Insights into evolution of a rift basin: Provenance of the middle Eocene-lower Oligocene strata of the Beibuwan Basin, South China Sea from detrital zircon

Investigating rift basins and their provenance is difficult because their tectonic framework is continuously evolving. The Beibuwan Basin in the South China Sea is a typical rift basin that shares many characteristics of major rift basins worldwide. We present new detrital zircon U-Pb ages from the Beibuwan basin and, by combining with published data from surrounding drainages, are able to define its potential sources and to investigate its provenance evolution from the middle Eocene-lower Oligocene. Detrital zircon age spectra from distinct structural units and formations of the rift basin reveal spatial-temporal differences in provenance. In the middle-upper Eocene, a similar age pattern with major peaks at 263-253 Ma and 450-416 Ma is preserved across the basin and suggests that sediment was uniformly derived from the Yunkai Massif and Hainan Island. In contrast, during the lower Oligocene the basin displays markedly diverse ages with peaks at 250-243, 416, 756, 967-945, 1096-1084 Ma. The increase of Neoproterozoic zircons in the lower Oligocene stratum suggests that a major change in provenance occurred, most likely associated with the reorganization of the paleo-Pearl River along its central reaches due to a topography reversal associated with the uplift of Tibet and the onset of seafloor spreading in the South China Sea. Our spatial analysis of ages indicates that during the lower Oligocene, the detrital input varied across the basin. Rifting processes in the Beibuwan Basin generated multiple isolated depocenters separated by intra-basinal highs. The basin's architecture greatly affected sediment routing, with structural highs serving as barriers to sediment transport. Sediment provenance in the Beibuwan Basin is primarily controlled by drainage evolution and isolated depocenters associated with an evolving topography, processes which are relevant to the evolution of rift basins globally. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Investigating the Beibuwan Basin in the South China Sea has shown that its provenance underwent significant changes during the lower Oligocene, indicating the influence of evolving topography and drainage evolution on sediment sources in rift basins.