The marine redox evolution and the formation model for the early Cambrian Gongxi-Tianzhu barite deposits in the South China Block

•Redox proxies deciphered the paleoenvironment evolution in Gongxi-Tianzhu region during the sampled interval.•REY pattern and 87Sr/86Sr values recorded coeval seawater signals without hydrothermal activities.•This work stablish a three-stage redox-diagenetic model for the Cambrian barite deposits in South China.