Detrital zircon provenance of north Gondwana Palaeozoic sandstones from Saudi Arabia

Guido Meinhold,Matthias Hinderer,Anna Lewin,Alexander Bassis,Jasper Berndt

doi:10.1017/s0016756820000576

Guido Meinhold, Matthias Hinderer + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1017/s0016756820000576

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Abstract

AbstractWe present the first comprehensive detrital zircon U–Pb age dataset from Palaeozoic sandstones of Saudi Arabia, which provides new insights into the erosion history of the East African Orogen and sediment recycling in northern Gondwana. Five main age populations are present in varying amounts in the zircon age spectra, with age peaks at 625 Ma, 775 Ma, 980 Ma, 1840 Ma and 2480 Ma. Mainly igneous rocks of the Arabian–Nubian Shield are suggested to be the most prominent sources for the Ediacaran to middle Tonian zircon grains. Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean grains may be xenocrystic zircons or they have been recycled from older terrigenous sediment. A primary derivation from Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean basement is also possible, as rocks of such age occur in the vicinity. Approximately 4 % of the detrital zircons show Palaeozoic (340–541 Ma) ages. These grains are likely derived from Palaeozoic post-orogenic and anorogenic igneous rocks of NE Africa and Arabia. A few single grains gave up to Eoarchaean (3.6–4.0 Ga) ages, which are the oldest zircons yet described from Arabia and its vicinity. Their origin, however, is yet unknown. Detrital zircons with U–Pb ages of 1.0 Ga are present in varying amounts in all of the samples and are a feature of terrigenous sediment belonging to the Gondwana super-fan system with an East African – Arabian zircon province.

Highlights

The Gondwana supercontinent formed by the closure of the Mozambique Ocean and subsequent amalgamation of East and West Gondwana during the Pan-African Orogeny at the end of the Neoproterozoic Era (e.g. Stern, 1994; Johnson et al 2011)
We present the first comprehensive detrital zircon U–Pb age dataset from Palaeozoic sandstones of Saudi Arabia, which provides new insights into the erosion history of the East African Orogen and sediment recycling in northern Gondwana
Detrital zircons with U–Pb ages of ~1.0 Ga are present in varying amounts in all of the samples and are a feature of terrigenous sediment belonging to the Gondwana superfan system with an East African – Arabian zircon province

Summary

Introduction

The Gondwana supercontinent formed by the closure of the Mozambique Ocean and subsequent amalgamation of East and West Gondwana during the Pan-African Orogeny at the end of the Neoproterozoic Era (e.g. Stern, 1994; Johnson et al 2011). In NE Africa, the Pan-African Orogeny involved the collision of Archaean cratons and the Saharan Metacraton with the Arabian–Nubian Shield (Fig. 1a) The latter evolved between ~565 and 870 Ma and primarily comprises Neoproterozoic juvenile oceanic island arcs The similarity of detrital zircon U–Pb age spectra in Palaeozoic sandstones throughout Gondwana let Squire et al (2006) postulate the existence of large sediment fans that brought detritus from the East African Orogen towards the continental margins. Meinhold et al (2013) extended the super-fan model to the northern Gondwana margin evaluating detrital zircon age spectra from Cambrian– Ordovician sandstones of North Africa, the Sinai Peninsula and the northwesternmost part of the Arabian Peninsula.

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