Geochemical Characteristics and Geological Significance of Black Shale at the Bottom of the Mufushan Formation in the Lower Cambrian, Lower Yangtze Platform, South China

Abstract

Black shale, as an important unconventional energy resource, has attracted significant attention in recent years. By studying its sedimentary and geochemical characteristics, it is possible to reconstruct ancient depositional environments and paleoclimatic conditions. The Lower Cambrian black shale is widely distributed in the Lower Yangtze region, but its tectonic background and provenance have been subject to debate. In this study, we conducted geochemical testing and analysis on samples collected from the basal black shale of the Mufushan Formation in the Mufushan section, Nanjing. The Th/Sc-Zr/Sc diagram indicates that the black shale of the Mufushan Formation has not undergone sedimentary recycling. Analysis of major element ratios, rare earth element (REE) distribution patterns, δEu, (La/Yb)N, and the La/Th-Hf and La/Yb-∑REE discrimination diagrams suggest that the source rocks of the black shale mainly consist of granites and sedimentary rocks rich in ferromagnesian minerals, representing felsic rocks derived from the upper crust, with some involvement of mafic rocks. Considering the provenance attributes, geological age relationships, and tectonic evolution of the South China continent, the granite component in the source rocks is inferred to have formed during Neoproterozoic magmatic activity, and the source area corresponds to the Jiangnan Orogenic Belt. Analysis of K2O + Na2O-SiO2, K2O/Na2O-SiO2/Al2O3, La-Th-Sc, Th-Co-Zr/10, and Th-Sc-Zr/10 diagrams suggests that the source area of the Mufushan Formation black shale was a passive continental margin.