Trace element indiscrimination diagrams

Abstract

We tested the accuracy of trace element discrimination diagrams for basalts using new datasets from two petrological databases, PetDB and GEOROC. Both binary and ternary diagrams using Zr, Ti, V, Y, Th, Hf, Nb, Ta, Sm, and Sc do a poor job of discriminating between basalts generated in various tectonic environments (continental flood basalt, mid-ocean ridge basalt, ocean island basalt, oceanic plateau basalt, back-arc basin basalt, and various types of arc basalt). The overlaps between the different types of basalt are too large for the confident application of such diagrams when used in the absence of geological and petrological constraints. None of the diagrams we tested can clearly discriminate between back-arc basin basalt and mid-ocean ridge basalt, between continental flood basalt and oceanic plateau basalt, and between different types of arc basalt (intra-oceanic, island and continental arcs). Only ocean island basalt and some mid-ocean ridge basalt are generally distinguishable in the diagrams, and even in this case, mantle-normalized trace element patterns offer a better solution for discriminating between the two types of basalt.