Zircon is an important mineral that indicates the source of sediment matters. Several typical indexes are used to reveal the source area and the migration process. The crystal morphology reflects the acid-base environment and crystallization temperature of zircon formation, the particle size indicates the change of source distance and migrating force, the trace elements record the geochemical information and migration process, and the U-Pb isotope tracer determines the age characteristics of zircon and the features of source region change on a time scale and the diversity of source regions in the spatial dimension. Based on the latest theoretical research results, this paper focuses on the application of zircon source tracing principle in sediment researches, and offers some views on the problems in the actual applications of zircon tracer technology and the technology’s research directions.