SUPRA-OPHIOLITIC FORMATIONS FROM THE THESSALONIKI NAPPE (GREECE), ANDASSOCIATED MAGMATISM - AN INTRAOCEANIC SUBDUCTION PREDATES THE VARDAROBDUCTION

The Vardar ophiolites from Chalkidiki (Thessaloniki nappe) show autoch thonous cover formations. These formations include reefal limestones o f Kimmeridgian-Tithonian age, and clastic deposits with spilite, andes ite and granodiorite elements, suggesting an intra-oceanic island are setting. The earliest continental clasts are found in post-Tithonian l ayers. A granodioritic intrusion associated with granitoid dykes cross cutting the ophiolite corresponds to deep parts of the are. The Chalki diki arc, 150-140 My old, can be followed northward for at least 150 k m (Guevgueli). The Vardarian obduction would have occurred during the Early Cretaceous owing to the are-continent collision. ((C) Academie d es sciences / Elsevier, Paris.).