The geochemistry of the sedimentary rocks from the Huadi No. 1 well in the Wufeng-Longmaxi formations (Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian), South China, with implications for paleoweathering, provenance, tectonic setting and paleoclimate

Abstract

Abstract The Late Ordovician-Early Silurian transition was a critical interval in Earth's history, marked by mass extinction, the Gondwana glaciation and volcanic events. Here, we present mineralogical and geochemical characteristics across the Ordovician-Silurian boundary (Wufeng, Guanyinqiao and Longmaxi formations) from the Huadi No. 1 well, in the Sichuan Basin, in order to explore the paleoweathering, provenance, tectonic setting and paleoclimatic conditions of the source area. Thin sections, XRD (X-ray diffraction) data and major element results reveal that the rocks were abundant in clay minerals, quartz, minor feldspar, pyrite and carbonate minerals. The samples have similar chondrite-normalized REE patterns to those of PAAS, which are characterized by slight LREE enrichments and accompanied by flat HREE trends with weakly negative Eu anomalies. Paleoweathering indices (CIA and PIA) suggest that the sediments experienced weak to moderate chemical weathering in the source area. CIA values in the lower Wufeng formation range from 67.11 to 72.17, indicating a warm and humid climate, the CIA values in the upper Wufeng formation decrease from 70.35 to 66.15, and the CIA values in the Guanyinqiao and lower Longmaxi formation are persistently low (56.64–62.87), suggesting a cold and dry climate, which is consistent with the widespread presence of glaciation in the Hirnantian period. Further upward in the upper Longmaxi formation, the CIA returns to a high value (65.59), which may reflect that the climate started getting warm and glaciation had finished. Fluctuations in CIA values reflect that the climate shifted from warm to cold and then to warm again during the end Ordovician-early Silurian time period. The A-CN-K triangular diagram and SiO2-Al2O3/TiO2, TiO2-Zr, and La/Th-Hf bivariate diagrams indicate that the provenance of the rocks from the three formations was primarily felsic igneous rocks. Discriminant-function diagrams and La-Th-Sc, Th-Co-Zr/10 and Th-Sc-Zr/10 triangular diagrams show that the clastic sediments of the Wufeng-Longmaxi formations were derived most likely from an active continental margin. Finally, across the Late Ordovician-Early Silurian, tectonic activity and the end of the Ordovician glaciation dominantly controlled the deposition of black shales and siltstones in the Wufeng-Longmaxi formations of South China.