Late Triassic paleogeographic inversion and its control on source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin

FU Xiugen; CHEN Minghao; WANG Jian; WEI Hengye; ZENG Shengqiang; WANG Zhongwei; SHEN Lijun; ZHOU Gang

doi:10.12029/gc20230307001

2025 Vol. 52, No. 4

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FU Xiugen, CHEN Minghao, WANG Jian, WEI Hengye, ZENG Shengqiang, WANG Zhongwei, SHEN Lijun, ZHOU Gang. 2025. Late Triassic paleogeographic inversion and its control on source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin[J]. Geology in China, 52(4): 1485-1499. doi: 10.12029/gc20230307001

Citation:

FU Xiugen, CHEN Minghao, WANG Jian, WEI Hengye, ZENG Shengqiang, WANG Zhongwei, SHEN Lijun, ZHOU Gang. 2025. Late Triassic paleogeographic inversion and its control on source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin[J]. Geology in China, 52(4): 1485-1499. doi: 10.12029/gc20230307001

Late Triassic paleogeographic inversion and its control on source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin

1.
State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservior Geology and Exploitation, Southwest Petroleum University, School of Geoscience and Technology, Southwest Petroleum University, and Qiangtang Institute of Sedimentary Basin, Southwest Petroleum University Chengdu 610050, Sichuan, China
2.
Chengdu Center, China Geological Survey, Chengdu 610081, Sichuan, China
3.
PetroChina Southwest Oil & Gas Field Company, Chengdu 610050, Sichuan, China

Fund Project: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.42241203, No.91955204), Sichuan Province Youth Science and Technology Innovation Research Team Project (No.2021JDTD0020), and Innovation Consortium Project of China National Petroleum Corporation−Southwest Petroleum University (No.2020CX0101).

More Information

Author Bio: FU Xiugen, male, born in 1976, researcher, engaged in research of sedimentary geology and petroleum geology; E-mail: fuxiugen@126.com
Corresponding author: WANG Jian, male, born in 1962, researcher, engaged in research of sedimentary geology and petroleum geology; E-mail: w1962jian@163.com.

Received Date: 07 March 2023

Revised Date: 29 May 2023

Publish Date: 25 July 2025

Abstract

Abstract

This paper is the result of petroleum geological survey engineering.
Objective
This study elucidates the differential tectonic evolution of the Qiangtang Basin during the Late Triassic to Early Jurassic and its controlling effects on the development characteristics and spatial distribution of source rocks.
Methods
This study discusses the sedimentary record of the Late Triassic tectonic transition in the Qiangtang Basin through sedimentary facies analysis and lithofacies palaeogeography reconstruction. Petroleum geochemical studies were also employed to reveal the distribution patterns of Late Triassic to Early Jurassic source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin.
Results
Middle Triassic sequence exhibit shallowing-upward trends, reflecting marine regression linked to regional uplift. In contrast, Early Jurassic sequences display deepening-upward patterns driven by tectonic subsidence and transgression. We further identify a Late Triassic paleogeographic inversion event. In the northern Qiangtang Depression, marine depositional environments of the Middle Triassic transitioned into terrestrial settings during the Late Triassic. Conversely, the sourthern Qiangtang Depression shifted from Middle Triassic terrestrial domains to Late Triassic marine units.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that the distribution of source rocks in the Qiangtang Basin was primarily controlled by the sedimentary change and paleogeographic inversion during the Late Triassic. Late Triassic units, likely associated with foreland basin development, formed in deep-water setting settings of the northern depression alongside coal-bearing units encircling basin margins. Meanwhile, Early Jurassic source rocks, tied to passive continental margin processes, accumulated in deep-water zones of the southern depression, including oil shale units concentrated in lagoon environments along the northern flank of the Southern Qiangtang Depression.
- source rock /
- sedimentary change /
- paleogeographic inversion /
- petroleum geological survey engineering /
- Qiangtang Basin /
- Xizang

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References

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