Multiproxy records on the fluvial successions of Assam-Arakan Basin: Implication for paleo-drainage evolution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priti Rai ◽  
Biraj Borgohain ◽  
George Mathew
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
River System ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Brahmaputra River ◽  
Electron Probe Micro Analyzer ◽  
Fluvial Sedimentation ◽  
Namche Barwa

<p>Assam-Arakan Basin comprises Cenozoic sedimentary successions, located in northeastern India is juxtaposed to both the Himalaya and Indo-Burman Ranges (IBR). The Upper Miocene-Pliocene (Tipam sandstone) and the overlying younger Upper Pliocene-Pleistocene units (Dupi-Tila/Namsang/Dihing) of this foreland basin are fluvial successions. Heavy mineral as detritus provenance indicator has been used as one of the multiproxy records on the fluvial sequences of Assam-Arakan Basin to unravel the drainage system that deposited the same in this basin. Previous workers have advocated that the paleo-Brahmaputra river had initially flowed east of Shillong Plateau before being deflected northwesterly taking the present-day course parallel to the Plateau. However, unequivocal evidence of paleo-Brahmaputra remains enigmatic. The study demonstrates the provenance for the fluvial sedimentary units of the above foreland basin using petrography and heavy mineral distributions. X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA) analyses were employed to correctly identify the heavy mineral species and support the semi-quantitative analysis of heavy minerals in the basin. The outcome of the study provides new insights towards the paleo-drainage evolution of the river course accountable for the fluvial sedimentation in the Assam-Arakan Basin. Clast petrography and heavy mineral observations indicate the probable source from Lohit- Dibang valley. Initial analysis of detrital zircon U-Pb ages from studied samples reveals major age peaks at around 500 Ma and 1025 Ma with young ages between 16 Ma and ~140 Ma. These samples do not provide ages < 10 Ma, signifying the sediments not derived from Namche Barwa massif, eroded by the Tsangpo-Siang-Brahmaputra river system. It is in contrast to similar sediments in the Siwaliks of NE Himalaya. The data supports our observation that the paleo-Brahmaputra seems not the cause for these deposits, at least during the Pleistocene. If Paleo-Brahmaputra got diverted during this period, it requires scanning the detritus from Tipam units and additional samples from Dupi-Tila/Namsang/Dihing units across the entire Assam-Arakan range to infer source and drainage system for these deposits. We tentatively propose that the Tipam and the younger Dupi-Tila/Namsang/Dihing units in the Assam-Arakan Basin were deposited by drainage flowing from Dibang-Tezu valley, that was initially linked to the Irrawaddy river system. The uplift along Naga thrust caused drainage migration, eventually meeting the present-day Brahmaputra course.</p><p>Keywords: Heavy mineral; Detrital zircon U-Pb ages; Paleo-Brahmaputra; Assam-Arakan Basin</p>

scholarly journals A multidisciplinary approach for the quantitative provenance analysis of siltstone: Mesozoic Mandawa Basin, southeastern Tanzania

2019 ◽  
Vol 484 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Caracciolo ◽  
S. Andò ◽  
P. Vermeesch ◽  
E. Garzanti ◽  
R. McCabe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Close Association ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Etch Pits ◽  
Multivariate Statistical ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

AbstractThis paper shows how heavy minerals and single-grain varietal studies can be conducted on silt (representing c. 50% of world's sediments) sediments to obtain quantitative data as efficiently as for sand-sized sediments. The analytical workflows include heavy mineral separation using a wide grain-size window (15–355 μ) analysed through integrated optical analysis, Raman spectroscopy, QEMSCAN microscopy and U–Pb dating of detrital zircon. Upper Jurassic–Cretaceous silt-sized sediments from the Mandawa Basin of central-southern Tanzania have been selected for the scope of this research. Raman-aided heavy mineral analysis reveals garnet and apatite to be the most common minerals together with durable zircon, tourmaline and subordinate rutile. Accessory but diagnostic phases are titanite, staurolite, epidote and monazite. Etch pits on garnet and cockscomb features on staurolite document the significant effect of diagenesis on the pristine heavy mineral assemblage. Multivariate statistical analysis highlights a close association among durable minerals (zircon, tourmaline and rutile, ZTR) while garnet and apatite plot alone reflecting independence between the three groups of variables with garnet increasing in Jurassic samples. Raman data for garnet end-member analysis document different associations between Jurassic (richer in A, Bi and Bii types) and Cretaceous (dominant A, Ci and Cii types) samples. U–Pb dating of detrital zircon and their statistical integration with the above-mentioned datasets provide further insights into changes in provenance and/or drainage systems. Metamorphic rocks of the early and late Pan-African orogeny terranes of the Mozambique Belt and those of the Irumide Belt acted as main source of sediment during the Jurassic. Cretaceous sediments record a broadening of the drainage system reaching as far as the Usagran–Ubendian Belt and the Tanzanian Archean Craton.

Gangdese arc detritus within the eastern Himalayan Neogene foreland basin: Implications for the Neogene evolution of the Yalu–Brahmaputra River system

2009 ◽  
Vol 285 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara E. Cina ◽  
An Yin ◽  
Marty Grove ◽  
Chandra S. Dubey ◽  
Dericks P. Shukla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreland Basin ◽  
River System ◽  
Brahmaputra River

scholarly journals Heavy-mineral provenance signatures during the infill and uplift of a foreland basin: An example from the Jaca basin (southern Pyrenees, Spain)

2020 ◽  
Vol 90 (12) ◽  
pp. 1747-1769
Author(s):  
Xavier Coll ◽  
David Gómez-Gras ◽  
Marta Roigé ◽  
Antonio Teixell ◽  
Salva Boya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Source Areas ◽  
The North ◽  
Sediment Routing ◽  
Central Pyrenees

ABSTRACT In the Jaca foreland basin (southern Pyrenees), two main sediment routing systems merge from the late Eocene to the early Miocene, providing an excellent example of interaction of different source areas with distinct petrographic signatures. An axially drained fluvial system, with its source area located in the eastern Central Pyrenees, is progressively replaced by a transverse-drained system that leads to the recycling of the older turbiditic foredeep. Aiming to provide new insights into the source-area evolution of the Jaca foreland basin, we provide new data on heavy-mineral suites, from the turbiditic underfilled stage to the youngest alluvial-fan systems of the Jaca basin, and integrate the heavy-mineral signatures with available sandstone petrography. Our results show a dominance of the ultrastable Ap-Zrn-Tur-Rt assemblage through the entire basin evolution. However, a late alluvial sedimentation stage brings an increase in other more unstable heavy minerals, pointing to specific source areas belonging to the Axial and the North Pyrenean Zone and providing new insights into the response of the heavy-mineral suites to sediment recycling. Furthermore, we assess the degree of diagenetic overprint vs. provenance signals and infer that the loss of unstable heavy minerals due intrastratal dissolution is negligible at least in the Peña Oroel and San Juan de la Peña sections. Finally, we provide new evidence to the idea that during the late Eocene the water divide of the transverse drainage system was located in the North Pyrenean Zone, and areas constituted by the Paleozoic basement were exposed in the west-Central Pyrenees at that time. Our findings provide new insights into the heavy-mineral response in recycled foreland basins adjacent to fold-and-thrust belts.

On the provenance of mid-Cretaceous turbidites of the Pindos zone (Greece): implications from heavy mineral distribution, detrital zircon ages and chrome spinel chemistry

2006 ◽  
Vol 143 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. FAUPL ◽  
A. PAVLOPOULOS ◽  
U. KLÖTZLI ◽  
K. PETRAKAKIS
Keyword(s):  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Chrome Spinel ◽  
Internal Source ◽  
Suprasubduction Zone ◽  
Mid Ocean Ridge ◽  
Detrital Zircon Ages ◽  
Back Arc ◽  
Ocean Ridge

Two heavy mineral populations characterize the siliciclastic material of the mid-Cretaceous turbidites of the Katafito Formation (‘First Flysch’) of the Pindos zone: a stable, zircon-rich group and an ophiolite-derived, chrome spinel-rich one. U/Pb and Pb/Pb dating on magmatic zircons from the stable heavy mineral group clearly illustrate the existence of Variscan magmatic complexes in the source terrain, but also provide evidence for magmatism as old as Precambrian. Based on microprobe analyses, the chrome spinel detritus was predominantly supplied from peridotites of mid-ocean ridge as well as suprasubduction zone origin. A small volcanic spinel population was mainly derived from MORB and back-arc basin basalts. The lithological variability of the mid-Cretaceous ophiolite bodies, based on spinel chemistry, is much broader than that of ophiolite complexes presently exposed in the Hellenides. The chrome spinel detritus compares closely with that from the Outer and Inner Dinarides. The source terrain of the ophiolite-derived heavy minerals was situated in a more internal palaeogeographic position than that of the Pindos zone. The zircon-rich heavy mineral group could have had either an external and/or an internal source, but the chrome spinel constantly accompanying the stable mineral detritus seems to be more indicative of an internal source terrain.

scholarly journals Detrital Zircon Provenance and Lithofacies Associations of Montmorillonitic Sands in the Maastrichtian Ripley Formation: Implications for Mississippi Embayment Paleodrainage Patterns and Paleogeography

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Jennifer N. Gifford ◽  
Elizabeth J. Vitale ◽  
Brian F. Platt ◽  
David H. Malone ◽  
Inoka H. Widanagamage
Keyword(s):  
Mississippi River ◽  
Detrital Zircon ◽  
Drainage System ◽  
Clay Mineralogy ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Mississippi Embayment ◽  
Fluvial Systems ◽  
Source Regions ◽  
Cretaceous Volcanism ◽  
Appalachian Foreland

We provide new detrital zircon evidence to support a Maastrichtian age for the establishment of the present-day Mississippi River drainage system. Fieldwork conducted in Pontotoc County, Mississippi, targeted two sites containing montmorillonitic sand in the Maastrichtian Ripley Formation. U-Pb detrital zircon (DZ) ages from these sands (n = 649) ranged from Mesoarchean (~2870 Ma) to Pennsylvanian (~305 Ma) and contained ~91% Appalachian-derived grains, including Appalachian–Ouachita, Gondwanan Terranes, and Grenville source terranes. Other minor source regions include the Mid-Continent Granite–Rhyolite Province, Yavapai–Mazatzal, Trans-Hudson/Penokean, and Superior. This indicates that sediment sourced from the Appalachian Foreland Basin (with very minor input from a northern or northwestern source) was being routed through the Mississippi Embayment (MSE) in the Maastrichtian. We recognize six lithofacies in the field areas interpreted as barrier island to shelf environments. Statistically significant differences between DZ populations and clay mineralogy from both sites indicate that two distinct fluvial systems emptied into a shared back-barrier setting, which experienced volcanic ash input. The stratigraphic positions of the montmorillonitic sands suggest that these deposits represent some of the youngest Late Cretaceous volcanism in the MSE.

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