During the Late Carboniferous to Early Permian, the North China Craton experienced profound tectonic–paleogeographic reorganization in response to peripheral oceanic subduction, marking a critical transitional phase characterized by the gradual shift from east–west to north–south partitioning and the transformation from epicontinental marine to terrestrial sedimentary environments. However, sediment provenance, tectonic uplift, and sedimentary responses remain poorly constrained. The western Ordos Basin's position at a multi-tectonic junction makes it ideal for studying regional differential tectonic activity and basin responses. Integrated detrital zircon U–Pb dating, heavy minerals, paleocurrents, and sedimentology revealed that three primary source-to-sink systems — the Alxa Block, Yinshan Orogenic Belt, and North China Craton basement — served as the major provenances during this transitional interval. The North Qilian Tectonic Belt contributed as a stable and minor provenance, whereas the Central Asian Orogenic Belt has a weak source. Cumulative probability distribution function analysis shows a shift from extension to compression during the Late Carboniferous–Early Permian. Detrital zircon ages indicate that the subduction of Paleo-Asian Ocean reorganized the Taiyuan Formation basin into a north-high, south-low structure, with diachronous closure driving Alxa–Yinshan differential uplift. Meanwhile, the North Qilian uplift weakened, likely due to Paleo-Tethys expansion. Notably, from the Late Carboniferous Yanghugou Formation to the Early Permian Taiyuan Formation, the North Qilian Tectonic Belt experienced greater uplift intensity than the North Qinling Tectonic Belt. Differences in tectonic uplift and topography controlled the filling characteristics of different source areas in the western Ordos Basin. The Alxa Block source-to-sink system deposited fan-deltas, gradually expanding distribution southward. The Yinshan Orogenic Belt source-to-sink system deposited different scales of tide-dominated deltas southward and southwestward, while the southern margin consists mainly of submarine fans and barrier bars. This study elucidates multi-provenance differential sediment supply patterns and source-to-sink processes, as well as basin–mountain coupling during the Carboniferous–Permian transition in the western Ordos Basin, providing new constraints on the evolution of the Paleo-Asian and Paleo-Tethys Oceans. • Three primary source-to-sink systems in the western Ordos Basin were identified. And sediment sources of the Yanghugou and Taiyuan formations were elucidated. • Detrital zircon dating reveals that the Carboniferous-Permian tectonic transition of the western Ordos Basin was coupled with the evolution of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and Paleo-Tethys Ocean. • This study reconstructs the sedimentary evolution of the western Ordos Basin, demonstrating that differential filling patterns of provenance systems during the Late Carboniferous-Early Permian transition were jointly controlled by the contrasting tectonic dynamics of the Paleo-Asian Ocean and Paleo-Tethys Ocean, coupled with paleotopographic effects.
Han et al. (Sun,) studied this question.