New evidence from heavy minerals and detrital zircons in Quaternary fluvial sediments for the evolution of the upper Yangtze River, South China

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Authors

  • Hengxu Huang
  • Fang Xiang
  • Deyan Zhang
  • Yuming Guo
  • Qi Yang
  • Li Ding

Research Organisations

External Research Organisations

  • Chengdu University of Technology
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Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)162-181
Number of pages20
JournalQuaternary Research (United States)
Volume113
Early online date29 May 2023
Publication statusPublished - May 2023

Abstract

In the Three Gorges and adjacent areas, there are three planation surfaces and five terraces along the Yangtze River that record the evolution history of the river system. Here, we used diagnostic heavy minerals, U-Pb geochronology, and trace elements of detrital zircons from one planation surface, two terraces, and a modern point bar to reconstruct the evolution history of the upper Yangtze River, specifically the Chuan River in the Sichuan Basin. The sediments in the lowest planation surface had different felsic source rocks derived from east of the Three Gorges, which indicated that before the disintegration of the lowest planation surface (0.75 Ma), there were two paleorivers: the westward-flowing paleo-Chuan River and eastward-flowing paleo-Yangtze River separated by the Huangling Dome. At 0.75-0.73 Ma, the dominant detrital zircons from the Sichuan Basin in the sediments of terrace T5 (the highest terrace) confirmed that the paleo-Yangtze River cut through the Three Gorges and captured the paleo-Chuan River, and the Daliang Mountains became the new drainage divide. Finally, the appearance of materials from the upper Jinsha River in terrace T2 indicated that the paleo-Yangtze River progressively captured the paleo-Jinsha River, and the modern upper Yangtze River formed before 0.05 Ma. These river capture events of the upper Yangtze River confirmed the Quaternary uplift of the SE Tibetan Plateau.

Keywords

    Heavy minerals, Neotectonics, Paleo-Chuan River, Provenance analyses, Quaternary drainage evolution, SE Tibetan Plateau, Three Gorges formation, Upper Yangtze River, Zircon trace element, Zircon U-Pb chronology

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New evidence from heavy minerals and detrital zircons in Quaternary fluvial sediments for the evolution of the upper Yangtze River, South China. / Huang, Hengxu; Xiang, Fang; Zhang, Deyan et al.
In: Quaternary Research (United States), Vol. 113, 05.2023, p. 162-181.

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title = "New evidence from heavy minerals and detrital zircons in Quaternary fluvial sediments for the evolution of the upper Yangtze River, South China",
abstract = "In the Three Gorges and adjacent areas, there are three planation surfaces and five terraces along the Yangtze River that record the evolution history of the river system. Here, we used diagnostic heavy minerals, U-Pb geochronology, and trace elements of detrital zircons from one planation surface, two terraces, and a modern point bar to reconstruct the evolution history of the upper Yangtze River, specifically the Chuan River in the Sichuan Basin. The sediments in the lowest planation surface had different felsic source rocks derived from east of the Three Gorges, which indicated that before the disintegration of the lowest planation surface (0.75 Ma), there were two paleorivers: the westward-flowing paleo-Chuan River and eastward-flowing paleo-Yangtze River separated by the Huangling Dome. At 0.75-0.73 Ma, the dominant detrital zircons from the Sichuan Basin in the sediments of terrace T5 (the highest terrace) confirmed that the paleo-Yangtze River cut through the Three Gorges and captured the paleo-Chuan River, and the Daliang Mountains became the new drainage divide. Finally, the appearance of materials from the upper Jinsha River in terrace T2 indicated that the paleo-Yangtze River progressively captured the paleo-Jinsha River, and the modern upper Yangtze River formed before 0.05 Ma. These river capture events of the upper Yangtze River confirmed the Quaternary uplift of the SE Tibetan Plateau.",
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author = "Hengxu Huang and Fang Xiang and Deyan Zhang and Yuming Guo and Qi Yang and Li Ding",
note = "Funding Information: This study was supported by the Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41972101, 41572093, 41072083). ",
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TY - JOUR

T1 - New evidence from heavy minerals and detrital zircons in Quaternary fluvial sediments for the evolution of the upper Yangtze River, South China

AU - Huang, Hengxu

AU - Xiang, Fang

AU - Zhang, Deyan

AU - Guo, Yuming

AU - Yang, Qi

AU - Ding, Li

N1 - Funding Information: This study was supported by the Project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 41972101, 41572093, 41072083).

PY - 2023/5

Y1 - 2023/5

N2 - In the Three Gorges and adjacent areas, there are three planation surfaces and five terraces along the Yangtze River that record the evolution history of the river system. Here, we used diagnostic heavy minerals, U-Pb geochronology, and trace elements of detrital zircons from one planation surface, two terraces, and a modern point bar to reconstruct the evolution history of the upper Yangtze River, specifically the Chuan River in the Sichuan Basin. The sediments in the lowest planation surface had different felsic source rocks derived from east of the Three Gorges, which indicated that before the disintegration of the lowest planation surface (0.75 Ma), there were two paleorivers: the westward-flowing paleo-Chuan River and eastward-flowing paleo-Yangtze River separated by the Huangling Dome. At 0.75-0.73 Ma, the dominant detrital zircons from the Sichuan Basin in the sediments of terrace T5 (the highest terrace) confirmed that the paleo-Yangtze River cut through the Three Gorges and captured the paleo-Chuan River, and the Daliang Mountains became the new drainage divide. Finally, the appearance of materials from the upper Jinsha River in terrace T2 indicated that the paleo-Yangtze River progressively captured the paleo-Jinsha River, and the modern upper Yangtze River formed before 0.05 Ma. These river capture events of the upper Yangtze River confirmed the Quaternary uplift of the SE Tibetan Plateau.

AB - In the Three Gorges and adjacent areas, there are three planation surfaces and five terraces along the Yangtze River that record the evolution history of the river system. Here, we used diagnostic heavy minerals, U-Pb geochronology, and trace elements of detrital zircons from one planation surface, two terraces, and a modern point bar to reconstruct the evolution history of the upper Yangtze River, specifically the Chuan River in the Sichuan Basin. The sediments in the lowest planation surface had different felsic source rocks derived from east of the Three Gorges, which indicated that before the disintegration of the lowest planation surface (0.75 Ma), there were two paleorivers: the westward-flowing paleo-Chuan River and eastward-flowing paleo-Yangtze River separated by the Huangling Dome. At 0.75-0.73 Ma, the dominant detrital zircons from the Sichuan Basin in the sediments of terrace T5 (the highest terrace) confirmed that the paleo-Yangtze River cut through the Three Gorges and captured the paleo-Chuan River, and the Daliang Mountains became the new drainage divide. Finally, the appearance of materials from the upper Jinsha River in terrace T2 indicated that the paleo-Yangtze River progressively captured the paleo-Jinsha River, and the modern upper Yangtze River formed before 0.05 Ma. These river capture events of the upper Yangtze River confirmed the Quaternary uplift of the SE Tibetan Plateau.

KW - Heavy minerals

KW - Neotectonics

KW - Paleo-Chuan River

KW - Provenance analyses

KW - Quaternary drainage evolution

KW - SE Tibetan Plateau

KW - Three Gorges formation

KW - Upper Yangtze River

KW - Zircon trace element

KW - Zircon U-Pb chronology

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U2 - 10.1017/qua.2022.58

DO - 10.1017/qua.2022.58

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85160950481

VL - 113

SP - 162

EP - 181

JO - Quaternary Research (United States)

JF - Quaternary Research (United States)

SN - 0033-5894

ER -