Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

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Journal of Asian Earth Sciences

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Provenance and tectonic settings of Permian turbidites from the BeishanMountains, NW China: Implications for the Late Paleozoic accretionarytectonics of the southern Altaids

Qianqian Guo a,b, Wenjiao Xiao a,⇑, Brian F. Windley c, Qigui Mao d, Chunming Han a, Junfeng Qu a,Songjian Ao a, Jiliang Li a,b, Dongfang Song a,b, Yong Yong a

a State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, Chinab Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, Chinac Department of Geology, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UKd Beijing Institute of Geology for Mineral Resources, Beijing 100012, China

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history:Available online 12 April 2011

Keywords:Beishan MountainsPermian turbiditesGeochemistryProvenanceTectonic settingSouthern Altaids

1367-9120/$ - see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. Adoi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.03.013

⇑ Corresponding author. Fax: +86 10 6201 0846.E-mail address: wj-xiao@mail.igcas.ac.cn (W. Xiao

The Beishan orogenic belt, which connects the Tianshan suture on the west and Solonker suture on theeast, contains key evidence for the termination time of the southern Altaids. Critical for evaluating differ-ent controversial tectonic models are Permian marine volcaniclastic arenites in the Liuyuan and Hei-shankou areas, which are dominated by greywackes and lenticular pebbly litharenites that containgrading, groove marks, and erosional bases, which provide evidence of turbidity action. Sandstones fromthe Liuyuan section are dominated by angular basaltic, andesitic, and feldspar fragments, but sandstonesfrom the Heishankou section mainly consist of andesitic and felsic volcanic fragments. These relationssuggest derivation from two different sources. Major element compositions suggest that the source rocksof the Heishankou litharenites were more SiO2-rich than those at Liuyuan. Sandstones at Heishankou arecharacterized by lower Ni–Co–Cr–V and slightly higher Th and La contents than those at Liuyuan. Thisindicates that the litharenites in the Liuyuan and Heishankou areas were derived from intermediate-mafic and intermediate-felsic source rocks, respectively. Tectonic setting discrimination plots suggestthat the Liuyuan sandstones were deposited as detritus from an oceanic island arc, but the Heishankousediments from an Andean continental margin. Our petrological and geochemical data from these twotypes of Permian turbidites suggest that an arc-continent collision took place in the Early Permian, andthis is consistent with the Permian termination of the southern Altaids.

� 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction

Accretionary orogens and continental growth are major currenttopics of geodynamic research (Condie, 2005; Cawood and Buchan,2007; Kröner et al., 2007, 2008; Cawood et al., 2009; Condie et al.,2009). The Altaids (or Central Asian Orogenic Belt), situated be-tween the Siberian and Russian Cratons to the north and Tarimand North China Cratons to the south, is one of the largest accre-tionary orogenic collages in the world with the highest rate ofPhanerozoic continental growth and significant metallogenicimportance (S�engör et al., 1993; Han et al., 1997, 2004; Jahnet al., 2000, 2004; Wang et al., 2007; Windley et al., 2007; Hanet al., 2009; Xiao et al., 2009, 2010a,b; Su et al., 2011). However,despite its importance, there is little consensus about the tectonichistory of the Altaids. A long-standing international controversy

ll rights reserved.

).

focuses on whether the subduction-related orogenesis of the Alta-ids terminated in the Devonian (Zuo et al., 1990a, 1990b, 2003;Songnian et al., 1999; Xu et al., 2001; Kheraskova et al., 2003) orCarboniferous–Permian (Zhang, 1993; Liu and Wang, 1995; Wanet al., 2006; Briggs et al., 2007; Jian et al., 2008, 2010; Mao,2008; Li et al., 2009a; Safonova et al., 2009; Zhang et al., 2009;Ao et al., 2010; Biske and Seltmann, 2010; Rojas-Agramonteet al., 2011; Wainwright et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2011).

The Beishan Mountains, located in the central southern Altaids,connects the Tianshan orogen and suture on the west with the Sol-onker orogen and suture on the east, in which most previous stud-ies were made (Fig. 1a). Therefore Beishan is in a critical centralposition to provide further information on this terminationproblem.

Most previous studies were based on Ordovician–Silurian igne-ous rocks (Zuo et al., 1990a, 1990b, 2003; Zhang, 1993; Mao, 2008;Li et al., 2009a; Li et al., 2009b, 2010), but the tectonic significanceof Permian turbiditic clastic sediments were largely neglected, in

Fig. 1. (a) Location of the Beishan Mountains in the Altaids (after Xiao et al., 2009). (b) Simplified tectonic framework of the Beishan Mountains and location of the study area(after Xiao et al., 2009, 2010b). (c) Geological map of the study area (after Li et al., 2009b).

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 55

spite of the fact that they can define potential source areas andprovide important paleotectonic information on the southernAltaids.

The geochemical character of sediments is a function of a com-plex interplay of many factors such as the tectonic setting, prove-nance, weathering, transportation, and diagenesis, but the tectonicsetting is the primary control on the composition of sedimentaryrocks (Pettijohn et al., 1972; Yan et al., 2006a, 2010; Ranjan andBanerjee, 2009; Meng et al., 2011; Oliveira et al., in press; Samuelet al., 2011), and many of these factors have been used to evaluatethe provenance and tectonic setting of sedimentary basins world-wide (Bhatia, 1983, 1985a,b; Bhatia and Crook, 1986; Roser andKorsch, 1986, 1988; McLennan, 1989; McLennan et al., 1990; Con-die et al., 1992, 2001; Fang et al., 2003; Das et al., 2006; Yan et al.,2006a,b, 2007, 2010; Dostal and Keppie, 2009).

Subduction–accretion complexes and magmatic arcs are domi-nant in the Altaid orogenic collage (S�engör et al., 1993; Xiao et al.,2010a,b). Permian clastic turbidites are important components ofthe Altaid subduction–accretion complexes, and therefore their pet-rological and geochemical characters are vital to construct the accre-tionary history of the Altaids and to evaluate existing models.

In this paper, we shall define the provenance and tectonic set-ting of Permian clastic turbidites in the Liuyuan and Heishankouareas from their petrological and geochemical data, and then

discuss the geodynamic evolution of the southern margin of theAltaids.

2. Geological setting

The major tectonic units of the Beishan Mountains (Fig. 1a) con-tain the Liuyuan complex, arcs, ophiolites, and possibly micro-con-tinents, which are all bounded by brittle faults and/or ductile shearbelts (Fig. 1b) (Zuo et al., 1990a; Hsü et al., 1992; Liu and Wang,1995; Nie et al., 2002; Mao, 2008; Mao et al., 2011; Xiao et al.,2010b). The Liuyuan subduction–accretionary complex, which issituated between the Huaniushan and Shibanshan arcs on thesouthern margin of the Beishan Mountains (Fig. 1b), consists ofsedimentary, mafic–ultramafic, and metamorphic blocks in aPermian turbidite matrix. The mafic, ultramafic and metamorphicblocks are dominated by basalt, gabbro, diabase, metabasalt, ser-pentinized peridotite, serpentinite and eclogite. The basalt blocksare massive or pillowed and have a MORB or island arc chemicalsignature (Mao, 2008); the eclogite blocks in the Gubaoquan areapredominantly have arc or E-MORB basalt protoliths (Mei et al.,1998; Liu et al., 2002; Qu et al., 2011).

The Permian turbidites in the Liuyuan area, defined as the ZhesiGroup (Gansu BGMR), are subdivided into two units based on their

Fig. 2. Field photographs illustrating characteristic features of the Permian turbidites from the Heishankou and Liuyuan areas. (a) Bouma sequences in Liuyuan turbidite. Ahammer for scale. (b) Greywacke with normal-graded bedding and an erosional base. A pencil for scale. (c) Lenticular fine-graded conglomerate interbedded with siltymudstone. A coin for scale. (d) Convolute bedding in silty mudstone. A pencil for scale. (e) Synsedimentary conglomerates with slumps. A coin for scale. (f) Massive siltstonewith an erosional base. A coin as scale. (g) Pebbly arkose with an erosional base and arrows point to the boundary. (h) Oblique bedding in siltstone with cross-beddingbeneath; the boundary between them is 2.2 cm from the bottom. a–e from the Liuyuan section, and f and g from the Heishankou area.

56 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 57

rock assemblages. The lower unit, named the Shuangbaotang For-mation that crops out in the Liuyuan, Heishankou and Xiadong areas(Fig. 1c), consists of gray, coarse- and fine-grained sandstones withconglomerate interlayers. Normal grading, parallel lamination andload casts (Fig. 2) are common and typical of turbidites (Bouma,1962). Sedimentary structures, such as load casts, erosional basesand convoluted laminae, are well developed in the Heishankou area,in spite of deformation (Wang, 2004). In the Liuyuan area faults havecommonly cut the turbidites into slices. In the south of the Liuyuanarea the Jushitan Formation that overlies the Shuangbaotang Forma-tion is dominated by pillow lavas (Fig. 1c).

The calcareous sandstones and lenticular limestones of the Shu-angbaotang Formation contain Early Permian Spiriferellasaranae(Verneuil), Kochiproductus porretus (Kutorga), Waagenoconcha sp.,Neospirifer sp., and Athyris sp. (Gansu BGMR, 1966; Liao and Liu,2003). Early Permian fossils of Stenodiscus sp., Stenoporidae, Crinoidstem, and Stenopara are also found in the Jushitan Formation (Gan-su BGMR, 1966). A gabbro pluton in the Jushitan Formation yields aLA-ICPMS zircon U–Pb age of 285 ± 1 Ma (Mao, 2008), suggesting aminimum age for the Zhesi Group.

3. Sedimentary characteristics of Permian turbidites

In the Liuyuan area the Permian turbidites consist of coarse-grained sandstones siltstones silty mudstones limestones and peb-bly sandstones with some conglomerates. Generally, coarse-grainedsandstone and conglomerate beds are lenticular, and 40–200 cmthick. The conglomerates and sandstones are characterized by chan-nel deposits, and coarse-grained sandstones have erosional basesthat have incised underlying siltstones or thin-bedded limestones.Generally, coarse-grained sandstone or pebbly sandstone beds shownormal grading, typical of high-concentration, turbidity currentdeposits (Lowe, 1982), although they are lenticular in outcrop. Asso-ciated turbidites generally display Tab Bouma divisions. Siltstonesare massive with normal grading and erosional bases (Fig. 2f);bed-thickness generally ranges from 0.8 to 18 cm (Fig. 2a). Some silt-stones also show parallel lamination, small ripples and convolutedlaminae (Fig. 2a and d). Beds of silty mudstones and limestonesare thinner and characterized by parallel laminae (Fig. 2a–c), andgenerally display Tab, Tabc and Tabcd Bouma sequences, typical ofproximal turbidites (Pickering et al., 1986).

In contrast, the Heishankou section is dominated by fine-grained, sandstone turbidites (Fig. 2h), which are generally typicaldistal turbidites that display Tbcd and minor Tabc Bouma se-quences. Mudstones with parallel laminae overlie pebbly siltstoneswith an erosional base (Fig. 2g).

4. Samples and analytical methods

Sixty-two clastic rocks were collected from the Liuyuan andHeishankou sections (Fig. 1c), and examined under the microscopeto select relatively unaltered samples for geochemical analysis.Twenty-seven representative and relatively fresh sandstones wereselected to determine their geochemical composition and definetheir tectonic setting.

Major elements were analyzed by standard X-ray fluorescence(XRF) on fused glass beads at the Institute of Geology and Geophys-ics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Trace elements wereanalyzed with a VG PQ Excel ICP-MS, also at the Institute of Geol-ogy and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing. Weused pure elemental standards for external calibration, and graniteand basalt as reference materials for all analyses. Accuracy of theXRF analyses is estimated to be better than 1% for major oxidespresent in concentrations greater than 0.5 wt.%. The ICP-MS analy-ses have accuracies better than 2.5%.

5. Petrological and geochemical character of the Permianturbidites

5.1. Petrology

The sandstones of the Permian turbidites from the Liuyuan sec-tion are mostly medium-grained (�0.5 mm), poorly sorted andcontain angular grains of very low sphericity (Fig. 3a) that aremainly feldspar and lithic fragments. Quartz is relatively minorand is generally subangular to angular, mostly monocrystallineand lacks inclusions and undulatory extinction. Angular feldsparis the dominant mineral fragment, which is partly altered to sau-ssurite and sericite. Plagioclase is far more common than alkalifeldspar (Fig. 3a). Lithic fragments are predominantly basalts andandesites with microlithic textures, although minor cherts and gra-nitic lithic fragments are also present (Fig. 3b and c). Additionally,there are some volcanic fragments with a felsitic texture (Fig. 3c).

In the Heishankou section the sandstones are dominated byfine-grained (0.2 mm), poorly angular to subangular clasts, mainlyconsisting of feldspar, lithic fragments, and some quartz. Thequartz is generally subangular, mostly polycrystalline, and lackssutured grain boundaries (Fig. 3e); some monocrystalline quartzhas undulose extinction. Lithic fragments are dominated by rhyo-lite and andesite with felsitic and microlitic textures (Fig. 3d andf), although basaltic and metamorphic varieties are also present(Fig. 3e).

Sparse heavy minerals include magnetite, zircon, titanite, horn-blende and pyroxene, most of which are angular to subangular,although some are well-rounded. The matrix of the sandstones,which consists of clay minerals, comminuted and altered lithicand feldspathic fragments, commonly makes up between 5% and15% volume, but that may be an overestimate due to the pseudom-atrix problem (Dickinson, 1970).

5.2. Geochemistry

5.2.1. Major elementsThe major elements of the turbidites are listed in Table 1. The

contents of SiO2 and the ratios of K2O/Na2O of turbidites fromthe Heishankou section are higher than those of the Liuyuansection. The average SiO2 content and K2O/Na2O ratio of theHeishankou samples are 71.76 wt.% (ranging from 68.19 to74.60 wt.%) and 1.18 (0.75–1.89) respectively, whereas the averageSiO2 content and K2O/Na2O ratio of the Liuyuan samples are62.55 wt.% (ranging from 55.61 to 68.08 wt.%) and 0.31 (0.21–0.45) respectively. The ratio of K2O/Na2O is controlled by the rela-tive proportion of K-feldspar to albitic plagioclase, whereas thecontent of SiO2 is controlled by the abundance of quartz. This sug-gests that there is less quartz and K-feldspar in the Liuyuan turbi-dites, which may be a result of less felsic rocks in the provenance;this is in accordance with the petrological analysis.

Al2O3 ranges from 11.42 wt.% to 16.29 wt.%, and the variation isless systematic between the Liuyuan and Heishankou sandstones.This could be due to the CaO dilution effect, because the CaO con-tent is much higher in sample 8LY1-35, which causes the overlap.Fe2OT

3 shows a negative correlation with SiO2, except when thecontent of Al2O3 is significantly low.

Major elements are commonly employed in the chemical classi-fication of sedimentary rocks, and to differentiate between matureand immature sediments (Pettijohn and Potter, 1972; Herron,1988). The ratio of SiO2/Al2O3 reflects the abundance of quartz aswell as the clay and feldspar content (Potter, 1978). The ratio ofNa2O/K2O is an index of chemical maturity (Pettijohn and Potter,1972), but the ratio of Fe2O3/K2O allows a better classification ofarkoses and is also a measure of mineral stability (Herron, 1988).

Fig. 3. Photomicrographs (cross-polarized light) of different types of clasts, as important source-rock indicators in Permian sandstones of the Liuyuan and Heishankou areas.(a) Angular feldspar and volcanic lithic fragments with intergranular textures. (b) Angular granitic lithic fragments and porphyraceous volcanic lithic fragments. (c) Maficvolcanic lithic fragments with porphyritic and intergranular textures. (d) A piece of altered perthite. (e) Monocrystalline quartz with undulose extinction, and volcanic lithicfragments with microcryptocrystalline and porphyritic textures. (f) Subangular felsic lithic fragments with intergranular and porphyritic textures. a–c from the Liuyuansection, and d–f from the Heishankou section. Abbreviations: P, plagioclase; Lv, volcanic lithic fragment; Lg, granitic lithic fragment; Ls, sedimentary lithic fragment.

58 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

Using these parameters for our studied samples, we have plottedthe compositions in classification diagrams (Pettijohn and Potter,1972; Herron, 1988), and found that the samples from the Liuyuansection are graywackes or wackes, while those from theHeishankou section are litharenites or arkoses (Fig. 4). This sug-gests that the samples from the Liuyuan section are less matureand nearer to the source than the sandstones from the Heishankousection, which is also indicated by sandstone petrology (Fig. 3).

5.2.2. Trace elementsThe compositions of the trace and rare earth elements of the

turbidites are shown in Table 2. The Heishankou sandstones are ri-cher in most of the trace elements than the Liuyuan sandstones(e.g. Rb, Th, and La) (Fig. 5a). In comparison with average uppercontinental crust (UCC), the concentrations are lower except forNi, Cr and V in the Liuyuan sandstones (Fig. 5a). The immobile

element contents of the Heishankou sandstones are close to thoseof the UCC except for the negative Sr and Nb anomalies, which maydue to the immaturity of the sandstones (Fig. 5a).

5.2.3. Rare earth elementsExcept for sample 8AL01-1 with its high content of rare earth

elements (REEs), the contents of REEs in the Liuyuan samples rangefrom 59.96 ppm to 86.40 ppm, which are lower than those of theHeishankou samples that range from 90.01 ppm to 167.41 ppm;they are both lower than that of North America shale (�170;Gromet et al., 1984). The ratios of LHEE/HREE of the Liuyuan andHeishankou sandstones are 5.18–6.59 and 7.59–12.12, respec-tively. Ratios of La/Yb for the Liuyuan sandstones are between6.54 and 8.87, but for the Heishankou sandstones they range from11.87 to 22.70. On the post-Archean Australian shale (PAAS) nor-malized plot, Liuyuan samples show a steep-dip pattern with small

Table 1Major element compositions (wt.%) of the turbidites.

Sample number SiO2 TiO2 Al2O3 Fe2OT3

MnO MgO CaO Na2O K2O P2O5 LOI Total FeO

Liuyuan turbidites 8LY1-01 59.32 0.62 14.55 4.74 0.07 3.32 6.87 3.84 1.19 0.11 5.43 100.07 1.658LY1-02 63.67 0.61 15.68 4.59 0.06 3.00 3.24 5.06 1.05 0.12 2.84 99.92 3.388LY1-03 63.41 0.64 15.68 4.92 0.07 3.53 3.32 4.24 1.35 0.12 2.82 100.09 2.898LY1-04 62.49 0.58 15.82 4.83 0.06 3.28 3.55 4.70 1.38 0.10 2.94 99.73 2.878LY1-05 63.36 0.61 15.98 4.48 0.06 3.05 3.3 4.98 1.30 0.11 2.68 99.97 2.798LY1-07 62.64 0.59 16.21 4.05 0.06 2.57 4.54 4.29 1.30 0.10 3.72 100.06 2.698LY1-11 63.10 0.65 16.04 5.04 0.06 2.95 2.89 4.08 1.53 0.13 3.55 100.02 2.728LY1-14 55.61 0.66 15.60 5.31 0.11 3.20 6.99 3.88 1.55 0.12 6.68 99.71 3.008LY1-17 63.45 0.67 14.92 5.44 0.06 4.06 2.67 4.26 1.18 0.12 3.14 99.98 3.558LY1-22 62.87 0.66 16.29 5.36 0.06 3.32 2.23 4.59 1.59 0.11 3.10 100.20 3.188LY1-23 62.57 0.62 15.95 4.80 0.06 3.10 3.36 4.54 1.52 0.11 3.55 100.20 2.878LY1-25 63.91 0.63 15.86 4.92 0.07 2.99 2.16 4.72 1.19 0.11 2.98 99.56 3.138LY1-32 62.49 0.58 15.92 4.97 0.06 3.47 3.45 4.66 1.03 0.14 3.14 99.90 3.218LY1-35 56.39 0.62 12.45 4.71 0.07 3.24 10.08 2.95 1.32 0.11 8.19 100.13 2.938LY1-39 63.18 0.59 15.69 4.76 0.06 3.38 2.71 4.70 1.25 0.11 3.60 100.03 3.028LY5-2.1 66.80 0.52 15.46 3.42 0.05 1.99 2.20 4.72 1.64 0.09 2.74 99.63 2.008LY5-2.2 68.08 0.56 14.91 3.41 0.05 1.95 2.19 4.65 1.45 0.10 2.62 99.97 1.84

Heishankou turbidites 8AL01-1 69.79 0.85 13.16 3.61 0.05 1.35 2.33 1.89 3.57 0.11 3.39 100.12 1.898AL01-2 68.19 0.66 14.44 4.12 0.05 1.74 1.66 2.11 3.54 0.12 3.16 99.79 2.318AL01-3 74.60 0.33 11.67 2.23 0.02 1.01 1.99 2.26 2.73 0.07 2.98 99.89 1.168AL01-4 70.62 0.60 12.81 3.56 0.06 1.37 2.28 2.37 2.89 0.10 3.02 99.69 2.248AL01-5 73.91 0.33 11.96 2.40 0.05 1.09 2.15 2.54 2.34 0.08 3.16 100.00 1.528AL01-6 73.79 0.33 11.89 2.32 0.04 1.06 2.23 2.46 2.41 0.08 3.26 99.87 1.528AL01-7 70.80 0.41 13.27 3.12 0.05 1.37 2.40 2.85 2.39 0.10 3.37 100.12 2.218AL01-8 69.65 0.61 13.53 3.65 0.06 1.64 2.24 2.97 2.23 0.11 3.35 100.05 2.558AL02-1 73.99 0.38 11.42 2.55 0.04 0.97 2.42 1.93 2.64 0.07 3.26 99.67 1.648AL02-2 72.24 0.48 12.09 3.16 0.05 1.25 2.46 2.46 2.32 0.09 3.48 100.07 2.02

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 59

positive Eu anomalies in contrast to those of the Heishankou sam-ples (Fig. 5c). The chondrite-normalized pattern of the Heishankousamples shows a higher LREE and more pronounced negative Euanomaly than the Liuyuan samples (Fig. 5d).

Log

(Fe 2

O3/K

2O)

Log (SiO2/Al2O3)

2

210-1

0

1Fe-shale Fe-sandstone

shale

wack

e

litharenite

arkose subarkose

sublitharenitequartz arenite

-1

quar

tz ar

enite

subl

ithar

enitesuba

rkos

e

arkose

lithar

enite

greyw

acke

0

1

Log

(Na 2

O/K

2O)

(a)

(b)

Fig. 4. Chemical classification diagrams discriminating sediments according totheir logarithmic ratios of SiO2/Al2O3 vs. Na2O/K2O (a; after Pettijohn et al., 1972)and Fe2O3/K2O (b; after Herron, 1988). Circles and triangles represent the Liuyuanand Heishankou sandstones, respectively.

6. Discussion and conclusions

6.1. Weathering and sediment recycling

The chemistry of sedimentary rocks is generally dominated bytheir source composition, but this is also modified by weathering,transportation, diagenesis and metamorphism. Therefore, thechemical composition of rocks can provide important informationon weathering conditions in the source area and recycling andmaturity during transportation.

The chemical index of alteration of Nesbitt and Young (1982) isa common method of quantifying the degree of source area weath-ering. With the exception of three samples (8LY1-01, 8LY1-14,8LY1-35), the chemical index of alteration values of the analyzedsamples range from 49 to 60, which indicates a low to moderatedegree of chemical wreathing of the source area. On the Al2O3–(CaO + Na2O)–K2O (A–CN–K) molecular proportion diagram ofNesbitt and Young (1982), the analyzed Heishankou sandstoneshave a narrow distribution (Fig. 6a), which indicates a steady stateweathering. The degree of weathering of the Liuyuan sandstones isquite variable, with each sample showing scatter throughout thetrends (Fig. 6a), indicating non-steady state weathering conditions,where active tectonism permits erosion of all zones within weath-ering profiles developed on the source rocks (Nesbitt et al., 1997).

Garcia et al. (1994) proposed an Al2O3–TiO2–Hf ternary diagramto distinguish the influence of sorting processes, and to provideinformation on the concentration of zircon in sandstones. On thisdiagram, the sandstone samples from the Heishankou sectionshow a wide range of TiO2–Hf variations suggesting extensive sort-ing of the sediments, but the sandstones from the Liuyuan sectionshow a narrow range of TiO2–Hf suggesting a poor sorting andcompositional immaturity (Fig. 6b). In fact, the sandstones in theHeishankou section are dominantly fine-grained, but those of theLiuyuan section are mainly coarse-grained.

Some trace element parameters, such as Th/U, Th/Sc, Zr/Sc andLa/Th are also useful to discriminate between compositional varia-tion, the degree of sediment recycling, and heavy mineral sorting

Table 2Trace and rare earth element compositions (ppm) of the turbidites.

Samplenumber

Heishankou turbidites Liuyuan turbidites

8AL01-1

8AL01-2

8AL01-3

8AL01-4

8AL01-5

8AL01-6

8AL01-7

8AL01-8

8AL02-1

8AL02-2

8LY1-01

8LY1-02

8LY1-03

8LY1-04

Sc 12.76 13.76 7.42 10.75 7.73 7.37 9.07 11.86 8.14 9.84 14.42 13.48 13.39 12.79V 85.27 93.75 49.99 77.21 46.41 48.61 56.81 70.87 57.14 65.59 103.84 97.59 99.34 92.22Cr 49.98 63.13 29.08 43.74 34.28 30.42 35.54 44.79 34.34 41.14 117.09 88.95 89.32 90.78Co 8.39 10.65 5.26 8.98 5.83 5.96 9.01 9.34 5.91 6.74 14.87 12.68 14.7 12.92Ni 15.73 19.59 13.81 14.31 10.45 9.54 13.16 16.96 11.85 11.65 36.57 32.76 35.84 32.61Ga 18.26 19 13.54 16 12.64 13.82 16.08 17.96 14.58 15.34 15.8 17.17 16.7 16.59Rb 111.73 116.62 82.36 89.23 77.22 81.03 86.63 84.82 80.65 79.68 36.19 30.93 39.79 40.1Sr 113.32 136.77 117.86 150.98 152.11 149.86 226.39 190.59 139.61 183.95 336.07 289.89 331.77 279.31Y 33.03 21.86 13.43 19.87 13.89 16.47 17.9 29.93 16.85 20.01 13.55 14.52 15.39 14.69Zr 257.24 234.43 109.24 212.19 113.07 123.03 121.84 408.53 104.02 161.99 128.01 141.85 143.24 139.59Nb 12.78 10.58 6.13 9.33 5.16 6.04 7.37 10.8 7.4 8.43 4.84 5.07 5.33 5.34Cs 6.57 5.6 3.45 4.18 2.71 2.9 3.56 3.48 2.91 3.56 3.07 3.07 3.46 3.43Ba 474.91 539.82 443.02 511.67 443.14 469.51 446.7 427.15 488.59 433.06 228.9 201 240.33 267.21La 72.9 32.06 23.84 32.55 18.65 21.04 20.79 34.22 36.33 33.72 12.02 12.56 12.97 11.82Ce 140.67 61.99 43.56 63.36 36.42 39.6 41.82 71.37 66.04 66.29 22.6 25.37 26.16 24.8Pr 16.75 7.72 5.19 7.91 4.37 4.64 4.86 8.07 7.76 7.61 3.06 3.23 3.36 3.11Nd 61.74 29.41 19.51 28.73 16.45 16.86 18.04 28.68 27.62 28.71 12.09 12.93 13.26 11.97Sm 9.6 5.46 3.54 4.85 3.43 3.29 3.47 5.49 4.52 5.09 2.61 2.8 2.9 2.7Eu 1.61 1.19 0.8 1.06 0.79 0.81 0.85 1.09 0.9 1.11 0.77 0.81 0.85 0.77Gd 8.75 5.59 3.72 5.23 3.03 2.9 3.07 4.72 4.39 4.7 2.3 2.36 2.44 2.32Tb 1.15 0.77 0.49 0.71 0.46 0.46 0.51 0.81 0.6 0.68 0.39 0.41 0.42 0.41Dy 6.06 4.25 2.6 3.77 2.58 2.78 3.17 5.15 3.23 3.69 2.42 2.6 2.69 2.6Ho 1.27 0.83 0.51 0.78 0.52 0.57 0.63 1.06 0.64 0.75 0.5 0.54 0.57 0.56Er 3.58 2.33 1.48 2.17 1.41 1.57 1.76 3 1.75 2.11 1.43 1.54 1.56 1.54Tm 0.51 0.36 0.23 0.33 0.22 0.23 0.26 0.44 0.27 0.31 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.24Yb 3.21 2.35 1.48 2.19 1.45 1.48 1.65 2.88 1.79 2.02 1.42 1.46 1.46 1.51Lu 0.49 0.36 0.23 0.32 0.22 0.22 0.25 0.44 0.28 0.31 0.21 0.23 0.22 0.24Hf 6.65 5.92 2.93 5.38 3 3.31 3.34 10.45 2.99 4.32 3.33 3.81 3.87 3.79Pb 18.6 16.55 9.48 13.09 12.38 12.93 12.88 14.17 11.76 12.87 7.31 8.23 8.75 9.13Th 26.43 11.52 9.29 12.45 6.47 7.59 7.51 17.72 11.52 13.58 3.72 4.55 4.21 4.83U 4.24 2.74 1.29 1.99 1.34 1.52 1.7 2.27 1.54 1.9 1.26 1.36 1.18 1.33

Sample number Liuyuan turbidites

8LY1-05 8LY1-07 8LY1-11 8LY1-14 8LY1-17 8LY1-22 8LY1-23 8LY1-25 8LY1-32 8LY1-35 8LY1-39 8LY5-2.1 8LY5-2.2

Sc 13.64 11.77 13.83 16.15 16.79 15.41 13.6 13.01 13.88 13.54 12.06 9.94 9.71V 96.56 88.62 106 120.3 119.2 106.7 97 89.5 102.7 95.2 79.9 66 70Cr 98.46 476.95 92.5 152.7 156 133.8 102.1 101.8 89.1 102.8 78.7 63.8 77.6Co 16.73 17.27 11.73 22.24 18.41 14.89 13.72 12.67 15.12 17.52 11.5 9.67 10.54Ni 35.74 274.66 38.73 55.41 56.15 45.79 38.51 41 38.29 39.68 31.76 27.71 24.48Ga 16.65 16.39 17.6 17.13 16.28 16.88 15.97 15.99 17.8 13.95 13.69 14.67 14.94Rb 41.86 51.14 65.62 58.81 40.98 55.69 52.54 43.38 36.51 39.9 42 55.16 50.13Sr 343.16 249.5 275.5 360.4 344.3 359.1 318 301.8 256.3 316.5 325.4 415.9 403.4Y 12.93 15.33 18.67 16.21 15.51 17.08 15.1 15.33 16.87 14.27 14.26 13.98 14.56Zr 128.53 139.7 175.4 129 131.5 127.8 126.6 143 146.8 136.3 118.3 142.7 164.5Nb 4.83 5.79 6.71 5.23 5.32 5.21 4.92 5.09 5.62 4.78 4.5 5.45 5.77Cs 3.35 4.6 6.26 6.46 5.19 4.95 3.96 4.09 3.25 3.23 4.17 3.54 3.15Ba 254.42 162.26 197.7 252.4 215 253.3 247.3 203.3 199.8 302.9 242.5 338.6 345.5La 10.42 12.41 15.08 12.63 11.46 12.66 11.84 12.78 13.29 12.98 11.38 12.28 13.71Ce 21.54 25.61 32.28 26.09 25.46 26.95 24.78 25.37 28.08 25.31 22.74 26.31 28.6Pr 2.99 3.56 4.23 3.54 3.37 3.49 3.26 3.42 3.64 3.25 2.92 3.23 3.5Nd 12.17 14.15 17.06 14.34 13.73 14.54 12.98 13.91 14.33 12.66 12.22 12.89 14.11Sm 2.63 3.13 3.65 3.24 2.97 3.12 2.81 2.9 3.15 2.77 2.58 2.7 2.96Eu 0.87 0.83 0.89 0.92 0.83 0.87 0.81 0.86 0.93 0.86 0.71 0.8 0.83Gd 2.81 3.26 3.52 3.13 3.04 3.09 2.88 2.94 3 2.61 2.48 2.52 2.5Tb 0.41 0.5 0.58 0.5 0.49 0.5 0.46 0.47 0.49 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.43Dy 2.48 2.96 3.53 3.14 2.97 3.05 2.79 2.92 3.06 2.57 2.58 2.51 2.61Ho 0.5 0.59 0.74 0.63 0.62 0.64 0.57 0.61 0.64 0.54 0.55 0.51 0.54Er 1.4 1.71 2.08 1.76 1.74 1.79 1.64 1.76 1.79 1.51 1.54 1.46 1.55Tm 0.21 0.26 0.32 0.26 0.27 0.28 0.25 0.27 0.28 0.23 0.24 0.23 0.24Yb 1.34 1.71 2.13 1.68 1.75 1.77 1.68 1.72 1.8 1.47 1.52 1.47 1.57Lu 0.2 0.25 0.32 0.24 0.27 0.27 0.25 0.26 0.28 0.23 0.23 0.22 0.24Hf 3.25 3.88 4.57 3.55 3.52 3.45 3.38 3.72 3.98 3.53 3.3 3.91 4.5Pb 8.75 19.05 11.66 8.94 8.49 8.08 8.95 8.59 10.17 8.11 8.43 8.3 8.3Th 3.33 4.88 5.95 4.15 4.13 4.47 4.04 4.46 4.84 3.93 4.41 4.84 4.88U 0.96 1.42 2.15 1.23 1.27 1.41 1.29 1.4 1.4 1.11 1.16 1.33 1.39

60 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

(Floyd and Leveridge, 1987; McLennan et al., 1993). The Th/U ratioof the Liuyuan samples underlies the value for the UCC (�3.8;Taylor and McLennan, 1985), while the Heishankou samples over-lies the value for the UCC (Fig. 7c), suggesting that the Liuyuansandstones were derived from source rocks with less weathering

and/or from material with less recycling than the Heishankousandstones. A positive linear correction between the Th/Sc andZr/Sc ratios expresses an igneous differentiation trend (McLennanet al., 1993), although the Th/Sc ratio of analyzed samples rangesfrom 0.24 to 2.07 (Table 3) with a scatter in the compositional

Sam

ple/

Upp

er C

rust

Sam

ple/

Upp

er C

rust

0.01

0.1

1

10

OWP ACM PM OIA

(b)

K Rb Sr U P Cs Ba V Cr Ni Ta Nb Ti Hf Zr Y La Ce Sc ThYb

0.1

1

10

(a)

Sam

ple/

PAAS

La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu

Sam

ple/

Cho

ndrit

e

5

10

100

300

(c)

(d)

100

0.1

1

2

Liuyuan

Liuyuan

Liuyuan Heishankou

Heishankou

Heishankou

Fig. 5. Spider-diagrams and REE patterns of sandstones for the Liuyuan and Heishankou turbidites. (a) Normalized to average upper continental crustal values. (b) Expected29 values for comparison with passive margin (PM), active continental margin (ACM), oceanic within-plate (OWP) and continental island arc (OIA) settings. (c) REEnormalized to chondrite (d) and to PAAS.

shale

sandstone

CAS

SPG

sortin

g trend

(b)

illite

kaolinite, gibbsite,

chlorite

smec

ite

plag

iocla

se k-feldspar

%02%02

1

2

34

(a)

40

30

20

50

60

70

80

90

100CIA

15*Al2O3

36.2 × Hf 300 × TiO2

Al2O3 (mol.)

Na2O + CaO (mol.) K2O (mol.)

Fig. 6. (a) Al2O3–(CaO + Na2O)–K2O (A–CN–K) molecular proportion diagram (after Nesbitt and Young, 1982) for Beishan Permian turbidites. (b) Ternary plot ofAl2O3 � 15 � Hf � 36.2 � TiO2 � 300 for Beishan Permian turbidites (after Garcia et al., 1994). Arrow – weathering trend after Nesbitt and Young (1982). Open star – averageN-MORB (1; Sun and McDonough, 1989) and average granite (2; Nockolds, 1954) as well as the average upper continental crust (3) and the average of Post-Archean Australianshales (4) (after Taylor and McLennan, 1985) are shown for comparison. The CAS-field of calc-alkaline granites and the SPG-field of strongly peraluminous granites areindicated. Symbols as in Fig. 4.

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 61

variation line suggesting provenance differences (Fig. 7a). Thesecharacters are also reflected by a La/Th–Hf diagram (Floyd andLeveridge, 1987) (Fig. 7b), which indicates that all the Beishansediments have undergone a minor degree of weathering.

6.2. Source rocks of the Permian turbidites

The Permian turbidite sandstones are dominated by igneousfeldspars and lithic fragments suggesting derivation mainly fromvolcanic rocks. Petrological analysis indicates that intermediate-basic and intermediate-felsic volcanic rocks in the source arealikely provided detritus for the sediments in the Liuyuan and

Heishankou areas, respectively. Considering the relatively weakand non-steady state weathering in the source area, we infer thatthe sediments were supplied from a rapidly uplifted source area.This relation can also be inferred from an A–CN–K diagram(Fig. 6a).

The REEs and some immobile elements such as Cr, Co, Sc and Thare not seriously affected during sedimentary processes, as well aspost-depositional processes such as weathering, diagenesis andmetamorphism, and thus they can represent well-establishedprovenance indicators (Bhatia, 1985a; Taylor and McLennan,1985; McLennan, 1989; McLennan et al., 1990). Th and La abun-dances are higher in felsic than in mafic igneous source rocks

0

2

4

6

8

10

Th/U

Th (ppm)

Weatheringtrend

Depletedmantle sources

Upper crust

U grain

(a)

0.1

1

10Th

/Sc

com

posit

ional

varia

tion

zircon concentration

Zr/Sc

(sediment recycling)

La/T

h

Hf (ppm)

tholeiitic ocean island source

andesitic arc source

mixed felsic/mafic source

felsic arc source

increasing oldsediment component

passivemarginsource?

0.1 1 10 100

1 10 100 1000 5 10 15

5

10

15

PAASUCC NASC

00

(b)

(c)

Fig. 7. Discrimination diagrams illustrating weathering and sediment recycling. (a) Th/U vs. Th diagram (after McLennan et al., 1993). (b) Th/Sc vs. Zr/Sc diagram (afterMcLennan et al., 1993). (c) La/Th vs. Hf diagram (after Floyd and Leveridge, 1987). Symbols as in Fig. 4. PAAS and UCC values are from Taylor and McLennan (1985), and theNASC value is from Gromet et al. (1984).

Table 3Range of elemental ratios of the turbidites compared with ratios in similar fractions derived from felsic and mafic rocks (Cullers and Podkovyrov, 2000) and upper continentalcrust (Taylor and McLennan, 1985).

Liuyuan Heishankou Sediments from felsic source Sediments from mafic source Upper continental crust

Eu� 0.76–0.98 0.54–0.80 0.40–0.94 0.71–0.95 0.63La/Sc 0.68–1.41 2.29–5.71 2.50–16.3 0.43–0.86 2.21Th/Sc 0.24–0.50 0.83–2.07 0.84–20.5 0.05–0.22 0.79La/Co 0.57–1.30 2.31–8.69 1.80–13.8 0.14–0.38 1.76Th/Co 0.19–0.51 0.83–3.15 0.67–19.4 0.04–1.40 0.63Th/Cr 0.01–0.08 0.18–0.53 0.067–4.0 0.002–0.045 0.13

62 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

and in their weathered products, whereas Co, Sc, and Cr are moreconcentrated in mafic than felsic igneous rocks and their weath-ered products. In addition, the Eu anomaly in clastic sediments isa good fingerprint of source rock characterization. Eu anomaliesof the Liuyuan sandstones are significantly greater than the aver-age value of 0.65 for craton-derived PAAS, and are more like valuesobtained from sediments eroded from an intermediate-maficsource (Taylor and McLennan, 1985) (Fig. 5d, Table. 3). The signif-icant enrichment of LREEs and the flat HREE patterns of the Hei-shankou sandstones (Fig. 5d) suggest that the source was chieflyfelsic, and that the distinct negative Eu anomaly is evidence of adifferentiated source, akin to granite. On the other hand, thePAAS-normalized patterns (Fig. 5c) of the Heishankou sandstonesare similar to those of the cherts and mudstones of the CretaceousFranciscan Complex that were deposited adjacent to a Cordilleran

continental margin magmatic arc (Girty et al., 1996). Accordingto Bhatia (1983), McLennan et al. (1993) and McLennan and Taylor(1991), the PAAS- and chondrite-normalized patterns in Fig. 5 sug-gest derivation from a predominantly young differentiated arc.

La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co, Th/Co, Th/Cr, and Eu� are particularly sensi-tive of an average source composition (Taylor and McLennan,1985). There are some significant differences in elemental ratiopopulations from different areas, suggesting some local control ofsource rocks on sediment composition. The variable ratio of Th/Sc and of La/Sc (0.68–1.41 for the Liuyuan sandstones and 2.29–5.71 for the Heishankou sandstones, Table 3) are not characteris-tics of mature recycled sediments and suggest a relatively higherportion of mafic components in the source of the Liuyuan sand-stones than the Heishankou sandstones. This is consistent withthe higher contents of Co, Cr, Ni, and V in the Liuyuan sandstones

Ni (ppm)

TiO

2

0

Basic

Acidic

magmatogenicgreywackes

mudstones

sandstones

mature sediments

0.4

0.8

1.2

1.6 (b)

0 20 40 60 80 1000 2 4 6 8 10 12 140.1

1

10

100C

o/Th

La/Sc

SND17

Basalts

Andesites

Felsicvolcanicrocks Granites

Co/Th=1.27

(a)

Fig. 8. Source rock discrimination diagrams with trace elements for Beishan Permian turbidites. (a) Co/Th vs. La/Sc diagram after Gu et al. (2002); (b) TiO2 vs. Ni diagram afterFloyd et al. (1989). Average compositions of volcanic rocks in plot (a) from Condie (1993). Symbols as in Fig. 4.

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 63

(Fig. 5a and 10). In addition, the Th/Sc values of Liuyuan turbiditesare lower than 0.9 of PAAS (Taylor and McLennan, 1985) (Table. 3),suggesting a source rock composition more mafic than averagegranodioritic UCC.

Floyd and Leveridge (1987) established a discrimination dia-gram using the La/Th ratio vs. Hf to determine different arc compo-nents and sources (Fig. 7b). Uniform low La/Th ratios and Hfcontents for all studied samples suggest derivation predominantlyfrom a felsic arc source and minor influence of an old sedimentarycomponent. On a plot of La/Sc vs. Co/Th (Fig. 8a), the Co/Th ratios ofHeishankou are lower than 1.27 and close to those of felsic volcanicrocks, but the Liuyuan samples are close to those of andesites. Thissuggests that the Liuyuan sandstones were mainly derived from anandesitic source, whereas the Heishankou sandstones were con-trolled by a felsic volcanic source (Taylor and McLennan, 1985).In Fig. 8b, the analyzed samples fall predominantly in the field offelsic igneous rocks rather than in those of mafic igneous or sedi-mentary origin (Floyd et al., 1989), indicating that felsic igneousrocks were probably exposed in the source during the Permian.However, the Cs–V–Cr–Ni enrichment and negative Nb–Ta troughin multi-element patterns (Fig. 5a) suggest a more mafic input inthe Liuyuan sandstones than in the Heishankou sandstones (Floydand Leveridge, 1987). These features are all indicative of mixed,multiple-source sediments, including mafic and felsic rocks forthe Liuyuan sandstones, and felsic rocks for the Heishankousandstones.

6.3. Tectonic setting

The major and trace element compositions of sediments havebeen widely used to infer the plate tectonic setting of ancient sed-imentary basins (Bhatia, 1983; Taylor and McLennan, 1985; Bhatiaand Crook, 1986; Mader and Neubauer, 2004; Yan et al., 2006a,b,2007, 2009, 2010), although some established discrimination dia-grams are not really significant for specific local plate tectonic set-tings (e.g. Armstrong-Altrin and Verma, 2005; Ryan and Williams,2007).

6.3.1. Major elementsVia geochemical data, the Permian sandstones from the Beishan

Mountains may be compared and contrasted with similar Phanero-zoic clastic rocks from different tectonic settings in Australia andNew Zealand (Maynard et al., 1982; Bhatia, 1983; Bhatia andCrook, 1986). The SiO2/Al2O3 vs. K2O/Na2O relationship (Maynardet al., 1982) suggests that the Liuyuan sandstones were most likely

deposited in an island arc setting with a supply of basaltic andandesitic detritus, whereas the Heishankou sandstones weremostly derived from an active continental margin (Fig. 9a). Accord-ing to the (Fe2OT

3 + MgO) vs. TiO2 plot (Fig. 9b), the Liuyuan sand-stones illustrate a continental arc environment, whereas theHeishankou sandstones reflect an active continental margin. Thissuggestion is also supported by the petrological analysis.

Discriminant function analysis is a powerful technique in clas-sifying individual cases into predefined groups on the basis of mul-tiple variables. Bhatia (1983) developed useful and effectivediscriminant functions to assign tectonic settings. Plotting our datainto the relevant discriminant diagrams demonstrates that thedata from the Liuyuan sandstones fall into the field of an oceanicisland arc, whereas the Heishankou turbidites fall into the fieldof an active continental margin (Fig. 9c).

Kumon and Kiminami (1994) utilized the (Fe2OT3 + MgO)/

(SiO2 + Na2O + K2O) vs. Al2O3/SiO2 plot to discriminate differenttectonic settings of deposited sediments. In this plot, the propor-tion of quartz relative to feldspar, and the relative petrologic evo-lution of contributing arcs (mafic or felsic) are indicated by Al2O3/SiO2 and (Fe2OT

3 + MgO)/(SiO2 + Na2O + K2O), respectively (Fig. 9d).On Fig. 9d, the Liuyuan samples mainly plot in the immature islandarc (IIA) field, but the Heishankou samples mainly plot in the ma-ture magmatic arc (MMA) field. Only a few samples from the twosections plot in the evolved island arc (EIA) field. This further sug-gests that the Permian turbidites in the Beishan Mountains werederived from complex source regions.

6.3.2. Trace elementsOn a La/Sc vs. Ti/Zr plot (Fig. 10a), Liuyuan samples fall in the

continental island arc field and are adjacent to the oceanic islandarc (OIA) field. In contrast, the Heishankou samples lie in the con-tinental island arc and active continental margin (ACM) fields butpredominantly in the continental island arc field, showing a gen-eral trend to an ACM setting with typical UCC characteristics(Taylor and McLennan, 1985). On a Th–Co–Zr/10 plot (Fig. 10b),the Liuyuan samples mainly plot in the OIA field except for twoin the continental island arc field. The Heishankou samples fall inthe continental island arc and ACM setting, except for one in thepassive margin (PM) (Bhatia and Crook, 1986), which might partlybe explained by its Zr content, possibly concentrated in the heavyminerals of these sediments.

On the UCC-normalized multi-element diagram proposed byFloyd et al. (1991), the Liuyuan sandstone samples display ratherhigh values of V–Cr–Ni, and distinctive low values of U, Nb–Ta

(c)

Df2

Df1

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

8

10

CIA

OIAPM

ACM

Al2O

3/Si

O2

IIAEIA

MMA

0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.00

(d)

SiO

2/Al

2O3

K O2 /Na2O

0

4

8

12

0.01 0.1 1 10 100

PM

ACMA1A2

TiO

2

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

PM

ACMCIA

OIA

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

0 5 10 15

(a) (b)

(Fe2O3 +MgO)/(SiO2+K2O+Na2O)T

Fe2O3 +MgOT

Fig. 9. Discrimination diagrams to indicate the tectonic setting with major elements of the Beishan Permian turbidites. (a) SiO2/Al2O3 vs. K2O/Na2O diagram after Maynardet al. (1982); (b) TiO2 vs. (Fe2OT

3 + MgO) diagram after Bhatia (1983); (c) the discriminant function diagram of Bhatia (1983); (d) Al2O3/SiO2 vs. (Fe2OT3 +

MgO)/(SiO2 + K2O + Na2O) after Kumon and Kiminami (1994). ACM = active continental margin; PM = passive continental margin; CIA = continental island arc; OIA = oceanicisland arc; A1 = evolved arc setting, with supply of felsic-plutonic detritus; A2 = arc setting, with supply of basaltic and andesitic detritus. IIA = immature island arc;EIA = evolved island arc; MMA = mature magmatic arc. The discriminant functions are: Df1 = �0.0447 � SiO2 � 0.972 � TiO2 + 0.008 � Al2O3 � 0.267 � Fe2O3 + 0.208 �FeO � 3.082 �MnO + 0.14 �MgO + 0.195 � CaO + 0.719 Na2O-0.032 � K2O + 7.510 � P2O5 + 0.303;Df2 = �0.421 � SiO2 + 1.988 � TiO2 � 0.526 � Al2O3 � 0.551 � Fe2O3 �1.61 � FeO + 2.72 �MnO + 0.881 �MgO � 0.907 � CaO � 0.177 � Na2O � 1.84 � K2O + 7.244 � P2O5 + 43.57. Symbols as in Fig. 4.

64 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

and Ti–Zr–Hf (Fig. 5a) in comparison with the Heishankou samples.The strongly negative Sr-anomaly of the Heishankou samples istypical of old recycled environments/passive continental marginsettings (Floyd et al., 1989), but the positive V–Cr–Ni–Cs anomaliesand strongly Nb–Ta depletions of the Liuyuan samples are indica-tive of an active margin/continental arc setting. Comparing thePermian turbidites in the Beishan Mountains with passive margin,active continental margin, oceanic island arc, and oceanic within-plate settings (Fig. 5c), the multi-element patterns of the Liuyuansamples are more consistent with an oceanic island arc, whilethe Heishankou turbidites are more typical of an active continentalmargin setting.

6.3.3. Rare earth elementsAccording to Bhatia (1985a) and Bhatia and Crook (1986), sev-

eral REE-related parameters (Table 4) are useful to distinguishthe tectonic settings of sedimentary basins. Various tectonic set-tings such as continental island arc, ACM, Andean-type continentalmargin and PM are indicated. The average Liuyuan and Heishankouturbidites display better and fairly homogeneous correlations with

the discrimination parameters of an OIA setting, and continentalisland arc or an Andean-type continental margin, respectively.

6.4. Tectonic significance

Previous literature suggested that subduction–accretion in theBeishan Mountains finished in the Devonian in the Ganquan-Dun-dunshan-Jianquanzi areas (Fig. 1b), and that the Permian turbiditesin the Liuyuan and Heishankou areas formed in a continental riftenvironment (Zuo et al., 1990a,b, 1995, 2003). However, Liu andWang (1995) proposed that the Permian turbidites formed in a col-lisional orogen. Zhang (1993) interpreted the Permian turbidites inthe Liuyuan and Heishankou areas as a subduction–accretion com-plex together with mafic–felsic rocks and ophiolites. Mao (2008)suggested that the Permian turbidites, mafic and ultramafic rocks,gabbros, pillow lavas, cherts and massive basalts represent a sub-duction–accretion complex, which formed by double subductionof an oceanic plate. Li et al. (2009a) suggested that the basalticblocks surrounded by Permian turbidites in the Liuyuan areaformed in a back-arc basin. All these models were centered on

Th

Zr/10Co

ACM

CIA

OIA

PM

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 140

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80Ti

/Zr

La/Sc

ACM

CIA

OIA

PM

(a) (b)

Fig. 10. Tectonic setting discrimination diagrams with trace elements for the Beishan Permian turbidites. (a) La/Sc vs. Ti/Zr and (b) Th–Co–Zr/10 plots (after Bhatia and Crook,1986). OIA = oceanic island arc; CIA = continental island arc; ACM = active continental margin; PM = passive margin. Symbols as in Fig. 4.

Table 4Comparison of REE characteristics of representative sandstones from different tectonic settings.

Tectonic setting Provenance REE

La Ce REE La/Yb LREE/HREE

Oceanic island arc Undissected magmatic arc 8 19 58 4.2 3.8Continental island arc Dissected magmatic arc 27 59 146 11 7.7Andean-type continental margin Uplifted basement 37 78 186 12.5 9.1Passive margin Craton-interior tectonic highlands 39 85 210 15.9 8.5

The Liuyuan turbidites 12 26 69 7.8 5.7The Heishankou turbidites 28 54 132 14.8 8.8

Huaniushanisland arc

ShibanshanAndean-type arc

Liuyuan mélange

After P1

P1 S N

S N

Permian sandstonesin Heishankou area

Permian sandstonesin Liuyuan area

Permian sandstonesin Heishankou area

Granite

Permian sandstonesin Liuyuan area

Fig. 11. Schematic cartoon demonstrating the tectonic setting and evolution of theturbidites. The tectonic affinities and settings of the turbidites from the Liuyuan andHeishankou areas are intra-oceanic and Andean-type arcs, respectively. Thisindicates that the two source areas were widely separated; otherwise there wouldhave been some evidence of mixing. Therefore amalgamation of the two types ofarcs must have taken place in, or even after, the Early Permian.

Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68 65

the volcanic rocks, and the role that the turbidites played in unrav-eling the tectonic evolution was not fully considered.

Our petrological and geochemical data suggest that an oceanicisland arc and a continental arc were located to the north andsouth of the Permian turbidites in the Liuyuan-Heishankou areas.Angular feldspars and lithic fragments are major components ofthe Permian sandstones, and quartz grains are rare. The presenceof poorly sorted and abundant volcanic fragments suggests thatthe Permian turbidites were deposited near their source areas.Regionally, the Huaniushan island arc, consisting of Early Permianbasalts and andesites and 396–432 Ma subduction-related grani-toids (Zhao et al., 2007; Mao, 2008), was located to the north ofthe Permian turbidites in the Liuyuan area. Geochemical data ofthe Permian basalts from the Liuyuan area show an oceanic crustaffinity (Mao, 2008).

All these data suggest that there was a major tectonic separa-tion between the Liuyuan basalts and turbidites to the north andthe Heishankou turbidites to the south in the Early Permian. Theturbidites were probably deposited in a forearc setting (Mao,2008), which was later accreted to form the southern part of theBeishan Mountains. Otherwise, these two tectonic regimes shouldhave been derived from a common source, which is not the case. Ifthis scenario is correct, we suggest that oceanic subduction still ex-isted in the Early Permian in the Liuyuan area to form the EarlyPermian Liuyuan mélange (Mao, 2008).

To the south of the Permian turbidites in the Heishankou area,the Paleozoic Shibanshan arc, built along the northern margin ofthe Dunhuang block, consists of Carboniferous mafic rocks andPermian intermediate-felsic magmatic rocks (Fig. 11). If we putthe provenance and tectonic setting of the turbidites into the con-text of the regional evolution, we find that it is most likely that the

double subduction beneath the Huaniushan and Shibanshan arcsgave birth to the Liuyuan and Heishankou turbidites, respectively.

Our work together with other important tectonostratigraphicdata from the literature supports the idea that the accretionaryevents in the Beishan Mountains did not terminate until at leastthe Early Permian (Zhang, 1993; Liu and Wang, 1995; Mao, 2008;Mao et al., 2011; Li et al., 2009a; Xiao et al., 2010b). We further

66 Q. Guo et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 49 (2012) 54–68

propose that the accretionary events in the southern Altaids couldnot have terminated until at least the Early Permian. This providesan important clue for resolution of the long-standing controversyabout the termination time of the southern Altaids.

This conclusion has key significance for the connection of theBeishan to regions to the west and east. Recently it is increasinglyrecognized that both the Tianshan and Solonker sutures are char-acterized by Carboniferous-Permian accretionary events (Xiaoet al., 2009, 2010a,b; Zhang et al., 2011); some as young as latePermian to mid-Triassic have been defined in the Solonker suturein the east (Jian et al., 2008, 2010; Xiao et al., 2009). If the Beishanorogen terminated in the Permian, the Permian accretionary eventsfit well into the spectacular Permian to mid-Triassic orogen thatextends from the Urals in the west via the Tianshan to Solonkerin the east (Zonenshain et al., 1990; S�engör et al., 1993; S�engörand Natal’in, 1996).

Acknowledgements

The article was improved as a result of discussions with andcomments from numerous researchers, including G.C. Zuo, H.R.Wu, J.Y. Li, B.C. Huang, and Z. Yan critically read an early draftand provided constructive suggestions. We sincerely appreciatethe editors and reviewers for constructive comments. This studywas financially supported by funds from the Chinese National BasicResearch 973 Program (2007CB411307), the Innovative Program ofthe Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-Q04-08), and theNational Natural Science Foundation of China (40725009,40973036 and 40523003), and the National 305 projects(2011BAB06B04 and 2007BAB25B04). Contribution to the Interna-tional Lithosphere Program (Topo-Central-Asia).

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