Provenance of the Lower Jurassic pyroclastic sediments in the Zigui Basin:Implication for crustal thickening in the eastern Qinling orogenic belt

The Late Triassic witnessed significant collisional orogenic events in the Qinling orogenic belt,accompanied by magma underplating and tectonic deformation.These processes potentially resulted in substantial crustal thickening and uplift of the Qinling orogen.However,due to the absence of igneous rock records from this period in the eastern section of the Qinling orogen,the changes in crustal thickness during this orogenic process have not been thoroughly investigated.A series of foreland basins emerged during the Early Mesozoic to the south of the East Qinling orogenic belt.These basins have preserved clastic sedimentary rocks derived from the uplift and erosion of the orogenic belt.These sedimentary records serve as crucial records to reconstruct the evolutionary history of the Qinling orogen.To further clarify the collisional orogenic process of the Qinling orogenic belt,this study conducted in situ volcanic lithic fragment geochemistry,detrital zircon U-Pb chronology and trace element composition analysis on the sandstones of the Lower Jurassic Tongzhuyuan Formation in the Zigui Basin.The results suggest that the sandstones,which exhibit a significant abundance of volcanic lithic fragments,has a characteristic detrital zircon age group of 250–200 Ma,indicating a major provenance from the Triassic volcanic rocks.Combined with regional correlation and paleocurrent analysis,the detrital zircon U-Pb age data show that the source area of volcanic rocks should be in the Qinling orogenic belt to the north of the basin.This interpretation is further supported by the Triassic granitic rocks exposed in the western part of the orogenic belt,representing the magmatism during the Triassic collisional orogenesis in the Qinling orogen.Based on the co-varying relationships between present-day crust thickness with the chemical compositions of granite rocks and zircons,the La/Yb ratio of volcanic lithic fragments in the Tongzhuyuan Formation and the Eu/Eu*ratio of detrital zircons with Triassic ages indicate that the Qinling orogen experienced crustal thickening during the Late Triassic,reaching its maximum thickness of 60–70 km at ca.220–210 Ma.This crustal thickening in the eastern Qinling orogen is temporally consistent with that in the western orogen as recorded by the Triassic granitic rocks and may be related to large-scale crustal shortening and magmatism during the collisional orogeny.

Devonian-Carboniferous Pillow OIB-Type Basalts in the Youjiang Basin,SW China:Implications for the Eastern Extension of the Paleo-Tethys Branch Ocean

Late Paleozoic pillow basalts are well preserved in the Youjiang Basin of SW China.In this study,we conducted geochemical and Sr-Nd isotopic study on the Late Devonian and Late Carboniferous basalts in Napo area,Youjiang Basin.The analyzed samples comprise moderate SiO2,TiO2,Mg#,and REE contents,with slightly positive or negative Eu anomalies,similar to the chemical nature of OIB(Oceanic island basalt).All basalts show low(^(143)Nd/^(144)Nd)iand(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr)ivalues,close to EMI-type(I-type Enriched Mantle)magma source.Late Carboniferous basalts display higher(^(87)Sr/^(86)Sr)i,Nb/Th,and lowerε_(Nd)(t),Zr/Nb values than those of the Late Devonian basalts,implying progressively decreased enrichment components in the magma source processes.Such evolution trend reflects a continuous lithospheric thinning event,supporting a progressive rifting setting of the Youjiang Basin along the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block in Late Paleozoic.Combined with regional geological background,the Youjiang Basin is viewed as a continental rift basin related to the opening of the Paleo-Tethys Ocean in Late Devonian and became a passive continental margin basin in Carboniferous.The Paleo-Tethys branch ocean probably extended further to the southern Youjiang Basin,likely corresponding to the Song Ma suture zone.

Provenance of Lower Carboniferous Bauxite Deposits in Northern Guizhou,China:Constraints from Geochemistry and Detrital Zircon U-Pb Ages

The Lower Carboniferous Jiujialu Formation bauxite deposits of northern Guizhou Province,China,are a Kazakhstan subtype of karst bauxite deposits.The provenance of the Jiujialu Formation has long been debated,with uncertainty about the formation of the bauxite deposits.Here we report new geochemical data that indicate the affinity between the Lower-Middle Ordovician clastic rocks and argillaceous dolostones and the overlying Carboniferous bauxite deposits,all of which are characterized by high Al_(2)0_(3),K2_(O),and∑REE contents,flat post-Archean Australian shale(PAAS)-normalized REE patterns,and uniform immobile element ratios(TiO2/Al_(2)0_(3),Nb/TiO2,and Zr/TiO2).Their similar detrital zircon age distributions further indicate the link between the bauxite deposits and the clastic rocks and argillaceous dolostones.Zircon age spectra of clastic rocks of the Lower Silurian Hanchiatien Formation in northern Guizhou match those of the bauxite deposits,with a maximum age peak at-980 Ma and other secondary age peaks,suggesting these clastic rocks may represent the provenance of the bauxite deposits.The youngest detrital zircons(-445 Ma)occur only in the bauxite deposits and are probably sourced from K-bentonite beds of the Ordovician-Silurian tran-sition.Our analyses indicate that the source materials of the bauxite deposits in the Jiujialu Formation are of mixed provenance:Lower-Middle Ordovician aluminosilicate rocks and argillaceous dolostones of the underlying strata,and Lower Silurian clastic rocks and K-bentonite from adjacent areas.A comparison of Early Carboniferous bauxitic provenances in northern and central Guizhou indicates that paleotopography was the major factor controlling the provenance of these bauxite deposits.