Provenance and paleogeography of the Late Cretaceous Mengyejing Formation, Simao Basin, southeastern Tibetan Plateau: Whole-rock geochemistry, U–Pb geochronology, and Hf isotopic constraints

Abstract The Late Cretaceous Mengyejing Formation, which contains the only pre-Quaternary potash salt deposit in the Simao Basin, southeastern Tibet, is thought to be genetically related to the Maha Sarakham Formation in the Khorat Basin. The provenance and paleogeography of these two basins have been under debate, although little diagnostic evidence has been previously published. A combined analysis of whole rock geochemistry, zircon U–Pb chronology, and Hf isotopic compositions was performed to characterize the provenance of the Mengyejing Formation. These formation's sandstones are characterized by moderate chemical index of alteration (CIA) values. These values, together with plots of the Th/U–Th ratios, suggest that certain samples have undergone moderate weathering and sedimentary recycling. The major and trace elements (La/Th–Hf, Th/Sc–Zr/Sc, Eu/Eu*–Th/Sc, TiO 2 –Fe 2 O 3 T  + MgO, Al 2 O 3 /SiO 2 –Fe 2 O 3 T  + MgO, K 2 O/Na 2 O–SiO 2 ) indicate that the sedimentary sources were felsic rocks from an active continental margin or continental arc with a minor amount of recycled sediment from a passive continental margin. The Mengyejing Formation contains detrital zircons primarily with U–Pb ages of 2.45–2.57 Ga, 1.8–1.9 Ga, 740–880 Ma, 410–470 Ma, and 215–300 Ma. The results reveal that the pre-Devonian zircons are derived from the recycled sediments of the Yangtze block originating in the Qinling Orogenic Belt, and they share this provenance with the coeval sediments in the Khorat Basin. The magmatic rocks of the Ailaoshan and Lincang areas are responsible for supplying the Devonian to Triassic detrital zircons. These provenance data combined with published paleocurrent results suggest that the Simao Basin was situated on the western margin of the Khorat Basin during the Late Cretaceous. The basins were connected when marine incursion occurred. We propose that pre-Devonian materials from the southwestern Sichuan Basin first supplied detritus to the Simao Basin and subsequently to the Khorat Basin.