A database of detrital zircon U–Pb ages and Lu–Hf isotope of sediments in the South China Sea

Source-to-sink analysis examines the effects of source areas and basin (sink) dynamics on the generation, transport, composition, distribution and deposition of sediment in modern and ancient sedimentary systems. Detrital zircon, as one of the most stable detrital minerals, its U–Pb geochronology and geochemistry is pivotal for sedimentary provenance analysis and reconstructing palaeogeography. The South China Sea (SCS), as the largest marginal sea in the Southeast Asia, is closely related to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the evolution of Chinese rivers. In this study, we mainly collect published detrital zircon of Cenozoic sediments in the SCS (include Hainan and Taiwan Islands). These detrital zircon were concentrated on Cenozoic multiple episodic rift basins in the northern part of the SCS. A total of 21,760 detrital zircon U–Pb data from 293 samples and 995 detrital zircon Lu-Hf isotope data from 22 samples were collected in this dataset, with the main study epochs being the Palaeogene and Neogene. Best ages of these grains are range from 4,691 to 10 Ma and more than half of them within age less than 500 Ma. The ¹⁷⁶Hf/¹⁷⁷Hf ratios of the SCS samples ranging from 0.280509 to 0.28306 and the εHf(t) values from −63.8 to 24.6. The main age group of the SCS Cenozoic sediments were at 130–95 Ma, 175–130 Ma and 265–230 Ma. The detrital zircon U–Pb age and Lu–Hf isotope data contained in this dataset is an important geological record of the sedimentary and tectonic evolution of the SCS and the evolution of rivers such as the ancient Pearl River and the ancient Red River, which can provide a basis and important clues or exploring the source of sediments in the SCS, the dynamical processes of basin evolution, the evolution of the coastal drainage system and the tectonic uplift of the Tibetan Plateau.