Geochemistry and zircon U-Pb ages of the Oligocene sediments in the Baiyun Sag, Zhujiang River Mouth Basin

Abstract

In this study, element geochemistry and zircon chronology are used to analyze the Oligocene sediments in the Baiyun Sag, Zhujiang River Mouth Basin. The experimental results are discussed with respect to weathering conditions, parent rock lithologies, and provenances. The chemical index of alteration and the chemical index of weathering values of mudstone samples from the lower Oligocene Enping Formation indicate that clastic particles in the study area underwent moderate weathering. Mudstone samples exhibit relatively enriched light rare earth elements and depleted heavy rare earth elements, “V”-shaped negative Eu anomalies, and negligible Ce anomalies. The rare earth element distribution curves are obviously right-inclined, with shapes and contents similar to those of post-Archean Australian shale and upper continental crust, indicating that the samples originated from acid rocks in the upper crust. The Hf-La/Th and La/Sc-Co/Th diagrams show this same origin for the sediments in the study area. For the samples from the upper Enping deltas, the overall age spectrum shows four major age peaks ca. 59–68 Ma, 98–136 Ma, 153–168 Ma and 239–260 Ma. For the Zhuhai Formation samples, the overall age spectrum shows three major age peaks ca. 149 Ma, 252 Ma and 380 Ma. The detrital zircon shapes and U-Pb ages reveal that during Oligocene sedimentation, the sediments on the northwestern margin of the Baiyun Sag were supplied jointly from two provenances: Precambrian-Paleozoic metamorphic rocks in the extrabasinal South China fold zone and Mesozoic volcanic rocks in the intrabasinal Panyu Low Uplift, and the former supply became stronger through time. Thus, the provenance of the Oligocene deltas experienced a transition from an early proximal intrabasinal source to a late distal extrabasinal source.