Abstract
The Three Gorges valley is one of the two key capture points of the evolution of the Yangtze River, yet the formation of this valley—from the pre-Miocene to the late Pleistocene—remains uncertain. The Jianghan Basin, a late Mesozoic–Cenozoic basin located just downstream of the Three Gorges valley, is a crucial area for understanding the formation of the valley. In this study, we used heavy mineral assemblages to trace the provenance of Pliocene–Pleistocene sediments obtained from the 300-m-depth Zhoulao drillcore in the Jianghan Basin. Results show that heavy mineral concentrations, compositions, and species display a clear change at a depth of 110 m in the studied core, consistent with the change in values of magnetic indexes and trace-element geochemical indicators. The heavy mineral assemblage deposited below a depth of 110 m (lower section of the core) comprises zircon, epidote, leucoxene, rutile, anatase, pyrite, and titanite, whereas that deposited above 110 m (upper section) consists of hornblende, pyroxene, garnet, hematite-limonite, and magnetite. In addition, the heavy mineral assemblage of the upper section is similar to that of the modern surface fluvial sediments of the Yangtze, which indicates that materials of the upper core section of the Jianghan Basin were sourced from the upper Yangtze River Basin, west of the Three Gorges. After incision of the Three Gorges valley, sediments from the upper Yangtze were transported to the Jianghan Basin and deposited. Combining the results of this study with the known paleomagnetic chronology of the Jianghan Basin, we propose that the Three Gorges valley was incised at ca. 1.1 Ma.
Highlights
Some previous studies have argued that sediment derived from the upper Yangtze River Basin first appeared in the middle–lower Yangtze River Basin during the Pleistocene [19,20,21], whereas other studies have proposed that the Yangtze River developed into a large river similar to the modern Yangtze, probably during the Oligocene and no later than the 2end of 13 of the Neogene [10,22,23,24]
Shown are the locations of the Sichuan and Jianghan basins located to the west and just downstream of the Three Gorges, of the Sichuan
The Jianghan Basin, located just below the outlet of the Three Gorges [25] (Figure 1b), is the closest and most sensitive depocenter related to the incision of the Three Gorges
Summary
Some previous studies have argued that sediment derived from the upper Yangtze River Basin first appeared in the middle–lower Yangtze River Basin during the Pleistocene [19,20,21], whereas other studies have proposed that the Yangtze River developed into a large river similar to the modern Yangtze, probably during the Oligocene and no later than the 2end of 13 of the Neogene [10,22,23,24]. Insediment particular, Basin by 3.4 Ma. Three Gorges area, which between the upperthe and the middle–lower provenance, at present there isisthe no link consensus regarding timing of formationYangtze, of the has become a major focus of research
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