Comment on Manuella et al. "The Hyblean xenolith suite (Sicily): an unexpected legacy of the Ionian-Tethys realm"

This comment raises some scientific concerns regarding a recent paper titled the “Hyblean xenolith suite (Sicily): an unexpected legacy of the Ionian-Tethys realm” by Manuella et al. (2015), published on the International Journal of Earth Sciences (DOI 10.1007/s00531-015-1151-9), which states that the Hyblean Plateau of southern Sicily and the Pelagian Sea are “unquestionably” characterized by an “oceanic” basement. Volcanic rocks (and associated xenoliths) collected throughout the Mediterranean area have been investigated by our research group for more than 20 years, and based on this experience we cast some doubts on the theory put forward by Manuella et al. (2015). We want to inform the scientific community on the ongoing debate, underlining that the mentioned hypothesis is “questionable” and far to be accepted, as indicated by many geologists who consider the Hyblean plateau and the Pelagian Sea as the northernmost part of the African continental plate (Finetti and Del Ben, 2005; Catalano et al., 2010; Civile et al., 2010; Accaino et al., 2011; Roure et al., 2012; Musumeci et al., 2014). Beside this, we underline that several petrological constraints on the Hyblean volcanism and associated xenoliths, that are essential for the understanding of the geological scenario of the area, have been omitted (Bianchini et al., 1998; 1999; 2010; Suiting and Schmincke, 2009;), underestimated or misunderstood (Tonarini et al., 1996; Beccaluva et al., 1998; Sapienza et al., 2005; 2007; 2009).