沉積事件的定年經常使用古生物化石定年以及碳14等同位素定年方法來界定沉積事件的年代。但常因為沉積環境或是其他因素的緣故，造成缺乏化石或是地點位於深海等原因，使得定年極為困難。鋯石是一種廣泛用來定年的礦物，十分的穩定即使經歷多次風化、侵蝕、搬運和埋藏的歷史，仍能保存其原始記錄到的年代。因此利用岩心或是岩屑中分選出的碎屑鋯石進行鈾-鉛定年，是一種對於沉積物物源追蹤和決定年代，非常有效的工具。本研究共從台灣西南海域13口探勘井C-9、C-10、C-16、S-1、T-1、P-21、F-35、W-1、W-4、E-1、C-6、K-1以及J-1中，在不同深度取岩屑或岩心進行鋯石的分選，將鋯石製成樣品靶後利用雷射剝蝕感應耦合電漿質譜術(LA-ICP-MS)進行鋯石鈾-鉛定年實驗。最年輕的碎屑鋯石鈾-鉛定年之結果分別為：潮汕凹陷 (深度：1300 m)的88 Ma；台西南盆地的 (深度：3279、3315、3358、3671、3869 m) 分別為：66、45、133、42、41 Ma；台西南盆地西側部分 (深度：906、2750 m) 的96、57 Ma；澎湖盆地的 (深度：2584、2399 m) 45、43 Ma；澎湖隆起 (深度：2029、2026 m) 的79、83 Ma；北港高地 (深度：805、3876 m) 的86、96 Ma。根據最年輕的鋯石年代所界定出的最老之可能的地層年代皆較古生物地層年代老或是相當。符合碎屑鋯石鈾-鉛定年在界定地層年代時，因其記錄下的是最後一次的火成事件之年代，故年代會老於或是相同於地層的實際年代。物源部分，由年代峰值比對，潮汕凹陷地區F-35井頻譜峰值集中在300 Ma以下較年輕部分物源主要來自附近地區，而唯一之~1850 Ma峰值與甌江流域相近，T-test結果與九龍江流域有相關性；C-9、C-10、C-16、C-6、S-1 (台西南盆地區)之頻譜亦集中於300 Ma以下此部分物源大多來自附近源區，而較老部分 (~1860 Ma, ~2470 Ma) 物源可能來自長江流域，此區域之T-test結果與九龍江流域有相關性；在P-21以及T-1地區，較老部分 (~1860 Ma, ~2470 Ma) 物源可能來自長江流域，直到武夷山隆起後將其切斷，使得較年輕之物源 (57 Ma, ~150 Ma, 249 Ma)改為由九龍江供應，此區域T-test結果與九龍江流域有相關性。W-1以及W-4井位於澎湖盆地，由年代峰值比對發現可能物源為閩江流域，但T-test結果與九龍江流域有相關性。E-1井的兩個樣本年齡集中於300Ma以內，占了97%。118 Ma 為主要峰值，經比對可能為鄰近之物源。在K-1與J-1井中，170 Ma為主要年齡峰值，與西側之河流流域皆無明顯的相關性。

Zircon occurs in almost all sedimentary deposits and may provide a link in understanding the source provenance and the depositional age. Detrital zircon U-Pb dating from 14 samples coming from 13 wells (C-9, C-10, C-16, S-1, T-1, P-21, F-35, W-1, W-4, E-1, C-6, K-1 and J-1) offshore southwestern Taiwan were performed by using LA-ICP-MS method. The youngest Detrital zircon U-Pb ages are: Samples from F-35 well (1300 m) is 88 Ma; Samples from Taixinan basin (3279、3315、3358、3671、3869 m) are 66, 45, 133, 42, 41 Ma; Samples from Penghu basin (2584、2399 m) are 45, 43 Ma; Samples from Penghu rifting (2029、2026 m) are 79, 83 Ma; Samples from Beigang high (805、3876 m) are 86, 74 Ma. These youngest age from detrital zircon U-Pb dating represent the deposit age or the oldest possible deposit age.
The samples from F-35 well were dominantly coming from local sedimentary source. The sedimentary provenance for C-9, C-10, C-16, C-6, S-1 wells were mainly derived from the neighboring regions or partially from the nearby Jiulong river region. The provenance of T-1 and P-21 regions were from probably ancient Yangtze river tributary in the early stage. After the uplift of the Wuyishan, the source region changed to the Jiulong river drainage area. The sedimentary provenance for W-1 and W-4 well were from Min river drainage area. The provenance for peak 118 Ma from K-1 and E-1 well was probably from the local source. And the provenance for the peak about 170 Ma from K-1 and J-1 was the local source.

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