Petrography, geochemistry and detrital zircon U–Pb dating of the Pliocene‐Pleistocene Dupi Tila Formation from the Lalmai Anticline, Bengal Basin: Regional tectonic implications

Abstract

The Bengal Basin is a well‐known foreland basin that archives the tectonic evolution of the Himalayan and Indo‐Burman Ranges (IBR). The Dupi Tila Formation is the youngest among the stratigraphic successions of the Bengal Basin, which witnessed the last phase of the Himalayan uplift. However, there is still controversy regarding sediment provenances since the Himalayan and IBR are in the late Neogene exhumation stage. In this study, the petrographical and geochemical compositions of the Dupi Tila sandstones from the Lalmai Anticline of the Bengal Basin are examined to infer the source rocks, tectonic settings, palaeoclimate and weathering intensity in provenance areas. The detrital modes and geochemical discriminations, as well as Chondrite‐normalized rare earth elements patterns with enrichment in light rare earth elements and nearly flat heavy rare earth elements and negative Eu anomalies (average Eu/Eu* = 0.77) indicate dominantly felsic source rocks. The geochemical data also suggest that these source rocks in provenance areas were influenced by weak to moderate chemical weathering (chemical index of alteration: 65.64–75.62) and multiple recycling under warm and humid to semi‐humid climatic conditions. The detrital zircon ages show three dominant peaks at ca. 100, 500 and 1000 Ma with minor 1700 Ma. The amount of young zircon grains (<120 Ma) is noticeably higher (~18%) in this Lalmai outcrop compared to the Dupi Tila samples from the Sylhet Trough and Chittagong‐Tripura Fold Belt. Results from integrated zircon geochronology and geochemistry indicate that the detritus are likely derived from a recycled orogen provenance related mainly to active continental margin setting with subordinate influence from passive setting. Therefore, the regionally extensive Himalayan Orogen appears to be the primary sediment source, with additional mixing from the IBR and recycled sediments originating from the Gangdese batholith of the Trans‐Himalaya.