Citation for published item:q rz ntiD iF nd elEtu ouryD eFsF nd oleikh eiD F nd ermees hD F nd totheriD tF nd ekko D fw nd y idD eFuF nd ellenD wFfF nd end¡ oD F nd vimont D F nd do nD wF nd esentiniD eF nd ittnerD wF nd ezzoliD qF @PHITA 9 he iuphr tesE igrisEu run river system X proven n eD re y ling nd dispers l of qu rtzEpoor forel ndE sin sediments in rid lim teF9D i rthEs ien e reviewsFD ITP F ppF IHUEIPVF Further information on publisher's website:httpsXGGdoiForgGIHFIHITGjFe rs irevFPHITFHWFHHW
Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-pro t purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract: We present a detailed sediment-provenance study on the modern Euphrates-Tigris-Karun fluvial system and Mesopotamian foreland basin, one of the cradles of humanity. Our rich petrographic and heavy-mineral dataset, integrated by sand geochemistry and U-Pb age spectra of detrital zircons, highlights the several peculiarities of this large source-tosink sediment-routing system and widens the spectrum of compositions generally assumed as paradigmatic for orogenic settings. Comparison of classical static versus upgraded dynamic petrologic models enhance the power of provenance analysis, and allow us to derive a more refined conceptual model of reference and to verify the limitations of the approach. Sand derived from the Anatolia-Zagros orogen contains abundant lithic grains eroded from carbonates, cherts, mudrocks, arc volcanics, obducted ophiolites and ophiolitic mélanges representing the exposed shallow structural level of the orogen, with relative scarcity of quartz, Kfeldspar and mica. This quartz-poor petrographic signature, characterizing the undissected composite tectonic domain of the entire Anatolia-Iranian plateau, is markedly distinct from that of sand shed by more elevated and faster-eroding collision orogens such as the Himalaya. Arid climate in the region allows preservation of chemically unstable grains including carbonate rock fragments and locally even gypsum, and reduces transport capacity of fluvial systems, which dump most of their load in Mesopotamian marshlands upstream of the Arabian/Persian Gulf allochemical carbonate factory. Quartz-poor sediment from the AnatoliaZagros orogen mixes with quartz-rich recycled sands from Arabia along the western side of the foreland basin, and is traced all along the Gulf shores as far as the Rub' al-Khali sand sea up to 4000 km from Euphrates headwaters.Reviewer #1: This is an excellent review of an intriguing complex modern sediment source-to-sink system that has not been studied in a comprehensive manner prior to...
An implicit assumption of most sedimentary provenance analyses is a direct link between source and sink. However, recycling of sedimentary detritus from pre‐existing strata interrupts the direct source‐to‐sink link and can result in incorrect interpretations of paleogeography and paleodrainage. Detrital zircon is the favoured proxy of contemporary provenance studies, but its physiochemical resilience makes it particularly prone to recycling. In this study, we integrate geochemical (age, isotope, and trace elements) and grain roundness data of multiple detrital minerals with different physiochemical stabilities (zircon, tourmaline, rutile, and apatite) to evaluate the importance of recycling in an ancient sedimentary basin. We focus on the early Cambrian Lalun Formation of Iran, which forms part of a laterally extensive sandstone‐rich succession deposited along the northern margin of Gondwana. The Lalun Formation preserves a distinct change of compositional maturity between lower arkose and shale units and an upper unit of quartz‐rich sandstone. Detrital zircon, rutile, and apatite data demonstrate that all units of the Lalun Formation share a common source in the Arabian‐Nubian Shield. Whole‐rock geochemical data further indicate that all units have similar chemical alteration indices, suggesting the change in compositional maturity is not a product of differential weathering of the source region. Analysis of grain roundness reveals that detrital zircon, rutile, and tourmaline in the upper quartz‐rich unit are typically more rounded than those in the underlying arkose and shale units. In contrast, detrital apatite grains are nearly all angular in the quartz‐rich unit but mostly rounded in the lower arkose and shale. Together, the detrital mineral provenance, whole‐rock geochemistry, and morphological data are consistent with recycling of the lower arkose and shale units of the Lalun Formation into the uppermost quartz‐rich unit, with the latter also receiving a component of first‐cycle detritus represented by angular detrital apatite. Our findings demonstrate that integrating the features of detrital minerals acquired during a sedimentary cycle (grain rounding and diversity of mineral assemblages) with features inherited from their ultimate source rocks (age, isotopic, and geochemical proxies) can assist in recognising sediment recycling in ancient strata.
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