A tentative pre-Variscan geodynamic model for the Palaeozoic basement of the Peloritani mountains (Sicily): evidence from meta-igneous products

Although the metavolcanicsinterbedded in the Palaeozoic basement of thetectonic units constituting the Peloritani belt showvarious and contrasting geodynamic affinities,. theserocks are the only record allowing us to establish thechronology of the extensive and compressive eventswhich developed prior to the Hercynian orogenesis.For this reason, their study becomes very importantin reconstructing a pre-Hercynian geodynamicmodel for the Peloritani area. This paper examinestwo of the most important metavolcanic successions,outcropping in the southern sector of the Peloritanibelt. Geochemical analyses, carried out on these twometavolcanic successions, reveal different magmaticaffinities: the first succession, Early Ordovician inage, has an alkaline basaltic composition and withinplateaffinity; the second, Late Ordovician in age,consists of metavolcanics with orogenic affinity.Taking into account these different geochemicalfeatures, the present paper proposes a preliminarygeodynamic model for the Palaeozoic basement ofthe Peloritani plate, spanning an interval from LateCambrian- Early Ordovician to Late Ordovician.