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1 Institut für Geologie, Universität Würzburg, Pleicherwall 1, D-97070 Würzburg, Germany vlorenz{at}geologie.uni-wuerzburg.de
2 Landesamt für Geologie und Bergbau Rheinland-Pfalz, Emy-Röder-Str. 5, D-55133 Mainz, Germany jost.haneke{at}lgb-rlp.de
The late Varican intermontane Saar-Nahe Basin underwent an intensive episode of synsedimentary intra-basinal magmatism, with magmas ranging from tholeiitic basalts to rhyolites. Volcanism began late in the sedimentary history of the basin, after accumulation of about 5000–5500 m of continental sediments. Basic to silicic maar-diatremes formed mostly on hydraulically active faults or fault intersections. Basic to intermediate sills were emplaced at depths between about 2500 m and almost the original surface. Some sills inflated considerably in thickness. Silicic laccoliths intruded in the same depth range. Ongoing volume inflation of some laccoliths led to huge intrusive-extrusive domes, rock falls and probably block-and-ash flows and even to extensive thick lava extrusions. Some domes are composite or show evidence for magma mingling. In the Baumholder-Idar-Oberstein area, lava flows reach a cumulative thickness of 800–1000 m. Outside this thick lava pile, flows are concentrated in several thinner series. Basic to intermediate lava flows were frequently inflated to a thickness of up to 40 metres and were emplaced like thick flood basalts. Silicic tephra deposits are widespread and mostly phreatomagmatic in origin.
The specific formation of maar-diatremes, sills, laccoliths and most tephra deposits is related to the uppermost 1500 to about 2500 m of the continental sediments of the basin fill. During volcanism and subvolcanism, these sediments were largely unconsolidated and water-saturated, and thus this soft sediment environment influenced very specifically the emplacement of the magmas in the basin. Inflation of laccoliths in this environment caused slumping and washing away of the updomed unconsolidated roof sediments. Consequently, the effective initial overburden decreased with time by this particular process of unroofing, and, upon further inflation, larger inflating intrusive domes became extrusive.
