Rutile and zircon U-Pb dating as a constraint on sedimentary provenance of the Jianchuan Basin

Author(s)
Rujun Guo, Xilin Sun, Chang'an Li, David Chew, Foteini Drakou, Zengjie Zhang, Yawei Li, Chuanyi Wei, Taorui Zeng, Jiranan Homnan, Urs Klotzli
Abstract

The Yangtze River is the largest river in Asia, and its evolution has been a subject of debate for more than a century. The formation of the First Bend is widely recognized as a key drainage reorganization event that led to the birth of the modern Yangtze River. In this study, we use new detrital rutile U[sbnd]Pb ages to constrain the sedimentary provenance of the Cenozoic deposits in the Jianchuan Basin. Our results show that detrital rutile U[sbnd]Pb ages of the Eocene sandstones from the Jianchuan Basin are similar to those of the Yalong River and Jinsha River, indicating that the upper Yangtze is likely to have flowed through the Jianchuan Basin in the late Eocene. Moreover, the characteristic zircon age signature of the Yalong and Jinsha Rivers also appear in the Jianchuan Basin, which is consistent with the rutile data. Our new rutile data and previous detrital zircon data suggest that the upper Yangtze River is likely to connect the Red River via the Jianchuan Basin since the late Eocene.

Organisation(s)
Department of Lithospheric Research
External organisation(s)
China University of Geosciences, Hubei University, University of Dublin, Sun Yat-sen University, Pingdingshan University, China Earthquake Administration, Chongqing Jiaotong University, University of Vienna
Journal
Geomorphology
Volume
456
ISSN
0169-555X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2024.109208
Publication date
07-2024
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
105127 Geochronology, 105116 Mineralogy, 105101 General geology
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Earth-Surface Processes
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/ed2d452c-da0b-44c8-9247-8cc431481aa9