Magnetite with anomalously high Cr2O3 as a fingerprint to trace upper Yangtze sediments to the sea

• Magnetite with anomalously high Cr2O3 is used as a fingerprint of the upper Yangtze.
• Sediment provenance of the Yangtze estuary gradually extended to the upper Yangtze.
• The Yangtze River connection to the sea was before ~ 1.2–1.0 Ma.

This paper examines geochemical properties of detrital magnetite, in order to link sediments in a Plio-Quaternary core taken in the delta area to their sources in the Yangtze River basin. A total of 40 sediment samples were collected from both the main river channel/tributaries and a sediment core from the Yangtze delta. The geochemical compositions of detrital magnetite in these sediments were analyzed by electron microprobe, including FeO, TiO2, CoO, MgO, Cr2O3, MnO, ZnO, Al2O3 and V2O3. The results revealed that the detrital magnetite grains with anomalously high Cr2O3 occurred exclusively in the upper reaches of the Yangtze (upstream of the Three Gorges Dam), where the E'mei Basalt block is located. This type of magnetite could therefore be considered a unique sediment proxy of the upper river basin to help identify sediment source in the delta area. Our analysis found such magnetite grains with high Cr2O3 occurring throughout the core depth above 186.5 m, in contrast to the extremely low Cr2O3 below this depth. The boundary between high and low Cr2O3 in magnetite grains of the core sediments was dated by paleomagnetism at ca. ~ 1.2–1.0 Ma, signifying that the linkage between the Yangtze River course and the sea was before ~ 1.2–1.0 Ma. This demonstrates that the sediment provenance of the Yangtze delta has experienced a change from local to distal Yangtze River, which took place with the uplift of the Tibetan plateau and coastal subsidence during the Plio-Quaternary.