Provenance analysis of sedimentary basins is a direct way to understand the uplift of orogenic belts, basin deposition, and evolution of large rivers. A series of Mesozoic and Cenozoic strata from the western Jianghan Basin provides key sedimentary archives for investigating the growth of the surrounding orogenic belts and the evolution of the Yangtze drainage. However, the provenance of these sediments remains unclear. In this study, we report U–Pb data for 1098 detrital zircons from the western Jianghan Basin. We combine these data with published zircon U–Pb ages of potential source areas, paleocurrent data, and paleomagnetic age constraints to reconstruct provenance areas and establish related mountain-building processes. All Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic samples show five major age peaks at 131–210, 432–461, 720–986, 1836–1908, and 2470–2552 Ma. We infer that these sediments are primarily derived from recycled sediments associated with the uplift of the western Jiangnan Orogen. The tectonic uplift of the Jiangnan orogenic belt in the Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic was mainly controlled by the subduction of the Pacific and Indian plates underneath Eurasia. The detritus in the current upper reaches of the Yangtze River did not enter the Jianghan Basin before the Late Eocene (34 Ma). Early Pleistocene strata (1.2–0.7 Ma) show a distinct Cenozoic zircon U–Pb (41 Ma) peak age, which is mainly derived from the detrital sediments of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. The combination of these data with published provenance tracing results for boreholes in the Jianghan Basin and Yangtze River Delta indicates that the Yangtze River was completely connected between 34 and 1.2 Ma. Such a long time interval may correspond to the tectonic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and environmental changes during the Late Cenozoic.

沉积盆地物源分析是了解造山带隆升、盆地沉积、大江大河演化的直接途径。江汉盆地西部一系列中、新生代地层为研究周围造山带的生长和长江流域的演化提供了重要的沉积档案。然而，这些沉积物的来源仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们报告了江汉盆地西部 1098 个碎屑锆石的 U-Pb 数据。我们将这些数据与已发布的潜在源区锆石 U-Pb 年龄、古水流数据和古地磁年龄限制相结合，以重建物源区并建立相关的造山过程。所有白垩纪和早新生代样本均显示出五个主要年龄峰值，分别为 131–210、432–461、720–986、1836–1908、和 2470–2552 Ma。我们推断这些沉积物主要来自与江南造山带西部隆起有关的再循环沉积物。江南造山带白垩纪和早新生代的构造隆升主要受太平洋板块和印度板块向欧亚大陆俯冲的控制。现今长江上游的碎屑在晚始新世（34Ma）之前才进入江汉盆地。早更新世地层（1.2~0.7 Ma）显示出明显的新生代锆石U-Pb（41 Ma）峰值年龄，主要来源于长江上游的碎屑沉积物。这些数据与已发表的江汉盆地和长江三角洲钻孔溯源结果相结合表明，长江在34和1之间是完全连通的。2马。如此长的时间间隔可能对应于晚新生代青藏高原的构造隆升和环境变化。