Depleted sublithospheric mantle beneath the Bohemian Massif and Pannonian Basin: New data on the composition and helium isotopes of the mantle xenoliths and enclosed basalts and the problem of existence of mantle plumes in Central Europe

New data are presented on the chemical composition and helium isotopes for the mantle xenoliths and enclosed Cenozoic basalts of the Pannonian Basin and Bohemian Massif. New data on the helium isotopes in the basalts and mantle xenoliths of the Pannonian Basin and Bohemian Massif, which have been obtained for the first time, show very low R/Ra ratios close to or slightly above the typical values of the atmosphere. This indicates that the mantle beneath the considered areas is strongly degassed. The fact that, according to seismic tomography, the mantle plumes beneath the regions of recent volcanism in Central Europe are not traced below 200 km points to the extensive spreading of the plume material beneath the lithosphere of Europe, due to which the plume tail is too thin to be detectable by the existing methods.