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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1991; v. 57; p. 1-11;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1991.057.01.01
© 1991 Geological Society of London

Sedimentary provenance studies

P. D. W. Haughton1, S. P. Todd2 & A. C. Morton3

1 Department of Geology and Applied Geology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
2 BP Exploration, Britannic House, Moor Lane, London, EC2Y 9BU, UK
3 British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK

The study of sedimentary provenance interfaces several of the mainstream geological disciplines (mineralogy, geochemistry, geochronology, sedimentology, igneous and metamorphic petrology). Its remit includes the location and nature of sediment source areas, the pathways by which sediment is transferred from source to basin of deposition, and the factors that influence the composition of sedimentary rocks (e.g. relief, climate, tectonic setting). Materials subject to study are as diverse as recent muds in the Mississipi River basin (Potter et al. 1975), Archaean shales (McLennan et al. 1983), and soils on the Moon (Basu et al. 1988).

A range of increasingly sophisticated techniques is now available to workers concerned with sediment provenance. Provenance data can play a critical role in assessing palaeogeographic reconstructions, in constraining lateral displacements in orogens, in characterizing crust which is no longer exposed, in testing tectonic models for uplift at fault block or orogen scale, in mapping depositional systems, in sub-surface correlation and in predicting reservoir quality. On a global scale, the provenance of fine-grained sediments have been used to monitor crustal evolution.

We introduce below some of the novel techniques which are currently being used in provenance work, and some of the areas in which provenance studies are making, and promise to make, an important contribution to our understanding of earth processes. Many of the techniques and applications are covered by papers collected in this volume. These papers represent a selection of those contributed to a joint British Sedimentological Research Group/Petroleum Group meeting on ‘Developments in Sedimentary Provenance Studies’

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[Abstract] [PDF]