STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTH ASIAN CONTINENTAL MARGIN ALONG THE KARAKORAM AND HINDU KUSH RANGES,NORTH PAKISTAN

STRUCTURAL AND THERMAL EVOLUTION OF THE SOUTH ASIAN CONTINENTAL MARGIN ALONG THE KARAKORAM AND HINDU KUSH RANGES,NORTH PAKISTAN     

New age constraints on the cooling and unroofing history of the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh Batholith (Kargil area), N. W. India

Thermotectonic history of the Trans-Himalayan Ladakh Batholith in the Kargil area, N. W. India, is inferred from new age data obtained here in conjunction with previously published ages. Fission-track (FT) ages on apatite fall around 20±2 Ma recording cooling through temperatures of ∼100°C and indicating an unroofing of 4 km of the Ladakh Range since the Early Miocene. Coexisting apatite and zircon FT ages from two samples in Kargil show the rocks to have cooled at an average rate of 5–6°C/Ma in the past 40 Ma. Zircon FT ages together with mica K−Ar cooling ages from the Ladakh Batholith cluster around 40–50 Ma, probably indicating an Eocene phase of uplift and erosion that affected the bulk of the batholith after the continental collision of India with the Ladakh arc at 55 Ma. Components of the granitoids in Upper Eocene-Lower Oligocene sediments of the Indus Molasse in Ladakh supports this idea. Three hornblende K−Ar ages of 90 Ma, 55 Ma, and 35 Ma are also reported; these distinctly different ages probably reflect cooling through 500–550°C of three phases of I-type plutonism in Ladakh also evidenced by other available radiometric data: 102 Ma (mid-Cretaceous), 60 Ma (Palaeocene), and 40 Ma (Late Eocene); the last phase being localised sheet injections. The geodynamic implications of the age data for the India-Asia collision are discussed.     

Rb−Sr age of Gaik granite,Ladakh batholith,northwest Himalaya

The Gaik Granite is a part of the Ladakh batholith outcropping between Gaik and Kiari in NW Himalaya. This is a pink porphyritic granite rich in biotite and poor in hornblende. Rb-Sr analyses have been made on six whole-rock samples of the Gaik Granite. Though the samples are poorly enriched in radiogenic Sr, they define a reliable isochron corresponding to an age of 235±13 (2σ) m.y. and initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio of 0·7081±0·0004 (2σ). Biotite, plagioclase and potash feldspar fractions separated from two of the samples have yielded a much younger mineral isochron at 30±1·5 m.y. indicating a nearly complete redistribution of Sr isotopes between mineral phases at a time much later than the primary emplacement of the granite. The present results show that at least some components of the Ladakh batholith are of Permo-Triassic age. These rocks were isotopically re-equilibrated on a mineral scale during Upper Oligocene in response to the Himalayan orogeny.     

Geochemical studies of granitoids from Shyok tectonic zone of Khardung-Panamik section,Ladakh, India

The Shyok tectonic zone lies to the north of Ladakh magmatic arc or the Ladakh batholith in the Trans-Himalaya of Ladakh district, J & K. Investigations were carried out on the granitoids exposed along Leh-Siachan highway between Khardung and Panamik villages. The granitoid bodies under study are: Khardung granite (KG), Tirit granite (TG) and Panamik granite (PG) belonging to Ladakh batholith, Shyok ophiolitic mélange and Karakoram batholith respectively. Though the granitoids belong to different litho-tectonic units, yet they have subduction related geochemical characters typical of Andean-type granitoids. Re-melting of crustal rocks of volcanic arc affinity has played an important role for the origin of KG rocks which are more evolved, while the TG and PG rocks represent transitional tectonic environment from primitive to mature arc.     

Dextral transpression and late Eocene magmatism in the trans-Himalayan Ladakh Batholith (North India): implications for tectono-magmatic evolution of the Indo-Eurasian collisional arc

The trans-Himalayan Ladakh batholith is a result of arc magmatism caused by the northward subduction of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere below the edge of the Eurasian plate. The batholith dominantly consists of calc-alkaline I-type granitoids which are ferromagnetic in nature with the presence of magnetite as the principal carrier of magnetic susceptibility. The mesoscopic and magnetic fabric are concordant and generally vary from WNW–ESE to ENE–WSW for different intrusions of ferromagnetic granites in different parts of the batholith. Strike of magnetic fabric is roughly parallel with the regional trend of the Ladakh batholith in the present study area and is orthogonal to the direction of India-Eurasia collision. In Khardungla and Changla section, the magnetic fabric is distributed in a sigmoidal manner. It is inferred that this sigmoidal pattern is caused by shearing due to transpression induced by oblique convergence between the two plates. U–Pb zircon geochronology of a rhyolite from the southern parts of the batholith gives a crystallization age of 71.7 ± 0.6 Ma, coeval with ~68 Ma magmatism in the northern parts of the batholith. The central part of the batholith is characterized by S-type two-mica granites, which gives much younger age of magmatism at 35.5 ± 0.5 Ma. The magnetic fabric of these two-mica granites is at a high angle to the regional trend of the batholith. It is proposed that these two-mica granites were emplaced well after the cessation of subduction and arc magmatism, along fractures that developed perpendicular to the regional strike of the batholith due to shearing.     

Tectonic implications of new U–Pb zircon ages of the Ladakh batholith,Indus suture zone,northwest Himalaya,India

We determined U–Pb ages on zircons from Ladakh granitoid samples of three previously undated plutons and deduced four distinct age groups between c. 67 and c. 45 Ma (66.6 ± 2.1, 57.6 ± 1.4, 53.4 ± 1.8, 52.50 ± 0.53 and 45.27 ± 0.56 Ma). This suggests that the Ladakh batholith grew by addition of at least four distinct subduction‐related magma pulses at c. 67, 58, 53 and 45 Ma, thus indicating that the belt was continuously active throughout the Palaeocene and the Middle Eocene (Lutetian). The 45.27 ± 0.56 Ma pluton at Daah‐Hanu is the last major calcalkaline arc magmatic pulse in the Ladakh batholith. Thereafter, the subduction‐related major plutonism gradually waned. The earlier estimate for the youngest pluton within the Ladakh batholith is 49.8 ± 0.8 Ma for the Leh pluton ( J. Geol., 2000, 108 , 303 ).     

Geology and Mineral Chemistry of the Deosai Volcanics, Baltistan, N. Pakistan

GEOLOGY AND MINERAL CHEMISTRY OF THE DEOSAI VOLCANICS, BALTISTAN, N. PAKISTAN     

Tectono-thermal evolution of the India-Asia collision zone based on<Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar-<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar thermochronology in Ladakh,India

New⁴⁰Ar-³⁹Ar thermochronological results from the Ladakh region in the India-Asia collision zone provide a tectono-thermal evolutionary scenario. The characteristic granodiorite of the Ladakh batholith near Leh yielded a plateau age of 46.3 ± 0.6 Ma (2σ). Biotite from the same rock yielded a plateau age of 44.6 ± 0.3 Ma (2σ). The youngest phase of the Ladakh batholith, the leucogranite near Himya, yielded a cooling pattern with a plateau-like age of ∼ 36 Ma. The plateau age of muscovite from the same rock is 29.8 ±0.2 Ma (2σ). These ages indicate post-collision tectono-thermal activity, which may have been responsible for partial melting within the Ladakh batholith. Two basalt samples from Sumdo Nala have also recorded the post-collision tectono-thermal event, which lasted at least for 8 MY in the suture zone since the collision, whereas in the western part of the Indus Suture, pillow lava of Chiktan showed no effect of this event and yielded an age of emplacement of 128.2 ±2.6 Ma (2σ). The available data indicate that post-collision deformation led to the crustal thickening causing an increase in temperature, which may have caused partial melting at the base of the thickened crust. The high thermal regime propagated away from the suture with time.     

The Late Triassic Central Patagonian Batholith: Magma hybridization, 40Ar/39Ar ages and thermobarometry

The Late Triassic Central Patagonian Batholith is a key element in paleogeographic models of West Gondwana just before to the break-up of the supercontinent. The preexisting classification of units of this batholith was mainly based on isotopic and geochemical data. Here we report the results of field mapping and petrography, backed up by three new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar biotite ages, which reveal previously unnoticed relationships of the rocks in the batholith. Based on the new information we present a reorganization of units where the batholith is primarily formed by the Gastre and the Lipetrén superunits. The Gastre Superunit is the oldest magmatic suite and is composed of I-type granites which display evidence of felsic and mafic magma interaction. It is formed by 4 second-order units: 1) equigranular hornblende–biotite granodiorites, 2) porphyritic biotite–hornblende monzogranites, 3) equigranular biotitic monzogranites and 4) hornblende quartz-diorites. Emplacement depth of the Gastre Superunit is bracketed between 6 and 11 km (1.8–3 kbar), and the maximum recorded temperatures of emplacement are comprised between 660 and 800 °C. The recalculated Rb/Sr age is 222 ± 3 Ma and the porphyritic biotite–hornblende monzogranites yielded a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age in biotite of 213 ± 5 Ma. On the other hand, the Lipetrén Superunit is made up by fine-grained biotitic monzo- and syenogranites that postdate magma hybridization processes and intrude all the other units. The recalculated Rb/Sr age for this suite is identical to a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age in biotite extracted from one of its monzogranites (206.4 ± 5.3 and 206 ± 4 Ma, respectively). This and the observed textural features suggest very fast cooling related to a subvolcanic emplacement. An independent unit, the “Horqueta Granodiorite”, which has previously been considered as the record of a Jurassic intrusive stage in the Central Patagonian Batholith, gave a ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar age in biotite of 214 ± 2 Ma. This and the reexamination of available isotopic data allow propose that this granodiorite unit is part of the Late Paleozoic intrusives in the region. The Late Triassic Central Patagonian Batholith is overlain by 190–185 Ma volcano-sedimentary rocks, suggesting that it was exposed sometime between the latest Triassic and earliest Jurassic times, roughly coeval with a major accretionary episode in the southwestern margin of Gondwana.     

OCCURRENCE OF HIGH-PRESSURE RODINGITES IN THE OPHIOLITES OF INDUS SUTURE ZONE, EASTERN LADAKH,THE HIMALAYA:TECTONIC AND METALLOGENIC SIGNIFICANCE

OCCURRENCE OF HIGH-PRESSURE RODINGITES IN THE OPHIOLITES OF INDUS SUTURE ZONE, EASTERN LADAKH,THE HIMALAYA:TECTONIC AND METALLOGENIC SIGNIFICANCE     

LOW TEMPERATURE DATING OF HIGH MOUNTAIN ROCKS:(U-Th)/He AGES FROM HIGHER HIMALAYAN SAMPLES, EASTERN NEPAL

LOW TEMPERATURE DATING OF HIGH MOUNTAIN ROCKS:(U-Th)/He AGES FROM HIGHER HIMALAYAN SAMPLES, EASTERN NEPAL1　HouseMA ,WernickeBP ,FarleyKA .DatingtopographyoftheSierraNevada ,California ,usingapatite (U Th) /Heages[J].Nature,1998,396 (5 ) :6 6～ 6 9. 2　HubbardMS ,Harrison .4 0 Ar/ 3 9ArageconstraintsondeformationandmetamorphismintheMainCentralThrustzoneandTibetanSlab ,EasternNepalHimalaya[J].Tectonics,1989,8(4) :86 5～ 880 . 3　HubbardMS …     

~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar GEOCHRONOLGY OF THE OPHIOLITE OF INDUS SUTURE ZONE,LADAKH,INDIA:IMPLICATION FOR THE TIMING OF INITIATION OF THE COLLISION

~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar GEOCHRONOLGY OF THE OPHIOLITE OF INDUS SUTURE ZONE,LADAKH,INDIA:IMPLICATION FOR THE TIMING OF INITIATION OF THE COLLISION1　BeckRA ,BurbankDW ,etal.Nature,1995,373( 55) . 2　DeweyJF ,etal.EclogaegeolHelv ,1989,82 ( 717) . 3　RowleyDB .EarthandPlanetaryScienceLetters,1996 ,14 5( 1) . 4　SharmaKK .PhysicsandChemistryoftheEarth ,1990 ,17. 5　VenketasanTR ,PandeK ,GopalanK .EarthandPlanataryScienceLetters,1993…     

CRUSTAL CONFIGURATION OF NW HIMALAYA: EVIDENCES FROM THE ISOSTATIC AND FLEXURAL ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY DATA

CRUSTAL CONFIGURATION OF NW HIMALAYA: EVIDENCES FROM THE ISOSTATIC AND FLEXURAL ANALYSIS OF GRAVITY DATA     

The lower Paleozoic Nyimaling Granite in the Indian Himalaya (Ladakh): New Rb/Sr data versus zircon typology

A granitic batholith in the Tso Morari Culmination of the most internal High Himalayan thrust sheets (Ladakh Himalaya, India) has been investigated by Rb/Sr isotopic methods as well as by typological studies on its zircon population (Pupin 1980). The good alignment and spread of the single muscovite and the 6 whole rock data points allow the tracing of a fairly good isochron of 460±8 Ma which may be considered as the granite's crystallisation age. Its Sr initial ratio (I.R.) of 0.7365±2 is very high even in respect to other anatectic granites of this suite known in the Himalayas and in continental blocks to the north. In terms of the lower Cambrian to middle Ordovician ages known for this granitic suite, the Nyimaling Granite is among the youngest. The zircon population perfectly confirms isotope data interpretation and field observations inasmuch as it is characteristic for aluminous, intrusive granites of crustal origin (cf. high Sr I.R.); moreover, the batholith is intrusive into Lower Cambrian metasediments affected by a marked contact metamorphism and a regional overprint of greenschist facies. Its crustal level is thus very high.     

Tectonic and magmatic evolution of the eastern Karakoram,India

Abstract

The Shyok suture zone separates the Ladakh terrane to the SW from the Karakoram terrane to the NE. Six tectonic units have been distinguished. From south to north these are; 1. Saltoro formation; 2. Shyok volcanites; 3. Saltoro molasse; 4. Ophiolitic melange; 5. Tirit granitoids; 6. Karakoram terrane including the Karakoram batholith. Albian—Aptian Orbitolina-bearing lime-stones and turbidites of the Saltoro formation tectonically overlie high-Mg-tholeiites similar to the tectonically overlying Shyok volcanites. The high-Mg tholeiitic basalts and calcalkaline andesites of the Shyok volcanites show an active margin signature. The Saltoro molasse is an apron-like, moderately folded association of redgreen shales and sandstones that are interbedded with ~ 50 m porphyritic andesite. Desiccation cracks and rain-drop imprints indicate deposition in a subaerial fluvial environment. Rudist fragments from a polygenic conglomerate of the Saltoro molasse document a post-Middle Cretaceous age. The calcalkaline andesites of the Shyok volcanites are intruded by the Tirit granitoids, which are located immediately south of the Ophiolitic melange and belong to a weakly deformed trondhjemite-tonalite-granodiorite-granite suite. These granitoids are subalkaline, I-type and were emplaced in a volcanic arc setting. The subalkaline to calcalkaline granitoids of the Karakoram batholith are I-and S-type granitoid. The I-type granitoids represent a typical calcalkaline magmatism of a subduction zone environment whereas the S-type granitoids are crustderived, anatectic peraluminous granites. New data suggest that the volcano-plutonic and sedimentary successions of the Shyok suture zone exposed in northern Ladakh are equivalent to the successions exposed along the Northern suture in Kohistan. It is likely that the o istan and Ladakh blocks evolved as one single tectonic domain uring the Cretaceous-Palaeogene. Subsequently, collision, suturing and accretion of the Indian plate along the Indus suture (50–60 Ma) together with tectonic activity along the Nanga Parbataramosh divided Kohistan and Ladakh into two arealy distinct magmatic arc terranes. The activity and a dextral offset along the Karakoram fault (Holocene-Recent) disrupted the original tectonic relationships. © 1999 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS     

青藏高原羌塘中部蜈蚣山印支期花岗岩的地球化学特征和黑云母40Ar-39Ar年龄

本松错岩基是羌塘中部规模最大的花岗岩复合岩基,面积超过1800km2,由石炭纪、三叠纪和侏罗纪3个不同时代的花岗岩岩体组成,记录了羌塘中部不同时期的岩浆活动,是研究羌塘盆地构造演化的重要窗口。蜈蚣山花岗岩位于本松错复合岩基北部,前人认为其时代为侏罗纪,但是近期在蜈蚣山地区侏罗纪花岗岩中发现有少量印支期花岗岩出露,岩性主要为花岗片麻岩和二长花岗岩,可能为侏罗纪花岗岩的捕虏体。地球化学研究表明,二长花岗岩属高钾钙碱性过铝质花岗岩,形成于同碰撞环境,与区域内其它印支期中酸性岩浆岩类似,共同构成龙木错-双湖-澜沧江板块缝合带同碰撞—后碰撞岩浆弧。此外还对花岗片麻岩片麻理中的黑云母做了40Ar-39Ar测年,获得了175.8Ma±1.1Ma的定年结果,与其围岩侏罗纪花岗岩年龄相近,推测花岗片麻岩是印支期花岗岩受后期侵入的侏罗纪岩浆改造后的产物,本松错复合岩基应当是中酸性岩浆岩多期侵入的产物。     

DIFFUSION MODELLING IN GARNET FROM TSO MORARI ECLOGITE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EXHUMATION MODELS

DIFFUSION MODELLING IN GARNET FROM TSO MORARI ECLOGITE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EXHUMATION MODELS1　ChakrabortyS ,GangulyJ.ContribMineralPetrol,1992 ,111:74～ 86 . 2　ChemendaAI ,BurgJ P ,MattauerM .EarthPlanetSciLett ,2 0 0 0 ,174:397～ 40 9. 3　ChemendaAI ,MattauerM ,MalavieilleJ ,etal.EarthPlanetSciLett ,1995 ,132 :2 2 5～ 2 32 . 4　GirardM ,BussyF .TerraNostra ,1999,99/ 2 ,5 7～ 5 8. 5　GuillotS ,SigoyerdeJ ,LardeauxJM ,etal.Contr…     

Growth and Deformation of the Ladakh Batholith, Northwest Himalayas: Implications for Timing of Continental Collision and Origin of Calc-Alkaline Batholiths

The calc-alkaline Ladakh batholith (NW Himalayas) was dated to constrain the timing of continental collision and subsequent deformation. Batholith growth ended when collision disrupted subduction of the Tethyan oceanic lithosphere, and thus the youngest magmatic pulse indirectly dates the collision. Both U-Pb ages on zircons from three samples of the Ladakh batholith and K-Ar from one subvolcanic dike sample were determined. Magmatic activity near Leh (the capital of Ladakh) occurred between 70 and 50 Ma, with the last major magmatic pulse crystallizing at ca. 49.8+/-0.8 Ma (2sigma). This was followed by rapid and generalized cooling to lower greenschist facies temperatures within a few million years, and minor dike intrusion took place at 46+/-1 Ma. Field observations, the lack of inherited prebatholith zircons, and other isotopic evidence suggest that the batholith is mantle derived with negligible crustal influence, that it evolved through input of fresh magma from the mantle and remelting of previously emplaced mantle magmatic rocks. The sedmimentary record indicates that collision in NW Himalaya occurred around 52-50 Ma. If this is so, the magmatic system driven by subduction of Tethys ended immediately on collision. The thermal history of one sample from within the Thanglasgo Shear Zone (TSZ) was determined by Ar-Ar method to constrain timing of batholith internal deformation. This is a wide dextral shear zone within the batholith, parallel to the dextral, N 30 degrees W-striking crustal-scale Karakoram Fault. Internal deformation of the batholith, taken up partly by this shear zone, has caused it to deviate from it regional WNW-ESE trend to parallel the Karakoram Fault. Microstructures and cooling history of a sample from the TSZ indicate that shearing took place before 22 Ma, implying that (1) the history of dextral shearing on NW-striking planes in northern Ladakh started at least 7 m.yr. before the <15 Ma Karakoram Fault, (2) shearing was responsible for deviation of the regional trend of the Ladakh batholith, and (3) dextral shearing occured within a zone apporximately 100 km wide that includes the Ladakh batholith and portions of the younger Karakoram batholith.     

金鸡岭产铀花岗岩体印支期侵位的岩浆动力学证据及其构造意义

通过对南岭西段金鸡岭花岗岩体地质-岩石地球化学特征研究,判明该岩体的侵位深度(7.5km)、围岩温度(270℃)及岩浆初始温度(950℃),建立起金鸡岭花岗岩体的数学计算模型,分别计算得出:金鸡岭花岗岩熔体侵位后,其初始温度降低至结晶温度所需的时间(Δtcol)为3.91Ma;由于结晶潜热释放而使结晶过程延长的时间(ΔtL)为2.92Ma;由于金鸡岭花岗岩体放射性元素含量(U——16.5×10-6,Th——51.3×10-6,K2O——4.82%)是世界平均花岗岩放射性元素含量(U——5×10-6,Th——20×10-6,K2O——2.66%)的3倍左右,金鸡岭花岗岩熔体侵位后产生的放射性成因热使结晶过程延长的时间(ΔtA)为34.5Ma,远长于按世界花岗岩平均放射性元素含量计算的ΔtA*(2.82Ma)。金鸡岭花岗岩体的侵位-结晶时差(ΔtECTD)为41.3Ma,结合锆石U-Pb年龄值(156Ma),通过反演计算得出金鸡岭花岗岩体侵位年龄值(tE)为197.3Ma,从而为该岩体属于印支期侵位提供了重要的岩浆动力学证据。     

TWO EPISODES OF MONAZITE CRYSTALLIZATION DURING METAMORPHISM AND CRUSTAL MELTING IN THE EVEREST REGION OF THE NEPALESE HIMALAYA

TWO EPISODES OF MONAZITE CRYSTALLIZATION DURING METAMORPHISM AND CRUSTAL MELTING IN THE EVEREST REGION OF THE NEPALESE HIMALAYA