Geochemical Atlas – Erzgebirge and Vogtland

Titanium (Ti) shows a slightly right skewed log distribution and ranges between a maximum of 0.78 % and minimum values below the detection limit of 0.003 %. The arithmetic average is 0.036 % versus a median of 0.025 %. Elevated Ti contents in the western Erzgebirge are mainly related to volcanic rocks and their products (sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks). Three areas show Ti > 0.16 %, two of which are located near the SW tip of the study area in Devonian rock sequences NW and SW of Oelsnitz. The third area matches the central Lößnitz-Zwönitz syncline with Silurian and Devonian sedimentary and volcanic rocks. In the central Erzgebirge area, elevated grades of Ti > 0.1 % are related to Tertiary volcanism preserved in basaltic plateaus, e.g. SW of Annaberg-Buchholz (Scheibenberg), E of AnnabergBuchholz (Pöhlberg) and SW of the NiederschlagBärenstein deposit (Bärenstein mountain). Another area is hosted in gneisses SSW of Freiberg, enclosed by a larger NNE-striking zone with Ti > 0.063 %. The area of next lowest concentration (Ti > 0.04 %) connects these sites to a corridor about 65 km length between the SW tip of the Neoproterozoic gneiss platform and the northern Freiberg mining district. Its NW flank is sharply controlled by the contact to Cambro-Ordovician metasediments with low Ti content. Ti is further elevated in two narrow NE-striking zones east of Hainichen, which correspond to Devonian metavolcanics and shows a good correlation with Zr and Nb. Absolute Ti concentrations are possibly underestimated due to limited solubility of minerals like rutile in aqua regia used for the analyses.