Heavy‐mineral suites are used widely in sandstone provenance and are key when connecting source and sink. When characterizing provenance related signatures, it is essential to understand the different factors that may influence a particular heavy‐mineral assemblage for example, chemical weathering or diagenetic processes. Hydrodynamics, causing size‐density sorting, exert major control on the distribution of heavy minerals. Here, we highlight the effect of grain‐size inheritance, essentially the absence of certain grain sizes within a specific heavy‐mineral species, on two distinct types of sediments. Modern deposits from a high‐energy beach in NW Denmark give an analog for heavily reworked sediment, primarily controlled by hydrodynamic processes. In contrast, three Palaeogene turbidite successions in the Eastern Alps were sampled, presenting a more complex history that includes diagenesis. All samples were processed for their heavy‐mineral compositions using Raman spectroscopy, and several techniques applied to determine the effect of grain‐size inheritance. Results show that (a) even within the hydrodynamically well‐sorted beach and placer deposits, evidence of grain‐size inheritance is apparent, and (b) turbidites of variable heavy‐mineral composition show strong effects of grain‐size inheritance for several mineral species. Moreover, considerable intersample contrasts within single turbidite beds are observed. We enforce the importance of understanding grain‐size inheritance, as well as other processes effecting size‐density relations in clastic sediment that go well beyond purely hydrodynamic control of intrasample heavy‐mineral variability.

Northern Calabria forms part of the Calabrian Arc, a geologically complex region in southern Italy shaped by the convergence between the Eurasian and African plates. This convergence drove the closure of the Tethys Ocean and produced the subsequent phases of collisional and extensional tectonics. Thrusting during the Alpine orogeny produced extensive nappe stacking, followed by structural reorganization and exhumation during the Oligocene-Miocene. Tectonostratigraphically, the Apennine carbonate platform forms the lowest structural unit, overlain successively by the Liguride Oceanic Complex and the Calabride Complex, which includes the Sila nappe stack. Along Calabria’s eastern Ionian margin, forearc basins developed in response to the retreating subduction zone. To better constrain sediment routing pathways and regional uplift in northern Calabria from early to late Miocene, a multi-proxy provenance study was applied to four forearc basins: Rossano, Cirò, Crotone and Catanzaro. Quantitative heavy-mineral analysis, single-grain garnet and apatite chemistry, and apatite U–Pb chronology reveal spatial and temporal variations in sediment sources. Siliciclastic samples, spanning Aquitanian to Messinian in age, record changing contributions from a combination of low- to high-grade metamorphic and plutonic sources, including mafic Liguride units. Up-section shifts in sediment sourcing patterns indicate that Calabrian Arc exhumation and uplift, characterized by a rapid increase in the middle Miocene followed by a slow reduction in relief, played a pivotal role in controlling the timing and direction of sediment transport. This study demonstrates the benefits of multi-method provenance approaches to achieve valuable insights into relief build-up and demise, associated divide migration and sedimentary responses within a young and complex, zircon-poor orogenic arc system.

Northern Calabria, situated at the southern end of the Italian Peninsula, is geologically complex due to its position at the convergence of the Eurasian and African plates. This complexity arises from significant deformation processes, including thrusting, folding, and extensive faulting associated with the closure of the Tethys Ocean and subsequent collisional and extensional tectonics. Thrusting during the Alpine orogeny resulted in a series of extensive nappe stacking, followed by structural reorganization and exhumation of these stacks during the Oligocene to Miocene, reflecting ongoing tectonic activity. Along the eastern margin of northern Calabria, fore-arc basins developed in response to the retreating subduction zone and evolution of the Calabrian arc. From north to south these are termed Rossano, Ciro, Crotone, and Catanzaro sub-basins. Analysing the stratigraphic record of these basins in terms of provenance shifts and changing drainage patters, will aid in further characterising the main exhumation phase of the northern Calabrian Massif, encompassing the Sila Massif and the Coastal Chain (Catena Costiera).A multi-proxy provenance study was designed combining heavy mineral analysis (via semi-automated Raman spectroscopy), garnet chemistry (via electron microprobe), and apatite trace element analysis and U-Pb geochronology (both via LA-ICP-MS). A collection of siliciclastic samples spanning ~15 Ma from Aquitanian to Messinian in age from the four pre-mentioned sub-basins were selected for measurement. The results present a wide range of both high grade to low grade metamorphics and granitoids, with strong contrasts present spatially and temporally. A high contribution of high-pressure metamorphic phases like lawsonite, glaucophane, and kyanite was identified in samples from the Rossano basin. Paired with the presence of garnets from greenschist/blueschist-facies rocks and apatite derived from mafic igneous rocks, sourcing is likely from Liguride units currently exposed in northern and western regions of northern Calabria (e.g. Catena Costiera, northern Crati valley). Occurrence of andalusite in the Serravallian/ Tortonian samples of the Ciro and Crotone basins points to sourcing directly from the Sila Massif plutonic rocks and/or its high-temperature metamorphic rims. Furthermore, large proportions of Ca-rich garnets in Crotone, and the oldest sample from Ciro, suggest metasomatic host-rocks also reflect this sourcing pattern. Apatite geochronology from Crotone shows one singular significant peak around 300 Ma, referring to the Variscan orogeny and further underlining a significant input from Sila granitoid rocks. The shift in sediment sourcing patterns from the lower to middle Miocene in the Rossano, Ciro, and Crotone basins indicate the exhumation of the Calabrian arc, along with its subsequent increasing and then decreasing relief, played a pivotal role in controlling the timing and direction of sediment transport.