Combined detrital-zircon fission-track and U-Pb dating: a new approach to understanding hinterland evolution

For detrital-zircon provenance studies, we present a new methodology that combines low-temperature fission-track with high-temperature U-Pb single-grain dating methods. This approach removes single-technique-based bias which can lead to misinterpretation of source. By obtaining data from the same samples and/or grains, it is possible to identify both the underlying age structure of the source terrane and subsequent thermotectonic events. Using detrital zircons from sediments belonging to the Khorat Basin in Thailand, we show how a combined approach to zircon dating can be used to better understand the temporal association between source and depositional site—information that is integral to improving models of basin formation