Provenance of the Qingshuijian Formation (Late Carboniferous), NE China: Implications for tectonic processes in the northern margin of the North China block

The Upper Carboniferous Qingshuijian Formation in the Western Hill, NE China, was deposited disconformably on a Lower Paleozoic platformal carbonate sequence. The provenance and the tectonic setting of the source area of the Qingshuijian Formation were studied using sandstone petrography and mudstone geochemistry. Sandstones consist mainly of quartz and (meta) sedimentary lithic fragments and are classified as litharenite. Feldspar is lacking in sandstones, and negative Eu anomalies similar to those displayed by Post-Archean Australian Shale (PAAS), along with depleted Ca, Na, Cs, and Rb, and low K 2O/Al 2O 3 ratios in mudstones all suggest that feldspar was scarce in the source terrane. Abundant sedimentary lithic fragments in sandstones, low values of the index of compositional variability (