Provenance Analysis of Lower Cretaceous Sindong Group Sandstones in the Gyeongsang Basin, Korea, Using Integrated Petrography, Quartz Sem-Cathodoluminescence, and Zircon Zr/Hf Analysis

Abstract

The Sindong Group (Aptian–Albian) in southeastern Korea is a 2–3-km-thick fluvio-lacustrine sedimentary package deposited in an elongated basin (the Nakdong Trough), which was formed by extension in an active-continental-margin setting. The provenance of the Sindong Group was studied to understand spatial and temporal variation in composition in three different parts of the basin by using integrated data on petrography, quartz SEM-cathodoluminescence (CL) analysis, and zircon Zr/Hf analysis. Although Sindong Group sandstones display wide variation in the composition of framework grains, they generally have increasing amounts of feldspar and decreasing amounts of quartz up sequence. Significant amounts of volcanic rock fragments and volcanic quartz are observed in the late-stage sediments. Metamorphic quartz is predominant in all Sindong Group sandstones, indicative of the exposure of metamorphic rocks in the source terrane, mostly from Precambrian basement and Triassic granites. The occurrence of significant amounts of plutonic quartz from early-stage sediments suggests that Jurassic granites were widely exposed in the source terranes. In addition, the episodic increase in volume of plutonic quartz content in the sequence, especially in the northern part of the basin, suggests that episodic tectonic activity occurred in the catchment. The increasing feldspar content up sequence could support the occurrence of tectonic activity in the catchments. The Zr/Hf analysis of detrital zircons revealed that the majority of zircons are of continental-crust origin formed in orogenic settings, but zircons in the lowest strata in the northern part of the basin were derived largely from anorogenic magmatic rocks of mantle origin. Our results demonstrate that source terranes for the Sindong Group have heterogeneous spatial and temporal distribution and were composed mainly of Precambrian basement and Triassic to Jurassic granitic rocks, with minor (meta)sedimentary rocks and syndepositional volcanic rocks. The detritus derived from syndepositional volcanic rocks became significant in the late stage of basin filling, representing the transition from extensional tectonism to continental-arc magmatism. The differences in characteristics of quartz SEM-CL and zircon Zr/Hf ratios in different parts of the basin are best explained by deposition on different alluvial fans and river systems.