Research advance in sediment provenance of the Qiongdongnan Basin

Sediment provenance study, as an important part of basin analysis, is a key for source area definition, paleogeographic reconstruction, sediment transport route identification, and tectonic evolution (Haughton et al., 1991; Morton et al., 1999; Fontanelli et al., 2009; Cawood et al., 2012). The Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB), lies in the northwestern passive continental margin of the South China Sea, neighbouring Hainan Island on the north and Yinggehai Bain on the west, is a hydrocarbon-rich Cenozoic extensional rifted basin. The basin orientating NE-SW, with length of 250-450 km and width of 150-200 km, and can be subdivided into four units, including the Central Depression, Central Uplift, Northern Depression and Southern Uplift. The investigation of the possible source terranes and transport pathways of sediments is of crucial factor in establishing reservoir presence and hydrocarbon exploration (Tsikouras et al., 2011; Chen et al., 2015). In this article, the research progress of sedimentary provenance is reviewed in details from the conventional methods transferred to advanced analysis in the QDNB. In last decades, many methods have been used in provenance study of the QDNB, and concentrated in the Central Depression. Previous studies of provenance are mainly based on the traditional ways, including heavy minerals, seismic, mineralogical and geochemical studies (e.g. Yao et al., 2008; Cao et al., 2013; Li et al., 2015; Liu et al., 2015). These studies illustrated that several major source terranes were involved in the basin, including Hainan Island, southern Cathaysia and central Vietnam (eastern Indochina Blcok), several uplifts (e.g. Yongle, Shenhu, Xisha), and even Red River (southern Yangtze Block). Yao et al. (2008) based on the seismic data and