The tholeiitic to calc-alkaline basalt to rhyolite volcanic rocks from Holes 977A and 978A in the eastern central Alboran Sea range in age from 6.1 Ma to 12.1 Ma The ages conform to the stratigraphy and to ages from microfossils, where available. The major- and trace-element geochemistry shows strong affinities to volcanic rocks from subduction zones, which indicates that subduction most likely occurred beneath the eastern Alboran 6.1 to at least 12.1 Ma. The incompatible-element data also require the presence of both depleted (MORB-source) and enriched (ocean-island or sediment) components in the mantle beneath the Alboran.