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Elemental and Sm-Nd isotopic geochemistry on detrital sedimentary rocks in the Ganzi-Songpan block and Longmen Mountains

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Abstract

Systematic results of major and trace element geochemistry and Sm-Nd isotopic geochemistry on detrital sedimentary rocks of Precambrian to Triassic in the Ganzi-Songpan block and Longmen Mountains are presented. The rocks are classified into greywackes or feldspar sandstones, grains of which are the mixtures of mafic rocks, felsic rocks, and quartz+calcite. Total rare earth elements (REE) contents of the rocks increase gradually and negative Eu anomalies become more obvious from Precambrian to Triassic, which may indicate intensifying crustal anatexis. Tectonic setting was stable during the Late Paleozoic, therefore there are obvious negative Ce anomalies. Nd model ages are between 1.6 Ga and 2.4 Ga, which are very similar to those of the Yangtze craton, South Qinling and North Qinling belts and quite different from those of the North China craton. Therefore, provenance of the sedimentary rocks in the Ganzi-Songpan block and Longmen Mountains was the Yangtze craton and/or the Qinling orogen, which evolved on the basis of the Yangtze craton. The correlation between provenances and tectonostratigraphic strata of the western Yangtze craton shows that the source materials should be primarily from Neoproterozoic. Secondary sources were Archean and Paleoproterozoic strata. Triassic clastic sedimentary rocks contain Late Paleozoic mantle-derived materials, represented by the Emeishan Permian flood basalts. Spatial distribution of initial Nd isotopic compositions indicates that denudating areas were in the east and the north and depositing areas of deep water were in the west and the south for the Ganzi-Songpan basin during Triassic.

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Correspondence to Chen Yuelong.

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Translated from Geology in China, 2006, 33(1): 109–118 [译自: 中国地质]

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Chen, Y., Liu, F., Zhang, H. et al. Elemental and Sm-Nd isotopic geochemistry on detrital sedimentary rocks in the Ganzi-Songpan block and Longmen Mountains. Front. Earth Sci. China 1, 60–68 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-007-0009-2

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