The Chesterian (Mississippian) Hartselle Sandstone is a tar sand exposed in the Black Warrior Basin and southern Appalachian fold belt in northern Mississippi and Alabama. Previous studies disagree about the delivery direction and relative contributions of sediment from the cratonic interior, the Appalachians, and the Ouachitas. The goal of this research is to investigate lateral trends in sedimentary and geochemical properties to provide new details about the provenance of the Hartselle. Samples were collected along a west-to-east transect and analyzed using petrography, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) geochemistry, and U-Pb detrital zircon (DZ) geochronology. Point counting indicated a major cratonic interior source with a minor recycled orogen signal. Sillimanite in the easternmost sample narrows down the potential Appalachian sources to areas of high-grade metamorphism. Petrographic observations suggest both western and eastern sources. The XRF results showed high concentrations of Ti and Mo in the westernmost sample, suggestive of a nearby terrigenous source. All of the samples had similar U-Pb DZ age distributions except for the easternmost sample, which had statistically higher proportions of Paleozoic- and Archean-aged grains (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: p < .02). For the first time, Eoarchean and Paleoarchean grains were found in the Hartselle, indicating a likely sediment source from the Minnesota River Valley gneisses of the Superior Craton prior to Grenvillian overprinting. Based on integration of all data, we conclude that a large fluvial system draining the continental interior provided a substantial volume of sediment from the northwest. At the same time, a more dispersed drainage basin associated with the Appalachian front contributed recycled orogenic material from the northeast.

中文翻译：

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结合岩石学、X 射线荧光和 U-Pb 碎屑锆石年代学来解释美国密西西比州哈特塞尔砂岩的来源

Chesterian (Mississippian) Hartselle Sandstone 是一种出露在 Black Warrior Basin 和南部阿巴拉契亚褶皱带中的焦油砂，位于密西西比州北部和阿拉巴马州。先前的研究对来自克拉通内部、阿巴拉契亚山脉和瓦希塔山脉的沉积物的输送方向和相对贡献存在分歧。这项研究的目的是调查沉积和地球化学性质的横向趋势，以提供有关 Hartselle 来源的新细节。沿西向东横断面收集样品，并使用岩石学、X 射线荧光 (XRF) 地球化学和 U-Pb 碎屑锆石 (DZ) 年代学进行分析。点计数表明一个主要的克拉通内部来源，带有一个次要的再循环造山带信号。最东端样品中的硅线石将潜在的阿巴拉契亚来源缩小到高级变质作用区域。岩石学观察表明西部和东部的来源。XRF 结果显示最西端的样品中 Ti 和 Mo 浓度很高，表明附近有陆源源。除了最东端的样品外，所有样品都具有相似的 U-Pb DZ 年龄分布，该样品具有更高比例的古生代和太古代时代颗粒（Kolmogorov-Smirnov 检验：p < .02）。首次在 Hartselle 中发现了始太古代和古太古代颗粒，这表明在 Grenvillian 叠印之前可能来自上级克拉通明尼苏达河谷片麻岩的沉积物来源。在整合所有数据的基础上，我们得出的结论是，一个从大陆内部排水的大型河流系统提供了大量来自西北部的沉积物。与此同时，与阿巴拉契亚锋面相关的更分散的流域贡献了来自东北部的再生造山材料。