Multiple provenance of rift sediments in the composite basin-mountain system: Constraints from detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and heavy minerals of the early Eocene Jianghan Basin, central China

Abstract

Zircon U-Pb geochronology and heavy minerals are used in combination to provide valuable insights into the provenance of the early Eocene Jianghan Basin, central China. Five samples for zircon U-Pb dating and eighty-five samples for heavy mineral analysis were collected from drill cores or cuttings of the Xingouzui Formation. Most analyzed zircons are of magmatic origin, with oscillatory zoning. Detrital zircons from sample M96 located on eastern basin have two dominant age groups of 113–158Ma and 400–500Ma, and the other samples located on southern basin have three prominent age populations at 113–158Ma, 400–500Ma and 700–1000Ma. Samples on different parts of the basin show distinct differences in heavy mineral compositions and they apparently divide into two groups according to the content of rutile (higher or lower than 4%). The spatial variations of zircon-tourmaline-rutile (ZTR) indices are marked by some noticeable increasing trends from basin margins to the inner part of the basin. Compared with the potential source areas, this study clarifies the multiple source characteristics of the Jianghan basin in the composite basin-mountain system. The majority of clastic material was supplied from the north source area through rift-trough sediment-transport pathways, and the eastern, southern and northwestern source areas also contributed detritus to the basin. This clastic material is broadly dispersed in the basin. The early Eocene paleogeography implies that rift architecture and rifting process had an important influence on sediment dispersal. This study shows that integrated zircon U-Pb geochronology and heavy mineral analysis is a useful and powerful method to identify sediment provenance.