Detrital Zircon Provenance in the Sediments in the Southern Okinawa Trough

Abstract

The provenance of sediments in the Southern Okinawa Trough since the late Holocene has been a controversial scientific issue during the past 20 years. Previous studies based on isotope proxies generally indicated Taiwanese rivers as the primary source in the Southern Okinawa Trough since the late Holocene. Based on the zircon U-Pb geochronology, this study identified how sediments from the Yangtze River/East China Sea shelf had contributed significantly to the Southern Okinawa Trough in the past 624 a BP. Notably, this study found two Paleoarchean zircon grains, which indicated they originated from older orogenic belts. These data shed new light on the provenance of sediments, and a partial supply from the mainland of China cannot be excluded.