An overview on the origin of post-collisional Miocene magmatism in the Kabylies (northern Algeria): Evidence for crustal stacking, delamination and slab detachment

•We review geochronological and geochemical features of the Miocene magmatic activity of North Algeria.•The peak of magmatic activity occurred at 16–17 Ma with K-rich calc-alkaline plutonic and volcanic rocks.•Magmas suffered strong interactions with crustal lithologies.•Magmatism relates to Tethyan slab breakoff and partial melting of a previously metasomatized lithospheric mantle.•Our model implies crustal stacking, “décollement” of the Kabylian mantle, and delamination of the African mantle.

Miocene (17-11 Ma) magmatic activity in the Kabylies emplaced K-rich (and minor medium-K) calc-alkaline plutonic and volcanic rocks in five zones, delineating a ∼450 km long EW trending strip located along the northern coast of Algeria, between Annaba and Algiers. Their most likely source is the Kabylian subcontinental lithospheric mantle previously metasomatized during the Paleogene subduction of the Tethys oceanic lithosphere. Our preferred tectono-magmatic model involves a Tethyan slab detachment combined with African mantle delamination and crustal stacking, leading to the superimposition of the African continental crust over the Kabylian metasomatized lithospheric mantle. At ca. 17 Ma, the asthenospheric upwelling arising from lithospheric delamination and Tethyan slab tear triggered the thermal erosion of the latter mantle, inducing its partial melting. The corresponding mafic medium-K calc-alkaline magmas interacted with the African basement units during their ascent, generating intermediate to felsic K-rich calc-alkaline melts that display a characteristic trace element and isotopic crustal signature. Later on, slab tears propagated eastward and westward, promoting slab rollback perpendicular to plate convergence and inducing the emplacement of magmatic rocks of decreasing ages from central-eastern Algeria towards Tunisia and Morocco.