and the size,

type and quality of the zircon grains using the information

of the cathodo-luminisescence, mounted in low lumines-

cent epoxy resin and measured at the Centre for Isotopic

Nikiti

Sithonia

Dorchiariou

Dafni

Karies

Pantokratoros

Megistis Lavras

Ivirion

Ouranopolis

Nea Roda

Ierissos

Athos

Olympiada

Gomati

Stratoni

ATH 7

140.0 2.6 Ma (Pb/Pb)

66.8 0.8 Ma (U/Pb)

ATH 8

147.9 3.9 Ma (Pb/Pb)

ATH 3

146.0 2.6 Ma (Pb/Pb)

ATH 13

155.7 5.1 Ma

SM 78

137.7 8.9 Ma (Pb/Pb)

ATH 10

146.6 2.3 Ma (U/Pb - Rim)

299.4 3.5 Ma (U/Pb - Core)

Sithonia Pluton

50.0 0.9 Ma (De Wet, 1988)

Ouranopolis Granite

44.0 1.1 Ma -

47.0 0.7 Ma

(De Wet, 1988)

Ierissos Granite

53.0 4.0 Ma (Pb/Pb)

SM 46

148.8 1.8 Ma (Pb/Pb)

153.7 2.8 Ma (U/Pb)SM 103

151.1 6.5 Ma (Pb/Pb)

153.8 2.4 Ma (U/Pb)

ATH 4

68.0 1.0 Ma (U/Pb)

62.8 3.9 Ma (Pb/Pb)

ATH 22

141.8 3,1 Ma (Pb/Pb)

292.6 2.9 Ma (U/Pb)

Gregoriou Granite

43.0 1.0 Ma

(Bebien et al., 2001)

0 5 10 km0 5 10 kmN

Legend

Cenozoic Sediments

Cenozoic Granites

Marbles

Chortiatis Unit

Melissochori Schists


Kerdillion Unit

Arnea Granitic Suite (AGS)

Vertiskos Unit

Gneisses of the Lower

Tectonic Unit (Rhodope Massif)


Circu

m R

ho

do

pe

Be

lt (CR

B)

Ve

rtiskos

Terra

ne

Fig. 6 Simplified geological

map of the Mount Athos

peninsula and the adjacent

areas, modified from Kockel

et al. (1971), including the

geochronological data


123

Research, VSEGEI, St. Petersburg, Russia, following pro-

cedures described by Compston et al. (1984) and Williams

(1992).

The results of the UPb-SHRIMP-measurements yielded

two Permo-Carboniferous ages 292.6 2.9 Ma (Ath 22)

and 299.4 3.5 Ma (Ath 10) for zircons representing the

basement (see Fig. 8). The main magmatic event that is

visible in the PbPb-data yielded an age of 146.6 2.3 Ma

in one spot of the sample Ath 10. The cores of the zircons

generally yield the Permo-Carboniferous age, whereas the

outer parts originated in the Late Jurassic. In several grains,

the two phases of crystallisation can be demonstrated.

Table 2207Pb/206Pb-data and resulting ages for the granitic rocks

Sample 207Pb/206Pb

measured

Scans 206Pb/204Pb

measured

207Pb/206Pb

corrected

2 s-mean Age Error Mean age Error

Ath 2 0.052145 198 4,443 0.048875 0.000760 142.8 4.7

0.051378 120 7,235 0.049263 0.000250 161.0 2.2 *

0.051862 160 7,336 0.049793 0.000670 185.6 4.6 *

Ath 3 0.049844 138 16,470 0.048943 0.000470 146.0 2.8

0.050249 180 11,655 0.048986 0.000091 148.0 4.3

0.052901 60 3,895 0.049124 0.000109 154.5 13.1 146.8 2.3

0.051924 100 6,476 0.049650 0.000440 179.0 4.1 *

0.527638 114 15,353 0.051848 0.000163 278.7 7.2 *

0.052466 120 14,488 0.051454 0.000104 261.2 4.5 *

0.052490 120 14,107 0.051450 0.000077 261.1 3.5 *

Ath 7 0.054505 180 3,178 0.049805 0.000043 186.0 2.0 *

0.052550 140 7,368 0.050556 0.000110 220.7 5.0 *

0.052801 160 3,687 0.048809 0.000058 139.7 2.7

0.053705 80 3,776 0.049815 0.000180 186.7 8.4 *

0.053327 40 3,370 0.048961 0.000298 146.8 13.5 140.0 2.6

Ath 8 0.050976 120 9,985 0.049504 0.000046 172.2 2.1 *

0.051483 118 8,254 0.049702 0.000120 181.3 5.8 *

0.052129 40 4,659 0.048971 0.000290 147.3 4.4

0.050362 58 11,111 0.049040 0.000170 150.5 8.0

0.050401 54 10,302 0.048974 0.000160 147.4 7.6 147.9 3.4

Ath 10 0.051884 82 7,398 0.049886 0.000160 189.9 7.4 *

0.052217 18 6,059 0.049866 0.000290 188.7 13.5 *

0.051873 200 11,670 0.050538 0.000042 219.9 1.9 *

0.051246 180 11,056 0.049909 0.000052 191.1 2.4 *

0.051137 196 12,033 0.049826 0.000066 187.2 3.1 *

ATH 13 0.053356 92 3,475 0.049165 0.000213 156.4 9.8

0.055387 60 2,360 0.049154 0.000193 155.9 8.9

0.051945 54 5,237 0.049137 0.000180 155.0 8.6 155.7 5.1

Ath 22 0.053880 88 3318 0.049177 0.000170 156.9 8 *

0.052905 40 8,269 0.051131 0.000210 246.7 9.5 *

0.051820 124 6,259 0.049441 0.000128 169.2 5.6 *

0.050670 80 8,443 0.048928 0.000240 145.2 11.2

0.052047 156 4,628 0.048851 0.000490 141.7 3.7

0.051785 116 4,760 0.048842 0.000203 141.1 9.4

0.051338 34 5,838 0.000488 0.000260 140.1 12.1 141.8 3.1

ATH 4 0.048724 198 8,006 0.047077 0.000071 60.5 3.0

0.048955 120 7,625 0.047118 0.000110 62.2 4.7

0.048491 120 11,212 0.047181 0.000086 64.9 3.8

0.051532 92 3,620 0.047190 0.000105 65.5 4.6 62.8 3.9

The zircon grains labelled with a star were not used for age determination. The sample Ath 10 is dominated by inherited components and was

therefore not used in the PbPb-system


123

Granites

The granites intruding the basement gneisses were not

planned to be part of the project, as the large bodies of

Ierissos, Ouranoupolis and Gregoriou are already dated by

other workers (see references and Fig. 6). However, two

samples were dated by us for comparison purposes.

Interestingly, the ages obtained by PbPb and UPb

predate the Eocene KAr and ArAr ages on mica shown

in Fig. 6.

Table 3 UPb-SHRIMP data the spots were measured at the Centre for Isotopic Research, VSEGEI, St. Petersburg, Russia, the spots labelled

with a star were excluded from the age calculation

Spot ppm

U

ppm

Th

232Th/238U ppm206Pb*

%206Pbc

Total238U/206Pb

% Total207Pb/206Pb

% (1)206Pb*/238U

% (1)206Pb/238U

Age (Ma)

Ma

ATH7.4.1 1,60 0 0.00 1.29 2.27 106.43 2.1 0.0657 5.51 0.0092 3.27 58.9 1.9 *

ATH7.4.2 3,11 4 0.01 2.59 1.58 103.20 1.5 0.0654 3.78 0.0095 1.81 61.2 1.1 *

ATH7.5.1 1,195 1 0.00 10.64 0.01 96.52 0.9 0.0466 2.19 0.0104 0.86 66.4 0.6

ATH7.6.1 1,789 1 0.00 16.10 0.20 95.43 0.8 0.0494 1.71 0.0105 0.76 67.1 0.5

ATH7.3.1 879 1 0.00 8.75 0.43 86.31 0.9 0.0513 2.55 0.0115 1.03 73.9 0.8 *

ATH7.4.3 1,618 7 0.00 31.77 0.28 43.75 0.6 0.0498 1.32 0.0228 0.66 145.3 0.9 *

ATH7.4.4 112 51 0.47 6.74 1.04 14.31 1.2 0.0618 2.39 0.0692 1.35 431.2 5.6 *

ATH7.2.2 162 194 1.24 9.97 0.19 13.93 1.0 0.0572 2.03 0.0716 1.05 446.0 4.5 *

ATH7.1.1 167 42 0.26 10.45 0.60 13.76 1.0 0.0606 1.88 0.0722 1.03 449.7 4.5 *

ATH7.2.1 175 247 1.46 11.28 0.38 13.34 1.0 0.0585 1.88 0.0747 1.00 464.4 4.5 *

ATH8.5.1 697 239 0.35 14.90 1.61 40.23 1.3 0.0655 3.10 0.0245 1.60 155.8 2.5 *

ATH8.6.1 1,709 814 0.49 56.50 3.02 25.98 0.6 0.0793 1.10 0.0373 0.63 236.3 1.5 *

ATH8.1.1 347 194 0.58 13.80 0.35 21.62 0.8 0.0547 1.70 0.0461 0.87 290.5 2.5 *

ATH8.4.1 2,343 289 0.13 119.00 0.10 16.948 0.6 0.0552 0.58 0.0589 0.56 369.2 2.0 *

ATH8.3.1 112 49 0.45 5.76 0.26 16.7 1.2 0.0570 2.60 0.0597 1.20 373.9 4.4 *

ATH8.2.1 65 24 0.38 4.28 0.73 13.02 1.4 0.0602 3.00 0.0762 1.50 473.5 6.9 *

ATH10.7.1 965 109 0.12 17.80 0.08 46.49 1.2 0.0504 1.50 0.0215 1.20 137.1 1.6 *

ATH10.6.2 2,322 1053 0.47 43.60 0.28 45.79 1.1 0.0515 1.20 0.0218 1.10 138.9 1.5 *

ATH10.4.2 2,245 497 0.23 44.20 0.07 43.61 1.1 0.0490 0.88 0.0229 1.10 146.0 1.6

ATH10.2.2 2,318 346 0.15 46.10 0.21 43.15 1.1 0.0499 0.82 0.0231 1.10 147.4 1.6

ATH10.5.2 3,661 1769 0.50 75.40 41.68 1.1 0.0495 0.65 0.024 1.10 152.9 1.6 *

ATH10.3.1 2,821 158 0.06 67.40 0.28 35.96 1.1 0.0524 0.65 0.0277 1.10 176.3 1.9 *

ATH10.1.2 1,719 377 0.23 69.30 0.16 21.32 1.3 0.0534 0.84 0.0468 1.30 295.1 3.7

ATH10.6.1 417 163 0.40 16.90 21.21 1.3 0.0537 1.50 0.0472 1.30 297.3 3.6

ATH10.2.1 386 164 0.44 15.80 0.21 20.96 1.2 0.0528 1.40 0.0476 1.20 299.9 3.5

ATH10.1.1 756 182 0.25 31.40 0.03 20.69 1.1 0.0531 0.98 0.0483 1.10 304.2 3.4

ATH10.4.1 846 140 0.17 69.70 0.15 10.43 1.1 0.1393 1.50 0.0958 1.10 589.5 6.3 *

ATH10.5.1 162 57 0.36 46.80 0.11 2.98 1.2 0.1241 0.58 0.3358 1.20 1866.0 19.0 *

ATH4.1.1 3,914 24 0.01 34.57 0.04 1.14 0.1 2.0718 0.07 1.1446 0.48 65.9 0.8

ATH4.2.1 1,036 23 0.02 9.55 2.52 1.49 0.1 18.7474 0.06 1.7178 0.09 67.1 1.1

ATH4.4.1 1,917 153 0.08 17.62 0.81 1.33 0.1 8.7585 0.07 1.4117 0.16 68.1 1.0

ATH4.5.1 1,408 101 0.07 13.04 1.08 1.30 0.1 10.9742 0.07 1.4288 0.13 68.4 1.0

ATH4.3.1 1,420 75 0.05 13.26 1.32 1.30 0.1 14.4815 0.06 1.5066 0.10 68.8 1.0

ATH22.9.1 44 40 0.93 1.88 9.21 20.12 2.6 0.0451 5.17 284.5 14.4

ATH22.11.2 2,608 65 0.03 102.82 0.11 21.79 1.1 0.0522 0.93 0.0458 1.08 289.0 3.1

ATH22.1.1 1,778 163 0.09 70.26 0.21 21.74 1.1 0.0525 1.70 0.0459 1.13 289.3 3.2

ATH22.4.1 1,847 126 0.07 73.72 0.39 21.52 1.1 0.0528 2.30 0.0463 1.11 291.7 3.2

ATH22.3.1 1,903 55 0.03 75.88 0.16 21.55 1.1 0.0522 2.09 0.0463 1.13 292.0 3.2

ATH22.6.1 1,831 25 0.01 75.31 0.10 20.89 1.1 0.0530 1.99 0.0478 1.11 301.2 3.3

Samples labelled with a star were excluded from the age calculation


123

The PbPb-evaporation method was applied on Ath 4, a

leucocratic granite (for sample location, see Fig. 6) and

yielded an Early Tertiary age of 62.8 3.9 Ma (weighed

average plot not shown). To further constrain the age and

to get a more precise ages for the Tertiary granites, selected

rocks were also analysed by UPb-SHRIMP, to avoid

inherited components from the older magmatic events.

The ages acquired by the SHRIMP method are

66.8 0.8 Ma (Ath 7) and 68.0 1.0 Ma (Ath 4). This

age is several million years older than the PbPb age of

sample Ath 4. These differences are inherent to the method,

as the PbPb-method uses whole zircon grains and there-

fore always is affected by alteration and lead-loss at the

youngest outer parts of the crystals. This part of the crystals

is usually small, and the effect is minimised by thermally

cleaning of the grain prior to deposition.

However, both ages are significantly older than the

Eocene ages obtained for the other granites by dating

micas. The sample Ath 4 is interpreted as trapped leuco-

some, from the migmatised biotite gneisses on the basis of

its geochemical signature. The age of this rock probably

represents the age of migmatisation of the basement. This

age is not necessarily the age of the large granite stocks

intruding the Athos peninsula and the southern Chalkidiki.

Also, the Eocene mica ages of the granites are apparently

cooling ages and therefore may indicate the age of exhu-

mation, whereas the Late Cretaceous age is the age of

emplacement of the granites at depth and migmatisation of

the Late Jurassic basement gneisses.

Several of the gneisses yielded different ages from

different zircon fractions both with the PbPb- and the

UPb-SHRIMP-method, and the distribution of the ages

in the samples indicates that the granites of Ouranoupolis

and Gregoriou as well as the granitic stocks also contain

inherited material from Permo-Carboniferous, the Late

Jurassic and the Late Cretaceous. However, the distri-

bution of ages attests to the strong relation between

Athos and the Kerdillion Unit (Himmerkus et al. 2007)

as well as the Rhodope Terrane (Peytcheva and von

Quadt 1995; Liati and Fanning 2005; Turpaud and Re-

ischmann 2003, 2009; Turpaud 2006). Both these units

are related and are characterised by a trinity of magmatic

events: A Permo-carboniferous basement-building event,

a Late Jurassic arc-building event and a Late Cretaceous

to Early Tertiary granite intrusion event. The problem

with inherited components and younger reworking is also

typical for the Kerdillion Unit in the SMM (Himmerkus

et al. 2007) and the Rhodope Massif, because both units

witnessed the three major phases of magmatism, which

left their traces in the rocks and were incorporated in the

zircon grains.

In the melange zone, north of Ouranoupolis meta-

sediments and orthogneisses of the Vertiskos Terrane crop

out (Himmerkus et al. 2009a). Dating by the PbPb-single

zircon evaporation method of a mylonitic gneiss from

Ouranoupolis yielded an age of 211.6 1.9 Ma, which

indicates that it may be part of the Arnea Suite (Himm-

erkus et al. 2009b). These rocks are tectonic slices of the

adjacent Vertiskos Terrane and were incorporated in the

melange during the accretion of the various units in the

Mesozoic.

Isotope geochemistry

To test the hypothesis for a magmatic arc origin of the

gneisses, as was suggested by their trace-element geo-

chemistry, RbSr isotope geochemistry was employed in

order to gain additional information about their precursor

rocks. The chemical preparation was performed according

to the methods described by White and Patchett (1984). The

Rb/Sr-isotope ratios were measured in the static mode on

the Faraday cups of the MAT 261 Finnigan mass spec-

trometer (TIMS) of the Max-Planck-Institut fur Chemie in

Mainz. For the 87Rb/86Sr ratio, we used the XRF data since

the elemental concentrations were well over the detection

limit and accurate enough to calculate 87Sr/86Sr initial ratios

using the ages obtained by the zircon dating. For samples

which had not been dated, the mean age of the lithological

group was used. Individual ratios are shown in Table 4a.

120

130

140

150

160

170

data-point error symbols are 2

Ath 13

155.7 5.1 Ma

Mean = 144.7 2.4 Ma[1.7%] 95% conf.

Wtd. by data-pt. errs. only, MSWD = 3.0

Ath 22

141.8 3.1 Ma

Ath 3

146.8 2.3 Ma

Ath 7

140.0 2.6 Ma

Ath 8

147.9 3.9 Ma

Fig. 7 Weighed average plot of all PbPb ages obtained by the

evaporation method. Zircon grains, which show disturbances, were

not used. The small labels indicate the weighed average ages of the

individual samples and also indicate the associated error bars. The

sample Ath 13 is with 155.7 5.1 Ma the oldest sample; the other

ones are within error the same, and scatter around the mean of

144.7 2.4, which is consistent with one spot of the UPb-SHRIMP

of 146.6 2.3 Ma. The Late Jurassic event is most prominent in the

PbPb-ages, whereas the UPb-SHRIMP highlights the Permo-

Carboniferous basement and the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary

intrusion of granites


123

72

70

68

66

64

0.0099

0.0101

0.0103

0.0105

0.0107

0.0109

0.0111

0.0113

207Pb/ 235U

Concordia Age = 68 1 Ma

(2, decay-const. errs included)

MSWD (of concordance) = 2.0,

Probability (of concordance) = 0.16

data-point error ellipses are 68.3% conf .

68

66

0.0100

0.0102

0.0104

0.0106

0.0108

207Pb/

235U

Concordia Age = 66.78 0.76 Ma





ATH7

310

300

290

0.0445

0.0455

0.0465

0.0475

0.0485

0.0495

0.0505

207Pb/

235U






ATH10

152

148

144

0.0220

0.0224

0.0228

0.0232

0.0236

0.0240

207Pb/

235U






ATH10

310

300

290

280

0.044

0.045

0.046

0.047

0.048

0.049

0.050

0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10

0.061 0.063 0.065 0.067 0.069 0.071 0.073 0.075

0.30 0.32 0.34 0.36 0.38

0.144 0.148 0.152 0.156 0.160

0.30 0.32 0.34 0.36 0.38

207Pb/ 235U






ATH 10

ATH7ATH 10

ATH 22

ATH 4

20

6P

b/2

38U

206P

b/2

38U

206P

b/2

38U

206P

b/2

38U

206P

b/2

38U

Fig. 8 Concordia diagrams of the UPb-SHRIMP measurements. The

SHRIMP method allows measurements with high spatial resolution of

several micrometres. It is therefore possible to measure the cores and

growth-rims of single zircon grains. Due to this, the older basement age

and the age of the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary granites dominate

the ages obtained by the UPb-SHRIMP method


123

Further isotope information was acquired using Sm/Nd-

isotopic data. The Nd-initial isotope ratios were also ana-

lysed by TIMS. For quality control, the La Jolla standard

was measured every day of the analyses. The 147Sm/143Nd

ratio of the gneisses was determined by XRF and that of the

amphibolites by LA-ICP-MS on glass beads prepared from

molten whole-rock powders (Gumann et al. 2003). The144Nd/143Nd initial ratios were calculated using the age

obtained from the zircon dating. The results of the isotopic

analyses are displayed in Table 4b; Fig. 10 is a diagram of

the 87Sr/86Sr initial ratios versus e-Ndi.

Gneisses

The Late Jurassic samples Ath 2 and Ath 13 yielded87Sr/86Sr initial ratios of 0.705310 and 0.703655 at an age

of 145 Ma (see Table 4a).

Sample Ath 2 has an eNdi of -2.43; sample Ath 13 with

an eNdi of 0.51 is the only sample with a positive eNdi.

This indicates that the rock is more juvenile than the other

gneisses, and this is also supported by its mineralogy as it

contains a significant amount of amphiboles, its whole-rock

geochemistry and its low 87Sr/86Sr initial ratio of 0.703655.

In the 87Sr/86Sr initial ratio versus the e-Ndi diagram

(Fig. 10), this rock deviates from the field of the gneisses

towards the field of the ophiolitic rocks from the melange

(Himmerkus et al. 2005).

The gneiss sample Ath 2 yielded a Silurian TDM model

age of 401 Ma. This may be attributed to the formation of

its magmatic precursor in the Tethys north of Gondwana in

the Palaeozoic.

Melange

The amphibolite sample Ath 23 has an 87Sr/86Sr initial ratio

of 0.705945, which is higher than that of the gneisses and

may be attributed to alteration. The same may be true for

the greenschist sample Ath 30, having a 87Sr/86Sr initial

ratio of 0.70698.

Samples Ath 23 and 30 also have negative eNdi values

of -2.33 and -7.14, respectively. This indicates that the

rocks are not part of the ophiolitic rock assemblage but

represent arc material metamorphosed under greenschist

facies conditions. In Fig. 10, they plot between the gneisses

and continental crust.

Granites

The Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary granite sample Ath 4

has a high initial 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.707586 at the zircon

age. Its eNdi is -3.22. This isotopic signature is rather

unusual for a leucocratic granite. The low initial 87Sr/86Sr

ratio points to an I-type granite, whereas the eNdi is much

higher than that of ordinary granites. This may be

explained by the migmatisation of the gneisses. If the

granites of this study were extracted as leucosomes from

the gneisses, they carry the isotopic signature of the

gneisses. The TDM model age of the granite sample Ath 4 is

with 427 Ma, similar to the age calculated for the gneiss

sample Ath 2, also supporting the notion that the granite

represents a leucosome from the gneisses. This TDM model

age is similar to the intrusion age of the Vertiskos Terrane

(Himmerkus et al. 2009a).

In this study, the Sr-isotopic signature is used merely as

a tracer for crustal components in the source of the granitic

Fig. 9 CL-Images of typical zircons if the granite Ath 4 and the

gneiss Ath 22. In the grain of the latter, the strongly luminescent

growth-rim and an older core are clearly visible. The spot is in the

core


123

precursor rocks of the gneisses. The rather low 87Sr/86Sr

initial ratios point to I-type granites as precursor rock for

all granitic rocks. The rather juvenile eNdi values of the

rocks underline this notion.

In a diagramof eNdi versus87Sr/86Sr initial ratio (Fig. 10),

the gneisses and amphibolites plot between the rocks of the

Athos-Volvi-Zone (Himmerkus et al. 2005) and the gneisses

from the Kerdillion Unit (Himmerkus et al. 2007) on the

crustal differentiation trend and are most similar to the

Permo-Carboniferous basement of the Kerdillion Unit.

The gneisses from the Vertiskos Terrane were also

plotted as a field in the diagram, to demonstrate the isotopic

difference between the two units. The isotopes indicate that

the gneisses stem from a magmatic arc and have little

influence from pre-existing continental crust.

Discussion and tectonic implications

The Mount Athos peninsula has a rather complex geology,

which is caused by the fact that it is built by rocks

belonging to 3 major units, namely the gneisses in the east

of the peninsula, the melange zone in the north-west and

south and the late-stage granites intruding this association.

The melange contains ophiolitic material (Himmerkus

et al. 2005) and marks a major tectonic divide. The rocks of

the Chortiatis Unit (Kockel et al. 1977) at the southern tip

of the peninsula are in faulted contact to the basement

rocks (Georgiadis et al. 2007), and this tectonic event also

left traces in the geology.

The basement gneisses and the granites can be used to

extract data for geodynamic interpretations. The petrogra-

phy and the lithological associations are no definite diag-

nostic tools; however, this information yields a first

interpretation, which can be tested and constrained by

geochemical and isotopic methods. The gneisses form a

domal structure in the south-eastern part of the peninsula

and were attributed by Kockel et al. (1977) to the Vertiskos

Group of the SMM. However, this is in contradiction to the

lithology, as the Vertiskos Unit is built by coarse-grained

Silurian augengneisses (Himmerkus et al. 2009a). The

gneisses in the Athos dome are migmatic biotite gneisses

but do not show augen. The two units differ significantly in

terms of their petrography.

Another lithological indication that the gneisses on

Mount Athos do not belong to the Vertiskos Terrane is the

fact that carbonates occur associated with the gneisses,

which is not characteristic of the Vertiskos Group (Kockel

Table 4 The 87Sr/86Sr and 43Nd/144Nd isotope ratios were determined by the MAT 261 mass spectrometer; the Sr and Rb concentrations were

determined by XRF

Sample 87Sr/86Sr 2 s 87Rb/86Sr Sr (ppm) Rb (ppm) Age 87Sr/86Sr (ini)

a

ATH 2 0.705830 0.000013 0.252061 482 42 145 Ma 0.705310

ATH 4 0.707725 0.000020 0.195580 429 29 50 Ma 0.707586

ATH 13 0.703795 0.000014 0.067936 298 7 145 Ma 0.703655

ATH 23 0.706681 0.000014 0.221531 790 62 145 Ma 0.705945

ATH 30 0.713917 0.000009 2.083155 229 169 145 Ma 0.706989

Sample 143Nd/144Nd 2 r 147Sm/144Nd Nd (ppm) Sm(ppm) Method 143Nd/144Nd ini e-Nd

b

ATH 2 0.51243 0.000009 0.1091 10 7 XRF 0.512326447 -2.44

ATH 4 0.51239 0.00002 0.1098 6 1 XRF 0.512285861 -3.23

ATH 13 0.512877 0.000009 0.4209 6 4 XRF 0.51247768 0.51

ATH 23 0.512452 0.000017 0.1267 18.2 2.3 LA-ICP-MS 0.512331808 -2.33

ATH 30 0.512272 0.000013 0.1966 2.9 0.6 LA-ICP-MS 0.512085502 -7.14

The concentrations of Nd and Sm of the gneisses were analysed by XRF; the concentrations in the greenschists and amphibolites were

determined by LA-ICP-MS on glass shards fused from the whole-rock powders according to the method described by Gumann et al. 2003

Athos Mafics

Athos

gneisses

Kerdillion 150

Kerdillion 300

Continental Crust

N

d

Initial 87

Sr/86

Sr

Athos

greenschists

Vertiskos

0

4

8

-4

-8

-120.705 0.710 0.7150.700

ATH 23

ATH 30

ATH 2ATH 4

ATH 13

Fig. 10 Diagram of e-Ndi versus87Sr/86Sr initial ratio. The gneisses,

diorites and greenschists from Athos are intermediate members of the

differentiation trend of the Kerdillion volcanic arc derived gneisses


123

et al. 1977). On the other hand, there is a distinct litho-

logical unit associated with the augengneisses of the Ver-

tiskos Terrane. This is the leucocratic rift-related granites

of the Arnea Suite that intruded the Vertiskos Terrane in

the Triassic (Himmerkus et al. 2009b). This characteristic

magmatic unit is not present in the gneisses of the Athos

dome. The nearest occurrence of this lithological unit is a

tectonic sliver in the melange at the shoreline north of

Ouranoupolis (see Geochronology) and is well separated

from the Athos gneiss dome.

The Kerdillion Unit of the eastern SMM is characterised

by migmatised biotite gneisses and the presence of promi-

nent marble horizons. The gneisses of Mount Athos are

therefore lithologically related to the Kerdillion Unit, which

is also supported by the primary intrusion ages determined

by the PbPb and UPb-SHRIMP methods. The granitoids

ofMount Athos and of the Kerdillion Unit (Himmerkus et al.

2007) are characterised by 3 distinct pulses of arc magma-

tism: a first in the Permo-Carboniferous (ca. 300280 Ma), a

second in the Late Jurassic (ca. 160145 Ma) and a third in

the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary (ca. 7055 Ma). The

geochemical and isotopic signatures of the two units are also

similar, whereas the geochemical and isotopic signature of

the gneisses of the Vertiskos Unit is essentially different

(Himmerkus et al. 2009a).

The Kerdillion Unit in the eastern SMM and therefore

also the gneisses of the Mount Athos peninsula have a

strong affinity to the Rhodope Massif in terms of lithology,

structural grain and age distribution. The rocks have pri-

mary crystallisation ages related to the Thracia Terrane

(Lower Tectonic Unit, Papanikolaou and Panagopoulos

1981) and the Rhodope Terrane (Upper Tectonic Unit) in

the Rhodope Massif (Turpaud and Reischmann 2009).

Therefore, the AVZ is not only the tectonic boundary

between the Vertiskos and Kerdillion Units of the SMM

(Burg et al. 1995; Himmerkus et al. 2005) but also the

boundary between the Vertiskos Terrane and the Rhodope

Massif. This fact challenges the entire subdivision of the

Internal Hellenides (Kockel and Walther 1965; Papaniko-

laou 1997, 2009).

According to our data, the gneisses of Mount Athos

originated as a Late Jurassic magmatic arc built on a pre-

existing Permo-Carboniferous basement, which also shows

an arc signature. This arc was deformed and accreted to the

European margin during the closure of the Tethyan oceans

(Stampfli and Borel 2002) also forming the ophiolitic

melange of the Athos-Volvi-Zone (Himmerkus et al. 2005).

The granites of Ouranoupolis, Ierissos and Gregoriou are

only slightly deformed and therefore postdate the accretion

of the units that had therefore an Early Tertiary minimum

age (Bebien et al. 2001; De Wet et al. 1989; Frei 1996).

The ages obtained by PbPb and UPb-SHRIMP on single

zircon grains from small granitic stocks indicate a ca.

6668 Ma Late Cretaceous migmatisation age of the

gneisses, significantly older than the ages of the granites.

This age difference can be attributed to the fact that the

Eocene mica ages represent the exhumation of the granites

to shallow crustal levels. Also, the large granites may not

be directly related to the migmatisation of the gneisses.

The only resemblance of the rock of Mount Athos to the

Vertiskos Terrane is the Nd model age of the samples Ath 2

and Ath 4 of 401 and 427 Ma, respectively. This model age

is similar to the intrusion age of the Vertiskos Terrane

(Himmerkus et al. 2009a), which originated as a volcanic

arc at the northern active continental margin of Gondwana.

The arc was split from Gondwana forming the Galatian

ribbon continent [European Hunic terranes] (Stampfli and

Borel 2002; von Raumer et al. 2003; von Raumer and

Stampfli 2008), it was transported across the Rheic Ocean

and it was finally accreted to the southern European margin

in the Early Carboniferous. The Silurian to Devonian model

ages above may indicate some older material in the source

of the granites or may be a mixed signal. Similar model ages

are not known from the Kerdillion Unit and the Rhodope

Terranes, respectively (Turpaud and Reischmann 2009).

The signature of intrusion ages indicates that the rocks

of the Athos peninsula originated as a magmatic arc in the

Permo-Carboniferous. This arc is overlain by Tethyan

carbonates of unknown age. However, the association of

Permo-Carboniferous basement gneisses with marbles is

typical for the Thracia Terrane of the Rhodope Massif

(Turpaud and Reischmann 2009 and references therein),

the Kerdillion Unit of the SMM (Kockel et al. 1977;

Himmerkus et al. 2007) and the Pelagonian Zone (Anders,

2005; Anders et al. 2007).

The exhumation of the Athos gneiss dome was not

studied in detail. However, the Kerdillion Unit is part of the

Rhodope gneiss dome (Sokoutis et al. 1993; Brun and

Sokoutis 2004, 2007). This dome originated in the Early

Tertiary by the exhumation along a detachment (Dinter and

Royden 1993; Dinter et al. 1995), located at the western

slope of the Kerdillion Unit where the pre-existing suture

of the AVZ between the Vertiskos Terrane and the Ker-

dillion Unit was reactivated.

If the structural style is the same like in the Rhodope

dome and the Kerdillion Unit, the detachment on Mount

Athos should be between the gneiss dome and the melange

zone. This part is now obscured by the Ouranoupolis

granite. Nevertheless, the intensity of foliation and there-

fore the strain increases towards the north-west of the dome

towards the postulated detachment. The southern contact of

the gneiss dome towards the carbonates of the Mount

Athos is characterised by a left lateral transpressive fault

(Georgiadis et al. 2007).

The Rhodope gneiss dome is a large feature, which was

dissected by deep graben structures. If the Athos dome is


123

part of this gneiss dome, this extends the range of the

Rhodope gneiss dome and the Terranes of the Rhodope

Massif far to the south-west.

Conclusions

The basement of the Mount Athos peninsula is built by

migmatised biotite orthogneisses with a strong affinity to

the Kerdillion Unit in terms of lithology, structural style,

primary intrusion ages of igneous rocks and their geo-

chemical and isotopic signature. The gneisses and granites

on Mount Athos show the same three major phases of arc

magmatism as the Kerdillion Unit of the SMM and the

Thracia and Rhodope Terranes of the Rhodope Massif. The

gneisses, granites and associated diorites of this part of the

Internal Hellenides have a geochemical and isotopic sig-

nature that identifies them as stemming from a magmatic

arc, which originated within the Tethyan Ocean and was

accreted to the Internal Hellenides in the Mesozoic.

The gneisses display a domal structure and a ductile top-

to-the-west sense of shear as indicated by asymmetric

structures. This structural style is related to the exhumation

of the rocks in the Early Tertiary along a detachment. This

detachment reactivated the boundary of the gneisses to the

AVZ, the tectonic boundary between the Vertiskos Terrane

and the Kerdillion Unit, the latter being closely related to

the Rhodope Massif. To the south, the dome is bordered by

a left-lateral shear zone to the carbonates of Mount Athos.

The ophiloliticmelange zone of theAVZbuilds the north-

western and southern part of Mount Athos peninsula. The

detachment is today partly covered obscured by the Oura-

noupolis granite. The fact that the Kerdillion Unit and the

Mount Athos peninsula are related to the Rhodope Massif

extends this basement complex significantly to the west.

Acknowledgments This work would have been impossible without

the written consent of the Holy Supervision Committee of the State of

Athos. F. Himmerkus and P. Zachariadis would like to thank the

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the county of Rheinland Pfalz

for funding of the project of the Graduiertenkolleg Stoffbestand und

Entwicklung von Kruste und Mantel. Also thanks to P. Turpaud and

G. Meinhold for useful discussions. We greatly appreciate the tech-

nical assistance provided by N. Goschopf and B. Schulz-Dorbrick

(XRF), J. Huth (CL-Pictures) and W. Todt, U. Poller and I. Raczek

(laboratory and TIMS). We would like to thank the organisation

committee of Ophiolites 2008 for the great job they did. Sarantis

Dimitriadis and John Dixon strongly improved the manuscript with

their comments and suggestions.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1130/2007.1200http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2008.10.016http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S001675680800592Xhttp://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2009.04.005http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00531-009-0425-5http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2008.08.003http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12210-010-0100-6http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00531-008-0409-x

The basement of the Mount Athos peninsula, northern Greece: insights from geochemistry and zircon agesAbstractIntroductionGeological settingGeology of the Mount Athos peninsulaGneissesThe mlangeGranites

PetrographyGneissesMlangeGranites

GeochemistryGneissesMlangeGranites

GeochronologyMethods appliedGneissesGranites

Isotope geochemistryGneissesMlangeGranites

Discussion and tectonic implicationsConclusionsAcknowledgmentsReferences

himmerkus_zachariadis_reischmann_kostopoulos_2011_mount_athos_basement-libre.pdf

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