Provenance of Volcanogenic Deposits from the Shanxi Formation of the Daniudi Gas Field, Ordos Basin, and Its Tectonic Implications

Abstract

Through detailed drill-core description, petrography, cathodoluminescence imaging, and geochemistry analysis, sedimentary deposits with a high content of volcanogenic components (27.6%) were discovered in the Shanxi Formation of the Daniudi Gas Field, Ordos Basin. The volcanogenic components include volcanogenic quartz, lava fragments (dominated by rhyolite fragments), tuff fragments, and tuffaceous matrix. In addition, at least two volcanic ash layers were discovered. Although the metamorphic rocks of the Precambrian succession in the ancient land of Yin Mountain are usually considered the primary source of the Shanxi formation, it is most likely that the volcanogenic components were derived from intermediate-acid volcanic materials that accumulated in the Daqingshan area during the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian. Those volcanogenic components are mainly transported by flowing water rather than by air from origin to basin. In addition, the accumulation of volcanic materials in the Daqingshan area was controlled by volcanic eruptions occurring solely in this area, rather than by the Inner Mongolia Orogenic Belt. Those volcanic eruptions were related to the southward subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean Plate beneath the northern margin of the North China Plate in the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian. The active continental margin related to the subduction of the Paleo-Asian Ocean Plate lasted at least until the Early Permian, and the closure of the Paleo-Asian Ocean must have occurred later than the Early Permian.