Basin classification and tectonic framework of the Nam Pat Group, Uttaradit Province, Thailand: Implications for the Nan Suture Zone

Abstract

The Nam Pat Group of the Nam Pat Basin, Uttaradit Province, Thailand is situated in the Nan Suture Zone. Two contrasting tectonic framework models of the Nan Suture have previously been proposed: as a main Paleo-Tethyan suture and as a remnant of a closed back-arc basin. The goal of this study is to analyze the tectonic framework of the Nan Suture and reevaluate the existing tectonic models. This research infers the tectonic setting of the basin based on basin-filled lithofacies distributions, provenance, and paleocurrents. Three facies groups are identified. Facies A, B, and C are polymictic conglomerate, interbedded sandstone and mudstone, and mudstone with thin-bedded sandstone, respectively. Generally, the strata strike NE-SW, steeply dip NW, and fine toward the SE. Petrographic results of sandstone samples show that the majority of lithic fragments are volcanic rocks with lesser amount of metamorphic rocks and sedimentary rocks. The modal compositions of sandstones are analyzed on QFL, QmFLt, QmPK, LmLvLs, and QpLvmLsm ternary diagrams. The plots indicate that the sandstones of the Nam Pat Group have high proportions of volcanic-arc detritus. Paleocurrents, determined from the orientation of clast imbrications and cross-stratification, are toward the SE. The results suggest that large quantities of sediment traveled southeastward from a nearby volcanic arc into the basin. The Nam Pat Group stratigraphically overlies the Pak Pat Volcanics. The chemical features of the Pak Pat Volcanics, located to the west of the basin, show that they are andesitic volcanic rocks formed as a magmatic arc. Thus, the nearby Pak Pat Volcanics are the main sediment source of the Nam Pat Group, and the basin is best interpreted as back-arc basin rather than as a forearc basin.