The Ouachita and Alleghanian orogenies occurred simultaneously as the collision of Laurentia and Gondwana progressed from Mississippian to Permian time. Juxtaposition of the two orogenic fronts in Alabama has led to differing interpretations of sediment provenance of the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks in the adjacent Black Warrior basin and Alleghanian fold-thrust belt. These rocks have been interpreted to be sourced from three disparate regions: 1) the Ouachita Orogen, 2) southern Appalachian Orogen, and 3) via a southward flowing fluvial system that delivered sediment from the mid-continent and northern Appalachians. The purpose of this study is to investigate the provenance of Carboniferous sandstone units in Mississippi and Alabama by quantifying the differences between their detrital zircon age distributions and that of potential sources.In this study, I examine the detrital zircon age distributions of 15 samples from the Mississippian aged Hartselle Sandstone, Pennington, and Parkwood Formations, and the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation. I use DZstats to quantify the differences between these formations as well as potential source rocks. Cross-correlation coefficient values for all Pottsville, Pennington, and Parkwood samples in Alabama indicate that they are within the range of expected variation for the same detrital zircon population. These samples are most similar to source rocks in the central and southern Appalachian, and Ouachita Mountains; however, these sources are highly similar to each other. The Parkwood Formation of Mississippi shows little similarity when compared to other Carboniferous samples in Alabama. The Mississippi Parkwood is most like northern Appalachian source rock distributions and is certainly not directly derived from the mid-continent. I interpret these data to suggest that the Parkwood Formation of Mississippi received sediment contributions from different sources than the Hartselle Sandstone, Parkwood, Pennington, and Pottsville Formations of Alabama, indicating two separate fluvial systems.