We present an extensive study of rehomogenized olivine‐hosted melt inclusions, olivine phenocrysts, and chromian spinel inclusions to explore the link between geodynamic conditions and the origin and composition of Pliocene–Quaternary intraplate magmatism in Anatolia at Kula, Ceyhan‐Osmaniye, and Karacadağ. Exceptional compositional variability of these products reveals early and incomplete mixing of distinct parental melts in each volcanic center, reflecting asthenospheric and lithospheric mantle sources. The studied primitive magmas consist of (1) two variably enriched ocean island basalt (OIB)‐type melts in Kula; (2) both OIB‐type and plume mid‐ocean ridge basalt (P‐MORB)‐like melts beneath Toprakkale and Üçtepeler (Ceyhan‐Osmaniye); and (3) two variably enriched OIB‐type melts beneath Karacadağ. Estimated conditions of primary melt generation are 23–9 kbar, 75–30 km, and 1415–1215 °C for Kula; 28–19 kbar, 90–65 km, and 1430–1350 °C for Toprakkale; 23–18 kbar, 75–60 km, and 1400–1355 °C for Üçtepeler; and 35–27 kbar, 115–90 km, and 1530–1455 °C for Karacadağ, the deepest levels of which correspond to the depth of the lithosphere‐asthenosphere boundary in all regions. Although magma ascent was likely facilitated by local deformation structures, recent Anatolian intraplate magmatism seems to be triggered by large‐scale mantle flow that also affects the wider Arabian and North African regions. We infer that these volcanics form part of a much wider Arabian‐North African intraplate volcanic province, which was able to invade the Anatolian upper plate through slab gaps.

Recycling of Earth’s crust through subduction and delamination contributes to mantle heterogeneity. Melt inclusions in early crystallised magmatic minerals record greater geochemical variability than host lavas and more fully reflect the heterogeneity of magma sources. To date, use of multiple isotope systems on small (< 300 μm) melt inclusions was hampered by analytical limitations. Here we report the first coupled Sr-Nd-Pb isotope data on individual melt inclusions from potassium-rich lavas from neighbouring Quaternary volcanoes in central Italy and infer the presence of a previously unidentified ancient lower crustal component in the mantle. We suggest derivation from Variscan or older basement included in the upper mantle by either delamination, sediment recycling, subduction erosion and/or slab detachment processes during Cenozoic subduction and collision of the western Mediterranean. The capability to determine isotope ratios in individual melt inclusions permits the detection of distinctive mantle contaminants and can provide insights into how geodynamic processes affect subduction recycling.

The occurrence of post-subduction magmatism in continental collision zones is a ubiquitous feature of plate tectonics, but its relation with geodynamic processes remains enigmatic. The nature of mantle sources in these settings, and their interaction with subduction-related components, are difficult to constrain using bulk rocks when magmas are subject to mixing and assimilation within the crust. Here we examine post-collisional magma sources in space and time through the chemistry of olivine-hosted melt inclusions and early-formed minerals (spinel, olivine and clinopyroxene) in primitive volcanic rocks from the Neogene–Quaternary East Carpathian volcanic range in Călimani (calc-alkaline; 10.1–6.7 Ma), Southern Harghita (calc-alkaline to shoshonitic; 5.3–0.03 Ma) and the Perșani Mountains (alkali basaltic; 1.2–0.6 Ma). Călimani calc-alkaline parental magma compositions indicate a lithospheric mantle source metasomatised by ~ 2% sediment-derived melts, and are best reproduced by ~ 2–12% melting. Mafic K-alkaline melts in Southern Harghita originate from a melt- and fluid-metasomatised lithospheric mantle source containing amphibole (± phlogopite), by ~ 5% melting. Intraplate Na-alkaline basalts from Racoș (Perșani) reflect small-degree (1–2%) asthenosphere-derived parental melts which experienced minor interaction with metasomatic components in the lithosphere. An important feature of the East Carpathian post-collisional volcanism is that the lithospheric source regions are located in the lower plate (distal Europe-Moesia), rather than the overriding plate (Tisza-Dacia). The volcanism appears to have been caused by (1) asthenospheric uprise following slab sinking and possibly south-eastward propagating delamination and breakoff, which induced melting of the subduction-modified lithospheric mantle (Călimani to Southern Harghita); and (2) decompression melting as a consequence of minor asthenospheric upwelling (Perșani).