Geochemistry 3 Article

G
Volume 10, Number 11
Geophysics 14 November 2009

Geosystems Q11008, doi:10.1029/2009GC002819

AN ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF THE EARTH SCIENCES ISSN: 1525-2027

Published by AGU and the Geochemical Society

Evaluating the evolution of the Red River system based

on in situ U-Pb dating and Hf isotope analysis of zircons
Long van Hoang
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK (l.v.hoang@abdn.ac.uk)

Fu-Yuan Wu
Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 9825, Beijing 100029, China

Peter D. Clift
School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Meston Building, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK

Anna Wysocka :
Instytut Geologii Podstawowej, Wydzial Geologii, Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, al. Zwirkii Wigury 93,
02-089 Warsaw, Poland

Anna Swierczewska
Ośrodek Badawczy w Krakowie, Instytut Nauk Geologicznych, Polskiej Akademii Nauk, ul. Senacka 1,
31-002 Krakow, Poland

[1] The Red River originates from SW China and SE Tibet and has a total length >1000 km. In this study,
we present new U-Pb dating and Hf isotopic analysis of zircon grains, from both modern and paleoriver
sands in order to constrain the provenance of the modern river and to decipher drainage evolution through
time. Our data show that the Yangtze and Songpan Garze blocks are the most important sources for
sediment, although this material is mostly reworked via younger sedimentary rocks in the upper reaches of
the Red River. Sands in the Da River and to a lesser extent the Lo River have zircon ages indicating that
they are minor contributors to the net flow, consistent with rock uplift, which is strongest in the upper
reaches of the Red River, rather than precipitation being the primary control on erosion. Sediments eroded
from the metamorphic rocks along the Red River Fault Zone appear to have made a greater contribution
during the Miocene. Zircon ages suggest that the Red River flowed north of the Day Nui Con Voi in the
Middle-Late Miocene. The Red River appears to have had a largely stable provenance since at least the
Late Miocene. Upper Miocene sedimentary rocks NE of the Red River indicate the presence of a separate,
large river in the Late Miocene. Hf isotope data indicate that the Irrawaddy River was never part of the Red
River system. Although we do not exclude the Salween, Mekong, and Yangtze rivers from having been
part of the Red River, any connection must have been pre-Middle Miocene.

Components: 37,447 words, 11 figures, 1 table.

Keywords: zircon dating; Hf isotopes; Red River; erosion; provenance.
Index Terms: 1040 Geochemistry: Radiogenic isotope geochemistry.
Received 1 September 2009; Accepted 15 September 2009; Published 14 November 2009.

Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union 1 of 20

 Geochemistry 3
Geophysics
Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
Hoang, L. V., F.-Y. Wu, P. D. Clift, A. Wysocka, and A. Swierczewska (2009), Evaluating the evolution of the Red River
system based on in situ U-Pb dating and Hf isotope analysis of zircons, Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst., 10, Q11008,
doi:10.1029/2009GC002819.
1. Introduction
[2] The Red River is one of the largest modern
drainage systems in Southeast Asia. The river orig-
inates in SE Tibet and SW China, runs across the
SW edge of the Yangtze Craton, into NW Vietnam
and terminates at the Gulf of Tonkin, in the north-
western South China Sea (Figure 1). Most of sedi-
ments deposited in the Song Hong-Yinggehai Basin
(Gulf of Tonkin) have been eroded from SE Tibet
and SW China and are delivered by the Red River
and its main tributaries, such as the Lo, Chay and Da
rivers [Clift et al., 2006b]. Although the total length
of the Red River and its catchment area observed
today are not as large as those of other rivers in the
regions, a significant annual volume of sediments
(130  106 t/yr), including bed load, suspended
and dissolved load is transported to the Song Hong-
Yinggehai Basin [Milliman and Syvitski, 1992;
Schimanski et al., 2001].
[3] Weathering and erosion processes are con-
trolled by the interactions between lithological,
tectonic and climatic factors. Tectonic-climate
interactions have been recognized to play an
important role in controlling the evolution of the
solid Earth, as well as in the transportation and
deposition of sediments into the oceans. The Tibetan
Plateau, which was formed as a result of the
India-Eurasia collision starting in the Early Ceno-
zoic, has been proposed as one of the best global-
scale examples of such interactions [Molnar et al.,
1993; Prell and Kutzbach, 1992]. Uplift of the
Tibetan Plateau has not only changed crustal
deformation and atmospheric circulation patterns,
but may also have caused the reorganization of
major drainage systems in eastern Tibet during the
Cenozoic [Brookfield, 1998]. The Tibetan Plateau
appears to have gradually uplifted and in turn
changed the regional topographical gradient, with
eastern Tibet tilting eastward, toward the formerly
mountainous parts of the South China Block
affected by Mesozoic arc magmatism (Cathaysia)
in SE China [Wang, 2004]. Reversal of the conti-
nental gradient may have triggered reorganization of
major river systems [Brookfield, 1998; Clark et al.,
2004]. The volume of rock eroded in the Red River
catchment is much less than that present in as
10.1029/2009GC002819
Eocene and younger sediment deposited offshore,
indicating that the paleoriver was much larger
[Clift et al., 2006a]. In addition, Nd isotope com-
position becomes less negative in eNd during the
Late Oligocene–Early Miocene (>24 Ma). This
suggested that the headwaters of the Red River
were captured by the Yangtze River (possibly at the
Yangtze First Bend) at this time [Clift et al., 2006a]
(Figures 1 and 2).
[4] Clift et al. [2008a] used Pb isotopes in K-
feldspars to suggest that in addition to those sedi-
ments generated by erosion in Yunnan, there is also
a significant sediment influx to the modern Red
River from the Cathaysia and SW Yangtze blocks
via the Lo River tributary (Figure 1). However,
because of modest numbers of grains that could be
analyzed using that method the extent to which
different potential source rocks contribute to the
total modern and ancient sediment budget has not
been well defined. Most provenance studies sug-
gest that at least 50 and preferably more than
100 grains are necessary for a robust sediment
budget [Ruhl and Hodges, 2005]. Added to this
is the fact that there was considerable overlap in
isotope composition between several of the major
sources.
[5] In this paper, we use a combination of in situ
U-Pb dating and Hf isotope analysis of single
zircons extracted from modern sediments, as well
as from Miocene sedimentary rocks, to constrain
provenance in the modern Red River. We further
explore how provenance has changed in the past
and test for changes in the river course through
time. U-Pb dating of zircons is a well recognized
and reliable tool for quantifying sedimentary prov-
enance [DeCelles et al., 2007], although when used
alone U-Pb ages can be misleading because of
sediment storage and reworking [Campbell et al.,
2005]. As a result we combine U-Pb dating and Hf
isotope composition to improve our ability to
uniquely identify sources, following a successful
method applied in other fluvial settings [Gerdes
and Zeh, 2006; Iizuka et al., 2005; Liang et al.,
2008; Wu et al., 2007b]. We attempted to derive
>100 grain analyses from each sample, following
the suggestion of Ruhl and Hodges [2005], although
in several cases we achieved slightly less than this
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 Geochemistry 3
Geophysics
Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
Figure 1. Location of the research area with major geological blocks and drainage systems shown. Insert shows the
location within SE Asia. Red dots show sampling locations, while stars indicate named localities.
target, making the statistics less than ideal, although
still a huge improvement of earlier work. The main
objectives of this study were to define the potential
source rocks and how much each of these sources
contributes to total clastic sedimentary load at any
given time. We were particularly interested to test
the model of Clark et al. [2004] and see whether the
headwaters of the Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong,
Red and Yangtze rivers formerly connected into
the Red River.
2. Geological Setting
[6] The modern Red River originates in Yunnan
province, China, effectively part of the SE Tibetan
Plateau from where it runs in a SE direction
through SE China and northern Vietnam to the
Gulf of Tonkin, South China Sea (Figure 1). Total
length of the Red River observed today exceeds
1000 km, but it would have been much longer if it
used to be connected to the Yangtze and other
rivers prior to the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene.
Apart from its major channel, the Red River con-
sists of two big tributaries that join in the lower
catchment close to Hanoi; these are the Da and
Chay/Lo rivers (Figure 1). Notably, all of the main
10.1029/2009GC002819
rivers in SE Asia originate from eastern Tibet
where they are situated very close to each other
(Figure 1). This special geometry may have been
caused by the tendency of rivers to follow geolog-
ical structures and by contractional deformation in
eastern Tibet that has pushed the river courses
closer together with time [Hallet and Molnar,
2001].
[7] The Red River catchment comprises and is
surrounded by different geological blocks that
may formerly have contributed sediment to the
river, i.e., the Qiangtang Block in the NW, the
Yangtze Craton in the NE and the Cathaysia Block
to the E and SW (Figure 1). The bedrock observed
in the region is quite diversified in terms of age and
lithology (Figure 2). In this study, we summarize
major geological features, which have been
described in several previous studies [Commission
for the Geological Map of the World (CGMW),
2000; Hall, 2002; Leloup et al., 2001; Wang et al.,
1998]. The oldest formations observed in the
region consist of Precambrian, largely Neoproter-
ozoic (750–970 Ma), granite-gneiss, migmatite,
amphibolite and mica schist exposed within the
Yangtze Craton and along the Ailao Shan-Red
River Fault Zone (RRFZ). These formations were
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 Geochemistry 3
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Figure 2. Simplified geological map of Asia modified from CGMW [2000]. The region mainly consists of
Mesozoic-Paleozoic sedimentary and metamorphosed sedimentary rocks followed by minor magmatic formations.
AS, Ailao Shan; DNCV, Day Nui Con Voi; CBFZ, Cao Bang-Loc Binh Fault Zone. River names are in red type,
geological blocks are in blue type, and other labels are in black text.

overlain by Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (e.g.,
conglomerate, quartzite, green schist, black schist,
sericite, carbonate), which have been partly meta-
morphosed in places. Paleozoic metamorphic and
sedimentary rocks are the most abundant sources
and are widely observed in many blocks including
the Yangtze Craton, Cathaysia Block, RRFZ, and
Qiangtang Block. Mesozoic, mostly Triassic, for-
mations mainly consist of coarse-grained terrige-
nous sedimentary rocks (e.g., sandstone, siltstone,
mudstone, calcareous mudstone) and thinly bedded
carbonate. These rocks are exposed within the
Yangtze Craton, parts of Central Tibet and northern
Vietnam and most of the Songpan Garze Block. In
contrast, Cenozoic sedimentary rocks and uncon-
solidated sediments are only observed along the
major drainage systems and in coastal areas. Mio-
cene sedimentary rocks are observed along major
river courses and are important for provenance
analysis [Wysocka and Swierczewska, 2005], and
thus for reconstruction of the river development
through time. A simple stratigraphic summary of
the Miocene formations is shown in Figure 3.
[8] Apart from sedimentary and metasedimentary
rocks, some magmatic rocks are also exposed.
The Proterozoic intrusive and volcanic rocks are
the oldest formations and are only observed in the
Qiangtang Block (Central Tibet; 760–1100 Ma)
(Figure 2). These formations mainly consist of
granitoid and rhyolite, formed by partial melting
of continental crust and having experienced several
deformation and metamorphic events [Harris et al.,
1988; Roger et al., 2003]. Most of the younger
magmatic rocks, which formed in Late Paleozoic–
Early Mesozoic (300–130 Ma) are acidic and partly
basaltic volcanic rocks with minor associated gra-
nitic intrusions. Although these formations are

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 Geochemistry 3
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Figure 3. Simplified stratigraphy of the Miocene sedimentary rocks along major rivers.

observed in several places, they are insignificant
sediment sources because of their narrow exposure.
[9] India-Eurasia collision has resulted in a series
of regional faults developing with NW-SE and
NE-SW directions, in which the NW-SE faulting
system is dominant [Leloup et al., 1995; Replumaz
and Tapponnier, 2003; Wang et al., 2000]. The
strike-slip RRFZ is one of the most important
structures in the region. These faults play an
important role not only in controlling source rock
erosion, as well as directing the course of the major
drainage systems and their branches.
3. Sampling Protocol and Analytical
Techniques
[10] Samples used in this study consist of six
modern sediment samples (40529Y003 from the
‘‘First Bend’’ of the Yangtze River, VN05060801
from the Red River at Lao Cai, RS0702 from the
Red River at Yen Bai, VN05061101 from the Da
River, a tributary of the Red River, VN07060501
from the Lo River, another tributary of the Red
River, and Red River at Hanoi (Figure 1)). In
addition, we analyzed four sandstone samples
(Middle Miocene from the Lao Cai Basin/RRFZ;
Upper Miocene, Yen Bai Basin/RRFZ; Upper
Miocene, Lo River Basin/Chay River Fault Zone;
and Upper Miocene, Na Duong Basin/Cao Bang-
Loc Binh Fault Zone (CBFZ)). The most northerly
modern sediment sample was collected at the
‘‘First Bend’’ of the Yangtze, where the river first
reverses its dominant flow from southward to the
NNE (Figure 2). This is the point where the head-
waters of the Red River may have been captured by
the Yangtze River in the Miocene [Clark et al.,
2004] (Figure 1). This sand was collected in order
to determine the detrital ages of material that would
perhaps once have been washed into the Red River
system from sources in eastern Tibet but has now
been lost from the Red River.
[ 11 ] Samples collected from sandstones were
crushed and subjected to mineral separation by
table shaker, magnetic separator and bromoform
heavy liquid. Finally zircon grains were hand
picked under microscope. Because zircon is a
heavy mineral, which is abundant in both U and
Pb, and also has high Hf concentrations, the
isotope system of this element can be used in
conjunction with the crystallization ages to under-
stand petrogenetic processes, i.e., whether the rock
was formed due to melting from the mantle or due
to reworking of preexisting continental crust
[Kinny and Maas, 2003]. The sandstone deposi-
tional ages are roughly assigned on the basis of
biostratigraphy and regional geological constraints
[Wysocka and Swierczewska, 2003], although these
ages are tenuous because of the paucity of bio-
stratigraphic material [Nhan and Danh, 1975] and
the common use of lithostratigraphic methods. All
samples were analyzed at Institute of Geology and
Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, using
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 Geochemistry 3
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a Neptune multicollector inductively coupled than 1000 Ma we chose a discordance threshold of

plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICPMS), an
Agilent 7500a Quadruple (Q)-ICPMS and 193
nm laser ablation system. Details of instrumenta-
tion and analytical method were presented by Xie et
al. [2008]. Here we briefly summarize the general
outline of the analytical process.
3.1. Zircon in Situ U-Pb Analysis
[12] Zircon is a U- and Pb-rich heavy mineral,
which is relatively abundant in many rock types,
making it a useful mineral for dating crystallization
and cooling below 750°C [Hodges, 2003]. Because
of this high closure temperature the U-Pb age is rarely
reset by metamorphic events, allowing the mineral to
be used as a robust provenance indicator, while
recognizing that reworking via sedimentary deposits
can be an issue when matching detrital grain and
bedrock ages [Campbell et al., 2005].
[13] Zircon U-Pb age determinations were under-
taken using a Agilent 7500a ICP-MS machine.
Zircon grains were first mounted and then washed
in ethanol to eliminate any contamination [Wu et
al., 2007a]. The background of 204Pb was less than
100 cps because of the high purity of argon and
helium used [Xie et al., 2008]. Every five samples
analyzed was followed by standard zircon of 91500
[Black et al., 2003b; Wu et al., 2006]. Each spot
analysis lasted for 30 s of background acquisition
and 40 s of sample data acquisition. The aperture
system provided a constant energy density at the
ablation site, which was a constant 30 mm spot size
in this study. 207Pb/206Pb, 206Pb/238U, 207Pb/235U
(235U = 238U/137.88) ratios were corrected using
the 91500 external standard. The fractionation
correction and results of 2 0 7 Pb/ 2 0 6 Pb and
206
Pb/238U ratios were calculated using GLITTER
4.0 [Jackson et al., 2004]. The weighted mean U-Pb
ages and Concordia plots were processed by using
ISOPLOT 3.0 [Ludwig, 2003]. During analyses,
GJ-1 and Temora, run as unknown samples, give
weighted 206Pb/238U ages of 606 ± 4 (GJ-1, n = 58,
2s) and 415 ± 3 (n = 34, 2s) Ma. These compare
well with the published ID-TIMS age of 416.75 ±
20%.
3.2. Zircon in Situ Hf Analysis
[15] Hafnium is a decay product of the lutetium
radioactive isotope, which is the heaviest rare earth
element and is found commonly within zircon
lattices. Lu-Hf dating has been used in geochrono-
logic and petrogenetic studies [Blichert-Toft and
Albarede, 1997; Kinny and Maas, 2003]. The
Lu-Hf system shares many of the advantages of the
Sm-Nd system in terms of constraining the degree
of crustal reworking versus new melting from the
mantle [Dickin, 2005]. Therefore, the Lu/Hf ratio
in the Earth is similar to that in chondrites [Nowell
et al., 1998].
[16] Hf isotope composition was determined by
the established MC-ICPMS method [Iizuka and
Hirata, 2005; Nebel-Jacobsen et al., 2005], which
was operated in static mode with integration for
baseline of 30 s [Wu et al., 2006; Xie et al., 2008].
The external standard used in this experiment was
the 91500. 176Hf has two isobaric interferences of
176
Lu and 176Yb. 176Lu/175Lu = 0.02655 was
adopted in the interference corrections of 176Lu
on 176Hf assuming that their fractionations are
identical. Interference of 176Yb on 176Hf was
corrected using a mass bias obtained online and
assuming 176Yb/172Yb = 0.5887 [Wu et al., 2006].
Because of the extremely low 176Lu/177Hf values in
zircon (normally < 0.002), the isobaric interference
of 176Lu on 176Hf is negligible. During analyses,
GJ-1 and Temora, analyzed as unknown samples,
give weighted 176Hf/177Hf ratios of 0.282024 ± 49
(GJ-1, n = 58, 2 SD) and 0.282679 ± 63 (Temora,
n = 34, 2 SD), with 176Lu/177Hf ratios of 0.00026
and 0.00130, respectively. These values are iden-
tical to those reported in literature [Morel et al.,
2008; Wu et al., 2006]. Hf isotopic composition is
calculated by using the following equations:
2   3
Hf =177 Hf
176
eHf ð0Þ
6
¼ 4  S 7
 15  1000
176 Hf =177 Hf
CHUR;0

0.24 Ma for Temora [Black et al., 2003a], and 8

> h     i
9
>
>
< 176
Hf =177 Hf  176 Lu=177 Hf  elt  1 >
=
608.5 ± 1.5 Ma for GJ-1 [Jackson et al., 2004]. eHf ðtÞ ¼  S S   1  1000
>    >
206 238 >
: 176 Hf =177 Hf  176 Lu=177 Hf ðelt  1Þ >
;
[14] For this study Pb/ U ages are used for CHUR;0 CHUR

those grain younger than 1000 Ma, and for zircon h    i

1 1þ
176
Hf =177 Hf  176 Hf =177 Hf
grains older than 1000 Ma we used the 207Pb/206Pb THf ¼ 
l
  S  DM
176 Lu=177 Hf  176 Lu=177 Hf
ages to determine the crystallization age. Because S DM

some grains are discordant we chose to only plot  

176
Lu=177 Hf
those grains younger than 1000 Ma when the fLu=Hf ¼   S
1
176 Lu=177 Hf
discordance was less than 50%. For grains older CHUR

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 Geochemistry 3
Geophysics
Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
where (176Lu/177Hf)S and (176Hf/177Hf)S are mea-
sured values of samples, (176Lu/177Hf)CHUR =
0.0332 and (176Hf/177Hf)CHUR,0 = 0.282772 are
measured values of chondrite [Blichert-Toft and
Albarede, 1997], (176Lu/177Hf)DM = 0.0384 and
(176Hf/177Hf)DM = 0.28325 [Griffin et al., 2000],
and t = crystallization age of zircon.
4. Analytical Results
[17] In situ U-Pb ages of the zircon grains and their
eHf(t) are summarized in Table 1. The age distri-
bution of zircons taken from the modern sediments
collected from the Red River System and at the
Yangtze First Bend are presented in Figure 4. The
U-Pb ages of these samples show wide distribution
ranges (30 – 2800 Ma) that generally suggest
inputs from a wide variety of sources, with the
exceptions of the Da River and especially the Lo
River samples, which are dominated by grains with
a more restricted age range. The Lo River is unique
in showing a well-defined population clustered
around 400 Ma. Although the Da River sample
has a strong peak around 250 Ma, which is a
typical Indosinian age [Lepvrier et al., 2004], the
sand also contains a minority of grains spanning a
wide range of crystallization ages. Nonetheless, the
more complicated age spectra seen for the main
Red River at Hanoi, at Yen Bai and at Lao Cai, as
well as in the upper Yangtze, indicate that these
sediments were derived by erosion from a number
of heterogeneous and contrasting sources. We
identify a number of common peaks, with 700–
900 Ma being seen at all locations in the Red River.
We also note that a 250 Ma peak is seen in most
samples, except the Lo River. Modest populations
dated at 1800–2000 Ma and 2200–2500 Ma are
seen at the Yangtze First Bend and in the Red
River, especially at Lao Cai.
[18] Figure 5 shows the age spectra for zircons
from fluvial sandstones collected from basins
associated with the RRFZ, as well as from the Na
Duong Basin, an isolated pull-apart basin located
to the NE (Figure 2). Because these basins lie
along the course of the modern river we targeted
them as possible samples of the Red River system
in the past. The common occurrence of Early
Miocene and Oligocene-aged zircons in the sand-
stones confirms that they are not older than this time,
despite the uncertainties in their age assignments.
Sandstone samples collected from the Lo River
Basin (Chay River Fault) have quite similar age
distribution patterns compared to the modern sand
from the Red River at Hanoi (Figures 5c and 5e).
10.1029/2009GC002819
The sandstone from the Yen Bai Basin (Figure 5b)
has a much greater proportion of material from
young Cenozoic sources, is completely missing
the 400 Ma peak and has very few grains dated
around 1800 Ma, which are seen in the modern Red
River at Hanoi. Similarly, zircons from the Na
Duong Basin (CBFZ) fall into a series of well-
defined peaks that contrast with the broader spread
of ages seen in the lower Red River. There are no
grains of 750 Ma age or from the Cenozoic, as
seen in the Red River, although several of the
peaks are common to both systems (e.g., 250, 450,
1800 Ma). The greatest contrast between modern
and ancient zircon populations is the sandstone
from the Lao Cai Basin, which is characterized by
a simple age spectrum, 400 to 900 Ma (Figure 4).
[19] Because of its effectiveness in constraining
petrogenesis, as well as crystallization ages, the
zircon in situ Hf isotopic method is increasingly
used for provenance analysis. The Hf data is
summarized in Table 1 and is presented as eHf
values versus ages for selected samples in Figure 6.
The grains are plotted relative to a depleted mantle
evolution line and chondrite. Figure 6a shows the
relatively restricted range of U-Pb ages for the
zircon grains from the Lao Cai Basin, although
even here there is a wide spread in eHf values. The
other Miocene sandstones show a wide spread of
ages and eHf values. Zircon grains from the
modern Lo River show the most restricted spread
of values. In contrast, zircons from the Da and Red
rivers show a wide spread of eHf values that at the
first order appears to be similar to those seen in the
Miocene sandstones at Yen Bai and in the Lo River
Basin.
5. Discussion
[20] The Red River System is generally seen as one
of the most important pathways for transporting
sediments eroded from eastern Tibet and Southern
China to the South China Sea. However, evolution
of this river and its major tributaries is unlikely to
be a simple history because the region has been
significantly affected by the Cenozoic tectonism
connected to the India-Asia collision.
[21] In this study we use detrital zircon U-Pb
dating to track changes in sediment provenance
connected to shifts in regional drainage patterns.
We found that the U-Pb age spectra of zircon
grains collected from the modern Red River at
Hanoi and at Lao Cai have many of the same
characteristics and age peaks (Figures 4b and 4f).
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 Table 1 (Sample). U-Pb Ages and Hf Isotopes [The full Table 1 is available in the HTML version of this article]
207 207 206 208 207 207 206 208 176 176 176
Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Pb/ Th U Age Dis Yb/ Lu/ Hf/
206 235 238 232 206 235 238 232 177 177 177 C
Pb 1s U 1s U 1s Th 1s Pb 1s U 1s U 1s Th 1s (ppm) (ppm) Th/U (Ma) 1s (%) Hf Hf Hf 2s eHf(0) eHf(t) 2s TDM TDM fLu/Hf

RS0702, Upper Miocene, Song Lo Basin (21°4005500N, 104°5502700E)

0.0526 0.0029 0.0260 0.001 0.0036 0.0001 0.0011 0.0000 311 130 26 1 23.1 0.5 22.7 0.4 1212 4126 0.29 23.1 0.5 12.6 0.038956 0.001296 0.282343 0.000016 15.18 14.69 0.55 1294 2043 0.96
0.0494 0.0033 0.0258 0.002 0.0038 0.0001 0.0011 0.0000 167 107 26 2 24.3 0.5 21.6 0.6 648 747 0.87 24.3 0.5 7.0 0.050969 0.001517 0.282934 0.000016 5.72 6.23 0.56 457 717 0.95
0.0484 0.0018 0.0270 0.001 0.0041 0.0001 0.0011 0.0000 116 51 27.1 1 26.1 0.4 22.2 0.6 662 1609 0.41 26.1 0.4 3.8 0.052516 0.001506 0.282717 0.000013 1.96 1.42 0.46 769 1207 0.95
0.0543 0.0039 0.0311 0.002 0.0042 0.0001 0.0013 0.0000 382 164 31 2 26.8 0.5 26.3 0.4 1222 1585 0.77 26.8 0.5 15.7 0.048715 0.001287 0.282919 0.000017 5.19 5.75 0.62 476 751 0.96
Geophysics
Geosystems

0.0471 0.0018 0.0297 0.001 0.0046 0.0001 0.0034 0.0002 54 50 30 1 29.4 0.5 69 4 22 739 0.03 29.4 0.5 2.0 0.017948 0.000534 0.282772 0.000014 0.01 0.64 0.49 672 1082 0.98
Geochemistry

0.0527 0.0014 0.0343 0.001 0.0047 0.0001 0.0015 0.0000 317 29 34.3 1 30.4 0.5 30.5 0.6 753 1777 0.42 30.4 0.5 12.8 0.035435 0.000949 0.282784 0.000013 0.42 1.07 0.45 663 1056 0.97
0.0443 0.0020 0.0294 0.001 0.0048 0.0001 0.0013 0.0000 57 57 29 1 30.9 0.6 27.1 0.6 1355 1496 0.91 30.9 0.6 6.1 0.015569 0.000508 0.282757 0.000019 0.54 0.12 0.67 693 1117 0.98
G

0.0522 0.0018 0.0369 0.001 0.0051 0.0001 0.0013 0.0000 296 42 37 1 33 0.6 27.1 0.4 2986 1121 2.66 33 0.6 12.1 0.091860 0.002220 0.282783 0.000019 0.38 1.05 0.68 687 1058 0.93
3

0.0536 0.0019 0.0389 0.001 0.0053 0.0001 0.0015 0.0000 353 42 39 1 33.9 0.6 29.7 0.6 1876 2844 0.66 33.9 0.6 15.0 0.030479 0.000981 0.282677 0.000012 3.35 2.63 0.42 813 1295 0.97
0.0490 0.0012 0.0818 0.002 0.0121 0.0002 0.0039 0.0001 147 26 80 2 78 1 78 1 1091 2867 0.38 78 1.0 2.6 0.038495 0.001124 0.282553 0.000018 7.75 6.10 0.65 992 1574 0.97
0.0487 0.0027 0.0826 0.004 0.0123 0.0003 0.0032 0.0001 134 84 81 4 79 2 64 2 334 318 1.05 79 2.0 2.5 0.033124 0.000968 0.282600 0.000016 6.09 4.41 0.58 922 1468 0.97
0.0501 0.0028 0.0911 0.005 0.0132 0.0003 0.0034 0.0001 201 89 89 5 84 2 69 2 363 501 0.73 84 2.0 6.0 0.027472 0.000772 0.282658 0.000019 4.02 2.22 0.67 836 1337 0.98
0.0495 0.0023 0.1043 0.005 0.0153 0.0003 0.0086 0.0003 173 67 101 4 98 2 173 6 77 551 0.14 98 2.0 3.1 0.038484 0.001473 0.282791 0.000017 0.66 2.72 0.59 662 1039 0.96
0.0544 0.0024 0.1290 0.005 0.0172 0.0003 0.0091 0.0002 389 59 123 5 110 2 183 4 214 351 0.61 110 2.0 11.8 0.024889 0.000703 0.282840 0.000013 2.42 4.78 0.47 579 927 0.98
0.0580 0.0039 0.1442 0.009 0.0181 0.0004 0.0107 0.0004 528 103 137 8 115 3 215 9 112 400 0.28 115 3.0 19.1 0.077735 0.002362 0.283008 0.000020 8.35 10.70 0.69 358 548 0.93
0.0524 0.0014 0.1348 0.003 0.0187 0.0003 0.0093 0.0002 305 28 128 3 119 2 186 3 408 1278 0.32 119 2.0 7.6 0.085368 0.002691 0.283006 0.000015 8.29 10.69 0.54 364 553 0.92
0.0565 0.0013 0.1471 0.003 0.0189 0.0003 0.0010 0.0000 472 22 139 3 121 2 20.6 0.4 16100 5151 3.13 121 2.0 14.9 0.123262 0.004128 0.282518 0.000018 9.00 6.68 0.64 1133 1651 0.88
0.0517 0.0017 0.1566 0.005 0.0220 0.0004 0.0105 0.0002 271 40 148 4 140 3 211 4 213 756 0.28 140 3.0 5.7 0.130376 0.003267 0.282903 0.000021 4.64 7.41 0.75 526 785 0.90
0.0558 0.0017 0.1973 0.006 0.0257 0.0005 0.0350 0.0009 443 33 183 5 163 3 696 18 57 1276 0.04 163 3.0 12.3 0.020611 0.000604 0.282381 0.000020 13.81 10.30 0.69 1217 1955 0.98
0.0461 0.0029 0.1841 0.011 0.0290 0.0005 0.0116 0.0018 138 172 10 184 3 232 37 74 379 0.19 184 3.0 6.5 0.010483 0.000350 0.282819 0.000016 1.65 5.65 0.56 604 975 0.99
0.0546 0.0060 0.2240 0.024 0.0298 0.0007 0.0093 0.0002 395 252 205 20 189 4 187 3 166 270 0.61 189 4.0 8.5 0.050414 0.001365 0.282852 0.000018 2.82 6.81 0.63 573 900 0.96
0.0508 0.0010 0.2090 0.004 0.0298 0.0005 0.0079 0.0001 233 19 193 3 189 3 159 2 1476 2259 0.65 189 3.0 2.1 0.066371 0.002110 0.282509 0.000020 9.31 5.42 0.72 1083 1671 0.94
0.0573 0.0067 0.2484 0.028 0.0315 0.0010 0.0109 0.0006 502 194 225 23 200 6 218 12 97 123 0.79 200 6.0 12.5 0.090313 0.002666 0.282980 0.000023 7.37 11.42 0.80 402 609 0.92
0.0515 0.0014 0.2261 0.006 0.0318 0.0006 0.0095 0.0001 263 28 207 5 202 3 191 3 599 627 0.96 202 3.0 2.5 0.048931 0.001228 0.282831 0.000017 2.08 6.35 0.60 601 949 0.96
0.0462 0.0075 0.2107 0.034 0.0331 0.0010 0.0105 0.0006 9 288 194 28 210 6 212 11 68 77 0.89 210 6.0 7.6 0.022298 0.000759 0.282432 0.000019 12.01 7.51 0.69 1151 1840 0.98
0.0559 0.0019 0.2586 0.009 0.0336 0.0006 0.0101 0.0002 449 42 234 7 213 4 204 5 239 523 0.46 213 4.0 9.9 0.067029 0.001971 0.282757 0.000017 0.53 3.88 0.62 720 1114 0.94
0.0527 0.0013 0.2494 0.006 0.0343 0.0006 0.0110 0.0002 316 25 226 5 218 4 221 3 362 650 0.56 218 4.0 3.7 0.112703 0.002434 0.282827 0.000020 1.96 6.40 0.71 626 955 0.93
0.0551 0.0026 0.2624 0.012 0.0345 0.0007 0.0107 0.0003 417 66 237 10 219 4 216 6 88 167 0.53 219 4.0 8.2 0.056944 0.001451 0.282806 0.000021 1.19 5.79 0.75 640 1004 0.96
0.0496 0.0011 0.2426 0.005 0.0355 0.0006 0.0088 0.0001 177 21 221 4 225 4 177 2 1369 898 1.52 225 4.0 1.8 0.056538 0.001715 0.282772 0.000016 0.01 4.67 0.56 694 1081 0.95
0.0517 0.0043 0.2545 0.020 0.0357 0.0008 0.0112 0.0002 272 189 230 16 226 5 226 4 149 231 0.64 226 5.0 1.8 0.096742 0.002644 0.282888 0.000028 4.11 8.69 0.98 539 818 0.92
0.0525 0.0032 0.2678 0.016 0.0370 0.0008 0.0128 0.0004 308 94 241 13 234 5 257 8 139 234 0.59 234 5.0 3.0 0.048039 0.001287 0.282819 0.000020 1.66 6.61 0.72 618 974 0.96
0.0516 0.0027 0.2682 0.013 0.0377 0.0007 0.0119 0.0002 268 121 241 10 238 4 238 4 1057 1799 0.59 238 4.0 1.3 0.082843 0.002370 0.282655 0.000019 4.13 0.72 0.68 877 1343 0.93
0.0531 0.0033 0.2765 0.017 0.0378 0.0008 0.0113 0.0004 333 99 248 13 239 5 228 7 57 80 0.72 239 5.0 3.8 0.026268 0.000745 0.282766 0.000016 0.22 4.92 0.56 684 1094 0.98
0.0564 0.0047 0.2981 0.024 0.0384 0.0008 0.0119 0.0002 466 190 265 19 243 5 240 4 68 119 0.57 243 5.0 9.1 0.039872 0.001052 0.282800 0.000021 0.99 6.16 0.76 642 1017 0.97
0.0515 0.0019 0.2759 0.010 0.0389 0.0007 0.0100 0.0002 262 49 247 8 246 4 201 5 170 313 0.54 246 4.0 0.4 0.054850 0.001493 0.282250 0.000016 18.46 13.31 0.57 1432 2247 0.96
0.0514 0.0014 0.2772 0.007 0.0391 0.0007 0.0106 0.0002 258 28 248 5 247 4 213 3 330 470 0.70 247 4.0 0.4 0.099310 0.002419 0.282799 0.000025 0.96 6.00 0.89 667 1019 0.93
0.0525 0.0010 0.2903 0.005 0.0401 0.0007 0.0088 0.0001 309 18 259 4 253 4 176 2 1916 1851 1.04 253 4.0 2.4 0.097081 0.002694 0.282595 0.000017 6.27 1.16 0.60 974 1478 0.92
0.0529 0.0027 0.3124 0.015 0.0429 0.0009 0.0127 0.0004 322 75 276 12 271 5 255 8 118 243 0.48 271 5.0 1.8 0.048545 0.001223 0.282773 0.000022 0.02 5.76 0.78 683 1078 0.96
hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system

0.0633 0.0056 0.3932 0.033 0.0451 0.0010 0.0138 0.0002 718 193 337 24 284 6 278 5 69 80 0.87 284 6.0 18.7 0.022108 0.000608 0.282518 0.000020 8.99 2.86 0.70 1028 1649 0.98
0.0529 0.0036 0.3427 0.022 0.0470 0.0011 0.0120 0.0003 325 107 299 17 296 7 240 6 336 198 1.70 296 7.0 1.0 0.062842 0.001733 0.282937 0.000018 5.85 12.03 0.65 455 705 0.95
0.0529 0.0013 0.3646 0.008 0.0500 0.0009 0.0146 0.0002 323 25 316 6 315 5 293 5 178 350 0.51 315 5.0 0.3 0.046245 0.001354 0.282383 0.000016 13.76 7.12 0.57 1239 1950 0.96
0.0622 0.0028 0.4462 0.019 0.0520 0.0010 0.0223 0.0007 682 59 375 14 327 6 445 15 65 235 0.28 327 6.0 14.7 0.016046 0.000587 0.282648 0.000017 4.37 2.70 0.60 845 1356 0.98
0.0543 0.0013 0.4531 0.010 0.0605 0.0010 0.0151 0.0002 383 23 379 7 379 6 302 4 303 299 1.01 379 6.0 0.0 0.049797 0.001558 0.282241 0.000016 18.76 10.82 0.57 1446 2264 0.95
0.0579 0.0016 0.6698 0.018 0.0839 0.0015 0.0238 0.0004 525 29 521 11 520 9 475 8 107 202 0.53 520 9.0 0.2 0.027293 0.000777 0.282544 0.000015 8.07 3.12 0.53 996 1589 0.98
0.0609 0.0019 0.7582 0.022 0.0904 0.0016 0.0277 0.0005 634 33 573 13 558 10 552 10 187 234 0.80 558 10.0 2.7 0.032527 0.000941 0.282313 0.000027 16.25 4.30 0.95 1324 2104 0.97
0.0602 0.0028 0.7606 0.034 0.0916 0.0018 0.0272 0.0006 611 61 574 19 565 11 543 11 71 57 1.25 565 11.0 1.6 0.056444 0.001734 0.282329 0.000021 15.68 3.88 0.74 1329 2068 0.95
0.0597 0.0019 0.7564 0.023 0.0918 0.0017 0.0449 0.0009 594 36 572 13 566 10 888 17 178 439 0.40 566 10.0 1.1 0.054902 0.001620 0.282291 0.000018 17.00 5.15 0.63 1378 2152 0.95
0.0602 0.0043 0.7944 0.056 0.0958 0.0022 0.0478 0.0016 609 113 594 32 590 13 944 31 9 17 0.52 590 13.0 0.7 0.011304 0.000320 0.282117 0.000018 23.15 10.28 0.65 1570 2535 0.99
0.0638 0.0019 0.8664 0.021 0.0985 0.0017 0.0302 0.0006 734 63 634 11 606 10 602 11 64 719 0.09 606 10.0 4.6 0.067312 0.001963 0.282218 0.000015 19.61 7.05 0.54 1497 2315 0.94
0.0619 0.0014 0.8425 0.017 0.0988 0.0017 0.0266 0.0004 670 20 621 10 607 10 531 7 308 389 0.79 607 10.0 2.3 0.053579 0.001587 0.282369 0.000017 14.24 1.50 0.59 1266 1978 0.95
0.0655 0.0013 0.8965 0.016 0.0993 0.0017 0.0270 0.0004 790 17 650 9 610 10 539 7 258 507 0.51 610 10.0 6.6 0.012839 0.000387 0.282205 0.000016 20.07 6.79 0.56 1453 2344 0.99
0.0609 0.0018 0.8408 0.023 0.1002 0.0018 0.0259 0.0004 634 29 620 13 616 10 518 8 246 222 1.11 616 10.0 0.6 0.048781 0.001330 0.282489 0.000019 9.99 3.05 0.67 1088 1710 0.96
10.1029/2009GC002819

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Figure 4. U-Pb zircon age data of the modern sediments collected along the Red River and its tributaries and from
(a) the ‘‘Yangtze First Bend,’’ (b) the Red River at Lao Cai, (c) the Red River at Yen Bai, (d) the Lo River just above
its confluence with the Chay River, (e) the Da River, and (f) the Red River at Hanoi. The 200 – 300 and 400– 500 Ma
grains, which reflect erosion from the Indosinian and Caledonian orogenies, respectively, are observed in almost
every modern sediment. Only the Lo River (Figure 4d) shows no Indosinian influence.

This strongly suggests that much of the sediment in
the river at Hanoi is derived from erosion upstream
of Lao Cai, i.e., in the upper reaches of the river in
SW China, rather than in the lower reaches. The
largest observed difference between these two
samples is that the Red River at Hanoi shows a
significant peak at 400 Ma that matches one
observed in the Lo River. Because the Lo River
joins the Red downstream of Lao Cai this discrep-
ancy is not unexpected and suggests that the Lo
River makes a significant contribution to the bulk
modern load of the Red River, as has been inferred
from bulk sediment Nd and Sr isotope data [Clift et
al., 2008a]. Our data suggest less input from the Lo
River than inferred by Clift et al. [2008a]. This
may reflect the fact that our zircon sand sample
was taken from quite far upstream in the Lo River,
while the earlier Nd and Sr work was performed on
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Figure 5. (a – d) U-Pb zircon age distribution of the Miocene sandstones collected along the Red River Fault Zone
and the Na Duong Basin, compared with the age range in (e) the modern river at Hanoi [Clift et al., 2006b] and (f) the
upper Mekong River [Bodet and Schärer, 2000]. The age spectrum of samples collected from the Yen Bai, Lo River,
Na Duong, and Hanoi Basins shows a wide range similar to the modern Red River, while the Middle Miocene in the
Lao Cai Basin has a very narrow age range.

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Figure 6. Diagrams showing the relationship between the Hf isotope character and the U-Pb age for grains from
(a) the Miocene sandstone samples and (b) the modern sediments from the Red River system. Mantle evolution
line is from Kinny and Maas [2003].

a sample taken at the Lo-Red confluence. Our work
likely underestimates the net flux from the Lo
River.
[22] The very restricted range of observed U-Pb
ages in the Lo River (Figure 4d) indicates that this
basin is filled by sediment eroded from rocks
formed during a limited time period and that the
sources were not thermally overprinted by the
Triassic Indosinian orogeny [Carter and Clift,
2008; Lepvrier et al., 2004]. The sampled location
lies on the Lo River upstream of its confluence
with the Chay River, so that we are unable to
constrain the influence of the Chay to the bulk
sediment flux in the Red River. In contrast, the
wide range of zircon ages in the Da River suggests
a very heterogeneous source composition, albeit
with a dominance in grains formed during the
Indosinian Orogeny.

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Figure 7. U-Pb zircon age spectrum of the major potential sources to the Red River System and its neighbors: (a)
The Qiangtang Block has a narrow age span, while the age distributions of the (b) Songpan Garze, (c) Yangtze, and
(d) Cathaysia blocks are more diversified and complicated. (e) The Ailao Shan Block also has a narrow age span,
similar to the Qiangtang Block. References are provided in section 5.

[23] Further constraints on provenance can be
gained by looking at Figure 7, which shows the
U-Pb age spectra derived from bedrock samples
collected from various potential source rocks. For
comparison we compiled published bedrock data
from potential source regions in the Qiangtang
Block of Central Tibet [Roger et al., 2000, 2003],
in the Songpan Garze Block [Bruguier et al., 1997;
Liu et al., 2004; Weislogel et al., 2006], in the
Yangtze Craton [Hacker et al., 1998; Li, 1999;
Ling et al., 2003; Xue et al., 1997; Zheng et al.,
2006], in the Cathaysia Block [Li et al., 1989,
2002; 2005], and the Ailao Shan and Day Nui Con
Voi Belts (RRFZ) [Schärer et al., 1990; Zhang and
Schärer, 1999] (Figure 1). The Qiangtang Block
(Central Tibet; Figure 7a) is largely characterized
by a population centered at 210 Ma, possibly
linked to the latter phases of the Indosinian orog-
eny [Yin and Harrison, 2000]. A few older grains
span from 800–1100 Ma and at 2200 Ma. Not
surprisingly, there are very few grains of this age in
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 Geochemistry 3
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the modern Red River because this block now lies
outside the drainage.
[24] In contrast, grains from the Ailao Shan and
Day Nui Con Voi Belt, the ranges that form the
core of the RRFZ (Figure 7e) show the Cenozoic
ages concentrated at 27–33 Ma. The very young
age and extremely narrow distribution of these
grains are related to melting and exhumation trig-
gered by motion on the RRFZ [Gilley et al., 2003;
Leloup et al., 2001], although the total volume of
these dikes is very small. Such grains are rare in the
modern river, indicating that despite deep exhuma-
tion only a modest amount of sediment has been
generated from the rocks of the fault zone (Figure 2).
The Songpan Garze and Yangtze Craton (Figures 7b
and 7c) have more complicated age distribution
patterns. The highest age probability and most
numerous population of the Songpan Garze grains
is centered at 270–290 Ma, and is followed by
more peaks at 440 Ma (the so-called ‘‘Caledo-
nian’’ orogeny, but no relation to the Paleozoic
events in Laurentia and Baltica), 1900 Ma
(Luliangian orogeny) and 2500 Ma.
[25] The Indosinian peak at 250 Ma is ubiquitous
in the region and is not unique to the Songpan
Garze. The origin of the Indosinian Orogeny is
debated, but is often linked to a collision between
Indochina and South China in the Triassic [Lu et
al., 1999], although others argue that it is just a
reactivation event driven by accretion of Sibumasu
block to Indochina [Carter and Clift, 2008]. The
Caledonian Orogeny in East Asia is manifest by a
number of Early Paleozoic magmatic events and
metamorphism that has various been attributed to
collision between North China and the Yangtze
Craton or to a period of subduction under the
Yangtze Craton [Lu et al., 1999]. The origin of
the Luliangian Orogeny is even less well known
[Li et al., 2000], although it is noteworthy that it is
synchronous with a series of crustal formation
events globally [Condie, 1998; Hawkesworth and
Kemp, 2006]. However, a 1.7–2.0 Ga population
appears to be distinctive of the Songpan Garze
block, but is also seen in the modern Red River at
Hanoi and at Lao Cai (Figures 4b and 4e). Because
the Red River does not now directly drain the
Songpan Garze we infer that these grains were
reworked via sedimentary basins now lying in the
upper Red River, and experiencing inversion and
erosion. Our work broadly supports the findings of
Clift et al. [2006b] in showing that the main
sources of sediment came from the upper reaches
of the Red River in SW China. This area is not the
10.1029/2009GC002819
zone of greatest monsoon precipitation, but it is an
area of known modern rapid rock deformation
[Qiao et al., 2007; Zhang et al., 2004] suggesting
that in this region tectonics may be the dominant
control on erosion rates rather than climatic pro-
cesses alone [cf. Reiners et al., 2003]. We note that
the heaviest monsoon rains are in recorded in
middle Red River and Da River basins, where
erosion is more moderate.
[26] The Yangtze Craton zircon age spectrum is
characterized by two high and narrow spikes cen-
tered at 200 Ma, and at 800 Ma (Figure 7c).
Some older grains are also observed, but they do
not account for a significant portion of the total age
spectrum. The 800 Ma grouping is unique to the
Yangtze Craton, but is seen in the Red River
sediments at Lao Cai and Hanoi (Figures 4b and
4f), indicating derivation from the upper reaches
where the Red River erodes the craton’s edge. The
Cathaysia terrane (South China Block) has a wide
range of zircon U-Pb ages, mostly 800–1900 Ma,
but with a large peak at 1450 Ma (Figure 7d).
Because the Red River does not currently erode the
Cathaysia terrane it is unsurprising that there are no
grains of this 1450 Ma age in the modern system.
It is also noteworthy that the older sandstones do
not contain grains of this age (Figure 5), consistent
with models that indicate that the Pearl River was
never involved with drainage reorganization of the
Red River [Clark et al., 2004].
6. Reconstructing River Geometries
[27] The Upper Miocene sandstone sampled from
the Na Duong Basin was collected far from the Red
River, but still has some similarities in the age
populations. The Na Duong Basin (Figure 5d)
seems to share some similar characteristics with
the Songpan Garze (Figure 7b) and the modern
sediment at the first bend on the Yangtze (Figure 4a)
(i.e., from sources in eastern Tibet), suggesting that
the Na Duong Basin was filled by a river derived
from the north, but which is no longer active. The
wide spread of ages suggests that it could have been
quite a large river because the sources must have
been from a region with a heterogeneous age
structure, in which case the modern Na Sa river
represents a reduced version of this older river.
[28] In the Red River system itself we note that in
terms of U-Pb age and Hf isotope character the
Upper Miocene sandstones in the Lo River Basin
show strong similarities with the modern Red
River (Figure 6). We conclude that the Red River
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 Geochemistry 3
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Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
Figure 8. Maps showing the development of the rivers
in SE Asia since the Lower Miocene based on the
provenance interpretations presented here. The tectonic
blocks are from Hall [2002]. Stages of the model are (a)
Eocene to Early Miocene, (b) Middle to Late Miocene,
and (c) the present.
was largely in its modern form by the Late Mio-
cene, assuming that the depositional ages are
correct, but that the river was then located NE of
the Day Nui Con Voi range (Figure 2), in the
course now occupied by the Chay River, not to
the SW as it is now (Figures 8 and 9). Interestingly,
the provenance of Upper Miocene sandstone in the
Yen Bai Basin is different from the Lo River basin
sedimentary rocks (Figures 5b and 5c), consistent
10.1029/2009GC002819
with the main river being located on the other (i.e.,
NE) side of the Day Nui Con Voi at that time
(Figure 9). Erosion from Cenozoic sources, pre-
sumably the rocks of the RRFZ was stronger here
than in any other sample analyzed, consistent with
Yen Bai’s proximity to the fault and suggesting that
the Day Nui Con Voi were more erosive shortly
after they finished the main phase of left-lateral
motion around 15 Ma [Gilley et al., 2003].
[29] Nonetheless, there is a wide spread of ages in
the Yen Bai Basin sandstone, which would indicate
deposition from a river draining a wide area with
heterogeneous sources. This is in stark contrast to
the Middle Miocene sandstone from the Lao Cai
Basin (Figures 4a and 5a), which has a very tightly
clustered range, indicative of erosion from a lim-
ited array of bedrocks, presumably in the local
area, although there are no bedrock data to confirm
this. Although the measured age range is typical of
the Yangtze Craton (Figure 7c), it is in contrast
with the wide range found in the modern river at
this point, suggesting that the basin was not filled
by a river draining as wide and diverse an area as it
does now. While it is possible that the Lao Cai
Basin sample indicates the absence of the Red
River at this time, it is equally plausible that the
river was active, but simply located on the east side
of the Day Nui Con Voi, leaving the Lao Cai Basin
isolated.
[ 30 ] Regarding possible former connections
between the headwaters of the Mekong and the
Red River we note that zircons in the upper
Mekong have a resolvably younger age than those
found in the modern or ancient Red River [Bodet
and Schärer, 2000], being 200–240 Ma compared
to 230–270 Ma (Figure 5). This observation indi-
cates that any connection that might have existed
was severed before the Late Miocene.
[31] Our conclusions drawn just on the basis of the
U-Pb ages can be tested by the additional dimen-
sion of the Hf isotope data. Figure 10 shows the
zircons from the Upper Miocene sandstone in the
Lo River Basin. We compare these with existing
data from the headwaters of the Salween, Irrawaddy
and Mekong rivers [Bodet and Schärer, 2001;
Liang et al., 2008], as well as our new data from
the Yangtze’s first bend, each representing erosion
from the upper reaches of those rivers. If the
drainage capture model of Clark et al. [2004] is
correct then we might anticipate finding grains from
these areas in paleo–Red River sands. Figure 10
shows that there is no evidence to support flow
from Irrawaddy sources into the Red River in the
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Figure 9. Map showing a close-up of the RRFZ showing how the local basin deposits found in the Middle Miocene
at Lao Cai can be reconciled with an active Red River at that time, flowing on the NE side of the Day Nui Con Voi.
Map based on that of Leloup et al. [2001].

Late Miocene. Although the sand does show some in the Paleogene would be consistent with paleo-
matches to the Mekong and Salween zircons younger elevation data for surface uplift in central and
than 1000 Ma, there is not much support for erosion southern Tibet prior to the Middle Miocene and
from their older components, and as noted above in possibly earlier [Harris, 2006; Rowley and Currie,
detail the Mekong grains tend to be younger than the 2006; Wang et al., 2008; Wu et al., 2007c]. Although
paleo–Red River sandstones (Figure 5). Further- major surface uplift in Yunnan and northern
more, Pb isotope data ( 20 7 Pb/ 20 4Pb versus Vietnam is dated as Late Miocene to Pliocene,
206
Pb/204Pb) from K-feldspars grains in the Hanoi respectively [Clark et al., 2005; Schoenbohm
Basin further indicate that these rivers were also
never part of the Red River system since the
Eocene [Clift et al., 2008a]. The K-feldspar grains
from this earlier study did not plot in the Mekong
or Salween fields, as defined by Bodet and Schärer
[2000]. The Yangtze River grains also show only
limited overlap with those from the Late Miocene
Red River, although its influence is hard to defi-
nitely exclude. Nonetheless, our study would sug-
gest that if the Yangtze did formerly flow into the
upper Red River then this connection was broken
prior to deposition of the Lo River Basin sand-
stone, i.e., early in the Miocene or earlier, as
indicated by bulk sediment Nd isotope data from
the Hanoi Basin [Clift et al., 2006a]. Unfortunately
there are no suitable sandstones predating those
analyzed here exposed in Vietnam or China, which
might allow us to examine earlier drainage systems.
Figure 10. Diagram showing the relationship between
Reconstruction of the drainage evolution during the
the Hf isotope character and the U-Pb ages for zircon
Paleogene will require drilling in the Hanoi Trough grains from the Upper Miocene of the Lo River Basin
or offshore Song Hong–Yinggehai Basin. compared with fields of compositions for the head-
[32] While a Paleogene loss of the Yangtze from waters of the Irrawaddy, Salween, and Mekong River, as
the Red River is earlier than originally envisaged determined by Bodet and Schärer [2000]. The field for
the upper Yangtze is derived from our own data from the
by Clark et al. [2004], large-scale drainage capture first bend sample.
15 of 20
 Geochemistry 3
Geophysics
Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
Figure 11. Diagrams showing the relationship between
the Hf isotope character and the U-Pb ages for zircon
grains from the modern Red River at Yen Bai and the
Upper Miocene sandstone, also from Yen Bai. (a) The
entire range of grain ages to 4000 Ma and (b) a close-up
of just the last 500 Ma. Gray band shows the age range of
grains associated with the Indosinian Orogeny. The
RRFZ field is defined from the range of values seen in
the Middle Miocene sandstone from Lao Cai.
et al., 2006], it is important to remember that
drainage capture does not require large uplift but
could be caused by regional topographic gradient
change, at the start of the uplift process. In fact,
once major uplift has occurred and the rivers lie
in deep gorges headwater capture is much harder
to achieve. Our data only provides a lower bound
to the initiation of major surface uplift in the Red
River basin.
[33] The Hf isotope data is also useful for resolving
how different the Red River was in the past
compared to its present condition. In Figure 11
we plot Late Miocene zircons from the Yen Bai
Basin together with data from the modern Red
River at Yen Bai. As noted above, the Yen Bai
10.1029/2009GC002819
Basin Miocene seems to have a significantly dif-
ferent age spectrum to the contemporaneous Upper
Miocene in the Lo River Basin and the modern
river (Figure 5b), although on close inspection the
main differences are in the relative magnitudes of
the peaks. The differences are less apparent when
the Hf isotope is also considered (Figure 11a). The
grains in both samples appear to occupy similar
regions in Hf isotope and U-Pb age space, suggest-
ing that the sources may be quite similar, but that
the relative contributions from each particular
source to each sand have changed significantly.
[34] Figure 11b shows a close-up on the past
500 Ma of zircon ages, demonstrating that the
number of the Cenozoic grains with high eHf
values was much higher in the Late Miocene than
it is in the modern river. These grains are clearly
eroded from metamorphic and volcanic rocks in
the RRFZ, which ceased rapid motion after 15 Ma
and is presently in slow right-lateral motion
[Leloup et al., 1993; Replumaz et al., 2001]. The
RRFZ was clearly more important as a source in
the Late Miocene. In addition, we note that the
modern river has a higher proportion of Triassic
Indosinian grains. We conclude that the Late Mio-
cene Red River did not differ substantially from the
present system in its extent, but that the patterns of
erosion have changed, reflecting the changing
patterns of active rock uplift in the basin. Any
major drainage capture in the upper reaches must
have predated the Late Miocene.
[35] Our proposed drainage evolution can be fur-
ther assessed through consideration of the offshore
sediment budget because major loss of drainage
area should be marked by a decrease in sediment
supply. Sedimentation rates in the Song Hong–
Yinggehai Basin increased sharply at the end of the
Miocene [Clift and Sun, 2006], although this is a
feature common across South, Southeast and East
Asia [Clift, 2006] and is inferred to be caused by
monsoon intensification. Nonetheless, this does not
favor the proposed Late Miocene drainage loss of
Clark et al. [2004]. The greatest fall in sedimenta-
tion is seen to occur around 11 Ma, which would
be consistent with the pre–Late Miocene loss we
infer here, but again this decrease is a Pan-Asian
phenomenon. Reconstructions show that sediment
flux in the Song Hong – Yinggehai Basin was
increasing slowly at the time of proposed headwa-
ter loss in the Oligocene [Clift and Sun, 2006],
which would argue against this process happening
at all. However, because the Asian monsoon begins
to strengthen significantly in the Early Miocene
16 of 20
 Geochemistry 3
Geophysics
Geosystems G hoang et al.: evolution of the red river system
[Clift et al., 2008b] the loss of drainage area might
have been offset by the increased sediment flux
driven by the more erosive climate.
7. Conclusions
[36] In this study, we used in situ zircon U-Pb
dating and Hf isotope compositions in order to
constrain the provenance of detrital sediments in
the modern and ancient Red River system in order
to evaluate the evolutionary history of this drainage
system and test models that link drainage reorga-
nization to Tibetan surface uplift, as well as assess-
ing whether the modern erosion patterns are largely
a function of tectonically driven rock uplift or
precipitation intensity.
[37] The zircon U-Pb dating and Hf isotope com-
positions demonstrate that erosion from rocks
formed during the Indosinian orogeny, which oc-
curred widely during the Triassic, is very common
and is not a useful provenance tool outside Cathay-
sia. A combination of both types of age data
suggest that the Yangtze Craton and Songpan
Garze terrane are the most important sources to
the modern Red River (even though the Songpan
Garze now lies outside the drainage), but that much
of this material is reworked via sedimentary basins
in the upper reaches. In contrast, the Cathaysia
Block does not appear to have been an important
source. The Ailao Shan Belt only has limited
detrital sedimentary contribution. Because the
dominant sources into the modern river lie in the
upper reaches away from the regions of current
strongest summer monsoon rainfall, but in an area
experiencing rapid modern surface deformation
[Qiao et al., 2007] we conclude that, in contrast
to the Himalaya [Thiede et al., 2004; Wobus et al.,
2003], erosion patterns in the Red River are not
presently mostly climatically controlled, but are
more linked to rock uplift rates [Burbank et al.,
2003].
[38] The Middle Miocene sandstone from the Lao
Cai Basin was derived from local sources and
constrains the paleo–Red River to have run through
the Lo River Basin, northeast of the Day Nui Con
Voi mountain range, not through the Lao Cai Basin
during the Middle-Late Miocene (Figure 9). Upper
Miocene sandstones in the Lo River Basin show a
strong similarity with the modern Red River con-
firming that the main river course was in that
position at that time. In addition, this sample
suggests that the Red River basin has not changed
much in its sources since the Late Miocene.
10.1029/2009GC002819
[39] Upper Miocene sandstones from Yen Bai
confirm that the sources to the river during that
period were equivalent to those known today, but
that the relative influences were different, particu-
lar with more erosion from the RRFZ in the Day
Nui Con Voi at that time. Combined Hf isotope and
U-Pb ages show that the Irrawaddy, and probably
the Salween and Mekong headwaters, has not been
connected to the Red River since the Late Miocene,
if ever [Brookfield, 1998; Clark et al., 2004].
Comparison of old Red River sediments and grains
from the Yangtze First Bend show some similari-
ties, but few characters that would require former
connection, although our data do not preclude this
possibility. If large-scale headwater capture did
occur then it must have been earlier than the Late
Miocene, consistent with bulk sediment isotope
studies of the Hanoi Basin indicating Oligocene
capture [Clift et al., 2006a]. We further demon-
strated that the Late Miocene sedimentary materials
from the Na Duong Basin may share the some of
the same sources as the Red River, but they were
fed by another drainage system, possibly the Na Sa
River.
Acknowledgments
[40] We kindly thank the National Environment Research
Council (NERC) in the United Kingdom, the College of
Physical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, and Chinese
Academy of Sciences for funding and support for this project.
We thank Mai Thanh Tan (Hanoi University of Mining and
Geology) and Fu-Kun Chen (Institute of Geology and Geo-
physics) and many other colleagues for sampling and technical
support.
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