Detrital zircon provenance record of the Oligocene Zhuhai Formation in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea

The Oligocene Zhuhai Formation has been proven to be one of the main reservoirs in the Pearl River Mouth Basin in the northern South China Sea but its sedimentary provenance remains uncertain and controversial. Here we conducted a systematic study by U-Pb analysis of detrital zircon of the Zhuhai Formation in order to identify the source terrane, investigate the sedimentary source, and establish the framework for the provenance variation during the Oligocene. The study suggests that the detrital zircon in the different structural units reveal marked spatial differences in their age compositions that correlate with the changing sources. The western and eastern parts of the basin have a significantly different provenance manifested by the age compositions of the detrital sediments. The western basin generally has a relatively complex age spectrum and is characterized by a multi-peak distribution, suggesting that the main source was derived from the southern margin of the South China Block. In contrast, the eastern basin displays a dominant population ranging from 131 to 142 Ma, which implies that the sediments were mainly eroded from a nearby source. Our data demonstrate that the Cathaysia Block hinterland and the intrabasinal sources provided dominant provenance contributions to the Pearl River Mouth Basin during the Oligocene. Additionally, Hainan Island and Central Vietnam (eastern Indochina Block) do not appear to have been important sources, whereas Luzon Island and northern Palawan probably provided negligible contributions to the basin during the same time period.