The long-debated palaeogeographic pattern of the Doushantuo Period in the northeastern Sichuan-western Hubei region has constrained the understanding of phosphorite metallogenic regularity and exploration planning in this area. To address this issue, this study focuses on the sandstones of the Doushantuo Formation in the northeastern Sichuan-western Hubei region. Through systematic analysis of detrital material sources employing methods such as detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology and lithofacies analysis, combined with seismic reflection profiles, we infer the existence of several small-scale palaeo-uplifts during the depositional period of the Doushantuo Formation. These palaeo-uplifts, composed of glacial diamictite of the Nantuo Formation and trending SW-NE, supplied detrital materials to their peripheries, resulting in the formation of the Doushantuo clastic rocks. Furthermore, based on the distribution of carbonate rocks and mudstones/shales, we deduce that several deep-water depositional areas representing rift troughs, also with a SW-NE trend, developed in the study area. Consequently, a new palaeogeographic framework characterized by an alternating pattern of “palaeo-uplifts and rift troughs” for the Doushantuo Period in the northeastern Sichuan-western Hubei region is proposed. Integrated with studies on phosphate distribution patterns, this study suggests that the carbonate platform margin around the aulacogen in the northeastern Sichuan- western Hubei region is the most favorable zone for phosphate enrichment. This conclusion provides a basis for the prediction of regional phosphate prospectivity.