Response of Paleogene Fine-Grained Clastic Rock Deposits in the South Qiangtang Basin to Environments and Thermal Events on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

[Image: see text] The Chamdo Basin is a secondary basin in the eastern part of Tibet China and is one of the most promising of petroliferous basins for new petroleum exploration. The Qamdo Basin records a complex burial history from the Mesozoic to the Cenozoic; however, the poorly constrained sedimentology of Cenozoic strata in this basin has severely obscured the overall profile and impeded further explorations of oil and gas resources. Here, we conduct whole-rock geochemical analyses of major, trace, and rare earth elements in fine-grained clastic rocks of the Paleocene Gongjue Formation, Qamdo Basin to reveal depositional environments, provenance, and tectonic setting. Petrologically, the Gongjue Formation is dominated by red fine-grained sandy mudstones/siltstones with ripple marks. The high values of the chemical index of alteration (avg. of 78.93), chemical index of weathering (avg. of 90.10), and index of compositional variability (avg. of 2.5) suggest that the basin has undergone heavy weathering. Cross-plots of La vs Th, Th vs Sc vs Zr/10, and Th vs Co vs Zr/10 reveal a continental arc tectonic setting. Paleosalinity (Sr/Ba), paleoclimate (Sr/Cu), and redox proxies (V/Cr, U/Th, and enrichment factors of Mo and U) indicate brackish to saline and oxidizing paleowater masses during deposition of the Gongjue Formation. Provenance analyses via elements and petrology reveal that sediments in the Gongjue Formation are mainly derived from intermediate–acidic rocks of the upper crust. We conclude that the first and third members are more arid climate and heavily chemically weathered than the second member. In combination with previous studies of the structural evolution of the Qamdo Basin since the Paleogene, a model is built to describe the sedimentary environment and evolution of the Qamdo Basin during transition to the Paleocene. The first and third members, i.e., the Eg(1) and Eg(3) members of the Gongjue Formation, are dominated by an oxidizing environment of seawater-saltwater, and the climate ranges from warm and humid to arid and hot, with relatively stable environmental changes. The Eg(2) member of the Gongjue Formation is dominated by an oxidizing environment of seawater-saltwater, and the climate ranges from warm and humid to arid and hot, with more frequent environmental evolution. Our model aids in better understanding of the Paleocene climate evolution of the eastern Tibetan Plateau.