Abstract
Recalculation of 271 published analyses of the relative proportions of lanthanides and yttrium in titanite has led to ranges and averages for samples from seven types of rocks. The averages show that in the sequence alkalic pegmatite, alkalic rock, gabbro and pyroxenites, granodiorite, granite, granite pegmatite (order of decreasing ∑), the average contents of the lightest lanthanides (La, Ce, and sum of La to Nd) decrease, the contents of the intermediate lanthanides (Sm to Ho and their sum) increase, the contents of the heaviest lanthanides (Er-Lu and their sum) increase, the content of Y increases, and the ratio La/Nd decreases. The averages indicate that geological environment has an important effect on the relative concentrations of the lanthanides in titanite. However, these relative concentrations show large degrees of overlap from group to group, so that analyses of individual samples are not sufficient to identify the host rock.
