Source-to-sink evolution of syn-rift alkaline lake sediments in the Lower Permian Fengcheng Formation, Junggar Basin, NW China: Evidence from petrology, detrital zircon geochronology and geochemistry

[Display omitted] •Chemical weathering intensity increased upwards in the ∼ 280 Ma Fengcheng Formation.•Detrital material of the FC Formation was supplied by the West Junggar, due to active normal faults.•Syn-rift sediments were deposited in an alkaline lake under arid climatic conditions. Source-to-sink evolution of intracontinental rift basins is an effective tool to evaluate syn-rifting tectonic processes and sediment dispersal. Provenance analysis, using petrological and geochemical analysis and detrital zircons U-Pb dating of the Lower Permian Fengcheng Formation, provides new insights into the provenance of alkaline lake deposits in the Mahu sag, Junggar Basin. Volcanic detritus and detrital feldspar grains are abundant, indicative of proximal sources. The rare earth and trace element characteristics of three sandstone samples are consistent with a dominant source from the Carboniferous – early Permian mafic and felsic rocks in West Junggar. Sandstone geochemistry suggests that chemical weathering intensity increased upwards, probably in response to reduced aridity. The detrital zircon U-Pb age patterns show a prominent Carboniferous peak (340–300 Ma), minor early Permian (∼280 Ma) and Silurian peaks (440–420 Ma). Quantitative unmixing modelling suggests that most detrital zircons were derived laterally from the Central West Junggar (CWJ), and a few zircons were derived axially from the Zharma-Saur and Boshchekul-Chingiz arcs in Northern and Southern West Junggar. The lateral source was more important in the Middle Member than in the Lower Member of the Fengcheng Formation. The average age of the youngest five detrital zircons and the low weathering indices indicate that the maximum slip of the bounding normal fault occurred at 284–?279 Ma. Seismic and hydrothermal activity caused by the normal fault displacement, as well as the increase in the supply of volcanic composition from the lateral CWJ, played an important role in the alkaline lake deposition.