Detrital Zircon Records and Tectono-Sedimentary Evolution of the Mesoproterozoic Changcheng Period Strata in the Ordos Rift Zone, Western North China Craton

The Meso-Neoproterozoic period is sometimes referred to as the “Boring Billion” or “Earth’s Middle Age,” spanning the time between the formation of the Columbia supercontinent and the Rodinia supercontinent. This period records a key transition in the supercontinent cycle, shaping the global tectonic regime and paleogeographic pattern. In this study, laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U-Pb geochronological analysis was conducted on five sandstone samples from the Ordos Rift Zone in the western North China Craton to constrain the regional tectonic evolution and basin development processes. The detrital zircon ages can be divided into multiple age groups, with zircon grains older than 1.8 Ga derived from the basement of the North China Craton, while the younger zircon populations (