Discussion on evolution of Min Jiang River: Heavy mineral evidence from the Quaternary fluvial sediments in Yibin area,Sichuan Province

Heavy minerals deposited on river terraces can be used to reflect source rock properties and reveal river evolutionary processes. This study focused on the heavy minerals deposited in the lower Min Jiang River terraces and in the modern deposits. We studied paleo-current direction, characteristics of the heavy mineral assemblages, characteristic metamorphic minerals and heavy mineral characteristic indices. The results show that the lower reaches of the Min Jiang River Ⅴ- to Ⅲ-level terrace deposits consist dominantly of magmatic rock type, which mainly comes from the Longmen Shan mountain tectonic belt. The heavy minerals deposited in modern sediment come from the Songpan-Ganzi fold belt. The heavy mineral characteristic indices suggest that this change is due to headward erosion of the Min Jiang River. Affected by the phase B of the Kunhuang movement, the Min Jiang River was incised to the Wenchuan area at 0.73-0.7 Ma and the Ⅴ-level terrace formed. The Min Jiang River was strongly cut down at 0.5-0.3 Ma due to the phase C of the Kunhuang movement, and as a result the Ⅳ-level terrace formed. Influenced by Gonghe movement, the Min Jiang River was incised to the stone mark and Ⅲ-level terrace formed in 0.11-0.09 Ma. After that, the modern Min Jiang River was formed at around 27 ka.