Correlation and distinction between similar metapelite units: a geochemical approach in a case study from the Eastern Alps (Italy)

Whole rock analyses (XRF and ICP-MS) were carried out on rocks sampled from four areas (B, T, M and R), along a cross-section through the boundary between the two complexes, in order to detect geochemical similarities or differences among the metapelite levels.

Major and trace element geochemistry can be used in correlating or discriminating different sedimentary and volcanic rock units and their metamorphic equivalents. A geochemical study has been done on metapelites coming from four different lithostratigraphic units, showing similar petrographic features and identical metamorphic characters. They come from the boundary between the Merano-Mules and Monteneve complexes, belonging to the Austroalpine crystalline basement of the Alps. In this area, the passage from one complex to the other is not sharp and the lithostratigraphic setting is still ambiguous.