Cretaceous detrital zircons and related data from the Jiangcheng area in the southern Simao Basin, southeastern Tibetan Plateau

Based on an integrated analysis of new and published zircon provenance data, we reconstructed a three-stage Cretaceous paleo-drainage evolution history for the SETP. Stage I (~141-109 Ma): A transcontinental drainage system linked the Songpan-Ganzi, Sichuan Basin and Qiangtang to the Paleo-Pacific Ocean via the Simao and Khorat basins under a relatively humid condition; Stage II (~109-90 Ma): A saline lacustrine environment prevailed in the Simao Basin, coeval with a persistently diminished continental-scale fluvial network eastward, amidst widespread aridification; Stage III (~90-71 Ma): A Stage I-type transcontinental drainage was reestablished and moderately expanded, despite subdued fluvial activity under persistent arid climate.

Overall, the Simao Basin provenance signatures reflect Cretaceous transcontinental drainage evolution from establishment, through contraction, to eventual partial recovery with modest expansion. Our results provide a refined model for Cretaceous drainage reorganization in the SETP, which was fundamentally controlled by the interplay of global/regional tectonics and paleoclimatic forcing.