Much of what is currently known about early Earth has been recovered from detrital minerals, most notably through detrital zircon studies. But while zircon mostly records high-temperature magma formation, crustal growth and recycling, other minerals must be investigated to study the metamorphic record. Rutile, one of a range of different heavy minerals, can be used as a fingerprint for deep-crustal metamorphic processes, becoming progressively more stable under (ultra)high-pressure (UHP) and HT metamorphic conditions. Since rutile can be dated using the U-Pb method and Zr is incorporated as a function of temperature, rutile has been extensively used to trace metamorphic temperatures during metamorphism. However, extracting barometric or grade information from rutile remains one of the main challenges. Also, a more detailed assessment of rutile stability and chemistry at LT-HP conditions was lacking. Titanite, as a Ti-bearing phase, is often present at blueschist facies while rutile can be absent. To investigate this, rutile and titanite from metamafic rocks formed under HT-LP and LT-HP metamorphic conditions were studied. Rutile is found stable at HP and also at <2 kbar, lower than the constraints suggested by experiments for rutile stability, because of the release of excess Ti from Ti-amphiboles. Using Nb/V as a pressure proxy distinguishes rutile grains formed at LP from those formed at eclogitic pressures. Together with recent advances in using H₂O concentrations in rutile (Lueder et al., 2024), rutile chemistry can unlock the potential of using detrital rutile to investigate the tectonometamorphic evolution of the crust.

The Calabrian arc represents a segment of the western Mediterranean Alpine orogenic belt characterised by a nappe stack composed of Apennine carbonates, the oceanic Liguride complex, and a Variscan lower to upper crustal section. The nappe stack was piled in the Eocene-Oligocene and became exhumed during the late Oligocene-Miocene. Strong tectonic activity still persists with renewed uplift during the Quaternary. On both sides of the Calabrian arc, Miocene to recent basins exist, with more pronounced extension at the eastern side (forearc) controlled by the retreating subduction zone. We have analysed Aquitanian to Messinian sandstones fringing the central crystalline massifs of Northern Calabria (Sila Massif, Catena Costiera), complemented by pebble populations and modern sand samples. Methods applied comprise Raman-based heavy mineral analysis, detrital mineral chemistry, as well as apatite U-Pb and zircon U-Pb-He geochronology.

Results indicate some striking similarities between Aquitanian-Langhian and Messinian deposits on the eastern forearc side, while the Serravalian-Tortonian deposits suggest a distinct source-to-sink system. This is exemplified by the Crotone sub-basin, where heavy mineral assemblages and chemistry, in addition to apatite U-Pb ages, constrain nearby sources from the Sila granitoids; meanwhile further north, low- to medium-grade metamorphic rocks along with Liguride-derived materials prevail. The present-day steep western coast (Catena Costiera) reflects a region of pronounced exhumation and uplift since at least Serravalian time. All available data are compiled and will be used to derive a model of Miocene sediment provenance and drainage pattern of Northern Calabria through space and time.

Clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks are almost always complex mixtures of detritus supplied by several different source rocks. Modern sedimentary provenance analysis should aim not only to identify these source rocks, but also to quantify the (relative) contribution of the different sources through space and time. This is often challenging because of limited and incomplete databases, overlapping or unknown source fingerprints, and a general lack of awareness of the proper statistical tools and procedures.

In this contribution, we highlight the use and advantages of statistically robust fingerprinting (i.e., establishing endmember compositional signals of source rocks) and (un)mixing modeling (i.e., quantitatively reconstructing relative source contributions in a mixed sediment) on a large orogenic scale, the European Alps. Multiple provenance proxies (sediment petrography, heavy mineral analysis, bulk geochemistry, zircon fission track dating, and zircon U-Pb dating) are used to define compositional endmembers of the main Alpine source rocks and regions. Unmixing modeling is used to identify and quantify the contribution of the endmember sources to mixed sediment carried by the main large Alpine rivers (the Adige, Dora Baltea, Drau, Enns, Inn, Mur, Rhine, Rhone, and Salzach rivers). In a second step, the same methodology is applied to Oligocene and Miocene fluvial and shallow marine sedimentary rocks from the Alpine foreland basin. The data is interpreted in the context of changing fluvial network architecture and erosional patterns in response to climatic and tectonic changes in the orogen, but also in terms of compositional bias, such as contrasting mineral fertility and diagenesis.

The timing and sequence of the India–Asia collision along the western suture remain debated, with estimates ranging from 60 to 40 Ma. This study presents the first detailed provenance analysis of Mesozoic to Cenozoic strata in the Sulaiman-Katawaz fold-thrust belts, which preserve a continuous depositional record across the collision interval. We analyzed detrital zircon U-Pb ages and Nd-Sr isotopic signatures from Triassic to Miocene strata, complemented by zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronology data from Early Mesozoic units exposed in the hinterland region of the Sulaiman-Katawaz fold-thrust belt. These datasets collectively constrain sediment source regions, distinguishing between Indian and Asian provenance.

Detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra from the Cretaceous Pab and Paleocene Ranikot formations are dominated by Precambrian to early Paleozoic zircons (1 Ga–500 Ma), diagnostic of Indian sources. A significant shift in provenance is observed in the early Eocene Ghazij and Nisai formations, characterized by the first appearance of Early Jurassic to Eocene zircons (178–55 Ma). The Oligocene Chitarwatta and Khojak formations exhibit dominant age peaks between 194–32 Ma, along with minor older age populations, reflecting sustained input from Asian sources and nascent Himalayan tectonostratigraphic units.

A corresponding shift in εNd₍₀₎ values (from –17.2 to –8.3) and a decline in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios from the Paleocene–Eocene transition to the Miocene further support this provenance reorganization. Integrated with Eocene ZHe cooling ages, shift in paleocurrents and sedimentary facies trends, these results indicate a major reorganization of sediment sources around ~56 Ma, consistent with a single-stage India–Asia collision in the western Himalayas.