U-Pb detrital zircon ages from Gorgoglione Flysch sandstones in Southern Apennines (Italy) as provenance indicators

Twenty-one sandstone samples belonging to the intermediate part of Gorgoglione Flysch (GF)dated Middle-Miocene, cropping out in the Southern Apennines (Italy), have been studied tohighlight the detritus provenance. Petrographic and chemical composition indicates that thesuccessions consist of feldspatho-quartzose and litho-feldspatho-quartzose arenites interbedded with pelitic and calciclastic layers and reveals a provenance from a basement formedby low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks with abundant granitoids covered by sedimentary rocks in which a volcanic component was also present. In the Mediterranean area, basements with these characteristics are widespread both in western and southwestern domains.The supply provenance of Gorgoglione Flysch has been better detailed utilizing U-Pb detritalzircon ages recording the geological history of the source rocks. Fifty-eight crystals from sixsamples of coarse- and fine-grained sandstones have been analysed using the U-Pb isotopicsystematic (LA-ICP-MS). They produce 70 concordant zircon ages forming three defined clusters at 672 ± 28 Ma, 458 ± 9 Ma and 297 ± 8 Ma, and four zircon ages corresponding to24 ± 1 Ma. An evaluation of the entire collected data suggests that the provenance area is betteridentified in northwestern sectors of the Mediterranean area in which the Sardinia-Corsica(pro-part) block plays a fundamental role