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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Indo-Antarctic derived detritus on the northern margin of Gondwana: evidence for continental-scale sediment transport

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Provenance studies from Cambro-Ordovician sediments of the North Gondwana passive margin typically ascribe a North African source, a conclusion that cannot be reconciled with all observations. We present new U-Pb ages from detrital rutile and zircon from Late Ordovician sediments from Saxo-Thuringia, Germany. Detrital zircons yield age populations of 500–800 Ma, 900–1050 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma. The detrital rutile age spectra are unimodal with ages between 500 and 650 Ma and likely represent, together with the 500–800 Ma and 1800–2600 Ma zircon populations, detritus sourced predominantly from North Africa. In contrast, the c. 950 Ma zircons, which are persistently found in Cambro-Ordovician sediments of North Gondwana, have no obvious African source. We propose that these zircons are sourced from the Rayner Complex–Eastern Ghats regions of Antarctica and India. An Indo-Antarctic source indicates either continental-scale sedimentary transport from central Gondwana to its peripheries or multiple cycles of sediment reworking and redeposition.