Genesis and evolution of mafic and felsic magmas at Quaternary volcanoes within the Main Ethiopian Rift: Insights from Gedemsa and Fanta 'Ale complexes

• We present new geochemical and isotope data for Gedemsa and Fantale volcanoes, MER.
• Magmas evolved through both closed- and open-system processes.
• Rhyolites were contaminated by fluids, Sr isotope ratio of feldspars is reliable.
• Afar mantle plume and Pan-African lower crust contributed to mafic magma origin.

This paper presents the results of an investigation carried out on young volcanic rocks from the Gedemsa and Fanta 'Ale complexes, located in the Main Ethiopian Rift, the site of an intense magmatism since Eocene–Oligocene. The earlier NW–SE direction of extension of the Rift, which generated NE–SW trending faults, rotated around E–W in Quaternary times, and produced the still active N to N–NE Wonji Fault System. The Gedemsa volcano is located in the central part of the Ethiopian Rift, about 100 km SE of Addis Ababa. It is characterized by a wide central caldera, about 8 km in diameter. The general stratigraphic sequence in the area includes, from base upwards, rift-floor ignimbrites, pantelleritic and subordinate trachytic pyroclastic deposits and lava flows and domes, and widespread basaltic deposits. The Fanta 'Ale volcanic complex is located in the northern part of the Main Ethiopian Rift, where the Afar depression begins. It is characterized by a summit caldera of which the diameter is about 4 km. This volcano erupted trachytic and rhyolitic lavas, whereas the most diffuse unit is an ignimbrite related to the caldera collapse. Explosive activity has occurred inside and outside the caldera, forming tuff cones and thick pumice-fallout deposits. The only mafic unit is represented by a basaltic eruption that occurred in 1870 AD. Historical eruptions and intense fumarolic activity are evidence for the persistence activity of the Fanta 'Ale in this part of the Main Ethiopian Rift.New geochemical and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data on representative samples from Gedemsa and Fanta 'Ale volcanoes are presented and discussed in order to shed light on the genesis of mafic and felsic magmas, the genetic link between them, and their possible interaction with the local crust. Volcanic rocks show a typical mafic–felsic bi-modal distribution with few intermediate terms (Daly Gap), as observed at regional scale along the Main Ethiopian Rift as well as on the plateau. Geochemical data and modeling suggest that magmas evolved mainly through fractional crystallization processes, accounting for the entire mafic–felsic compositional variation. However, Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data reveal also open-system evolution processes. The most differentiated, Sr-poor rhyolites suffered important low temperature contamination by shallow fluids of hydrothermal and/or meteoric origin. This affected mostly the Sr isotopic composition of whole-rocks, and much less that of separated feldspars that provide more reliable 87Sr/86Sr values. Mafic rocks, as well as the least contaminated felsic rocks, provide evidence for two components involved in the genesis and evolution of mafic magmas: a mantle component, carrying the isotopic composition of the Afar plume, and a crustal component, likely Pan-African sialic lower crust, that might have been added in small amounts, about 2%, to mafic magmas. The origin of the primary magmas is inferred to have occurred by 7% partial melting of a mixed source region including both depleted and enriched mantle components.