From static to dynamic provenance analysis-Sedimentary petrology upgraded

The classical approach to sandstone petrology, established in the golden years of plate tectonics and based on the axiom that "detrital modes of sandstone suites primarily reflect the different tectonic settings of provenance terranes," has represented a benchmark for decades. The composition of sand and sandstone, however, simply provides us with a distorted image of the lithological structure of source terranes and gives us little clue whether they are allochthonous or autochthonous, orogenic or anorogenic, young or old. What we may able to see reflected in detrital modes is the nature of source terranes (continental, arc, oceanic) and the tectonostratigraphic level reached by erosion in space and time. The proposed new approach to the petrology of sand and sandstone (1) starts with a simple classification scheme circulated since the 1960s, which is purely descriptive, objective, and free of ill-defined ambiguous terms and (2) focuses on the nature and tectonostratigraphic level of source terranes. Further steps are essential to upgrade provenance analysis. Acquiring knowledge from modem settings is needed to properly identify and wherever possible correct for physical and chemical processes introducing environmental and diagenetic bias and thus address nature's complexities with adequate conceptual tools. Equally important is the integration of multiple techniques, ideally including bulk-sediment, multi-mineral, and single-mineral methods. Bulk-sediment petrography remains the fundamental approach that allows us to capture the most precious source of direct provenance information, represented by the mineralogy and texture of rock fragments. Bulk-sediment geochemistry, applicable also to silt and clay carried in suspension, is a superior method to check for hydraulic sorting, chemical weathering, and fertility of detrital minerals in different sediment sources. Detrital geochronology, thermochronology, and isotope geochemistry reveal the diverse time structures of source rocks and have become necessary complementary techniques in modem provenance analysis. Inferences on geodynamic processes need independent geological information and come last, but if tackled properly, they can lead us much farther than the standard label obtained by using triangular diagrams uncritically as if they were infallible oracles. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.