The importance of an integrated approach to provenance studies: A case study from the Paleocene of the Faroe-Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic

Four different sand types (termed FSP1, FSP2, FSP3, and FSP4) have been recognized in the Paleocene succession of the Faroe-Shetland Basin, NE Atlantic, on the basis of conventional heavy mineral analysis, major element geochemistry of garnet, trace element geochemistry of rutile, U-Pb dating of detrital zircon, and palynofloral analysis. Sand types FSP1, FSP2, and FSP4 were all sourced from the eastern marginof the basin, whereas FSP3 was supplied from the west. No single technique discriminatesall four sand types. Conventional heavy mineral analysis discriminates FSP3 from the other three sand types but does not discriminate FSP1, FSP2, and FSP4. Garnet geochemistry distinguishes FSP1, FSP2 and FSP4, but FSP3 garnet populations overlap those of FSP1 and FSP2. Rutile geochemistry distinguishes FSP2 from FSP1 and FSP4 but cannot be easily applied to FSP3 owing to the scarcity of rutile in this sand type. Zircon age spectra in FSP1, FSP2, and FSP4 are similar to one another, but FSP4 can be recognized on the basis of a higher proportion of Archean zircons. Some of the individual techniques have certain limitations: e.g., one of the key conventional heavy mineral parameters is the presence of clinopyroxene, but this is not always reliable owing to the instability of this mineral during burial diagenesis. Likewise, garnet