Non-recognition of continental tholeiites using the Ti-Y-Zr diagram

Continental tholeiites cannot be identified using the Ti-Y-Zr diagram. Two-hundred and thirteen analyses from 16 localities representing 7 continental tholeiitic provinces all plot outside the within-plate basalt field of this diagram.Analyses representing about 50% of the population plot in the ocean-floor basalt field, the rest plots in the calc-alkali basalt field. Therefore problems might arise when attempts are made to classify ancient tectonomagmatic environments using the Ti-Y-Zr diagram.