Geologic and tectonic evolution of the Himalaya before and after the India-Asia collision

The geology and tectonics of the Himalaya has been reviewed in the light of new data and recent studies by the author. The data suggest that the Lesser Himalayan Gneissic Basement (LHGB) represents the northern extension of the Bundelkhand craton, Northern Indian shield and the large scale granite magmatism in the LHGB towards the end of the Palæoproterozoic Wangtu Orogeny, stabilized the early crust in this region between 2-1.9 Ga. The region witnessed rapid uplift and development of the Lesser Himalayan rift basin, wherein the cyclic sedimentation continued during the Palæoproterozoic and Mesoproterozoic. The Tethys basin with the Vaikrita rocks at its base is suggested to have developed as a younger rift basin (～ 900 Ma ago) to the north of the Lesser Himalayan basin, floored by the LHGB. The southward shifting of the Lesser Himalayan basin marked by the deposition of Jaunsar-Simla and Blaini-Krol-Tal cycles in a confined basin, the changes in the sedimentation pattern in the Tethys basin during late Precambrian-Cambrian, deformation and the large scale granite activity (～ 500 ± 50 Ma), suggests a strong possibility of late Precambrian-Cambrian Kinnar Kailas Orogeny in the Himalaya. From the records of the oceanic crust of the Neo-Tethys basin, subduction, arc growth and collision, well documented from the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone north of the Tethys basin, it is evident that the Himalayan region has been growing gradually since Proterozoic, with a northward shift of the depocentre induced by N-S directed alternating compression and extension. During the Himalayan collision scenario, the 10–12km thick unconsolidated sedimentary pile of the Tethys basin (TSS), trapped between the subducting continental crust of the Indian plate and the southward thrusting of the oceanic crust of the Neo-Tethys and the arc components of the Indus-Tangpo collision zone, got considerably thickened through large scale folding and intra-formational thrusting, and moved southward as the Kashmir Thrust Sheet along the Panjal Thrust. This brought about early phase (M1) Barrovian type metamorphism of underlying Vaikrita rocks. With the continued northward push of the Indian Plate, the Vaikrita rocks suffered maximum compression, deformation and remobilization, and exhumed rapidly as the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) during Oligo-Miocene, inducing gravity gliding of its Tethyan sedimentary cover. Further, it is the continental crust of the LHGB that is suggested to have underthrust the Himalaya and southern Tibet, its cover rocks stacked as thrust slices formed the Himalayan mountain and its decollement surface reflected as the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT), in the INDEPTH profile.     

LATE PLEISTOCENE—HOLOCENE RAPID UPLIFT AND EROSION IN TIBET: CONSTRAINTS FROM COSMOGENIC EXPOSURE AGE DATA

LATE PLEISTOCENE—HOLOCENE RAPID UPLIFT AND EROSION IN TIBET: CONSTRAINTS FROM COSMOGENIC EXPOSURE AGE DATA1　CopelandP ,HarrisonTM ,KiddWSF ,etal.RapidearlyMioceneaccelerationofupliftintheGangdeseBelt,Xizang(southernTibet) ,anditsbearingonaccommodationmechanismsoftheIndian Asiacollision[J].EarthPlanetSciLett,1987,86 :2 40～ 2 5 2 . 2　FieldingEJ .Tibetupliftanderosion[J].Tectonophysics,1994,2 6 0 :5 5～ 84. 3　HarrisonTM ,CopelandP ,Ki…     

Paleo-uplift and cooling rates from various orogenic belts of India, as revealed by radiometric ages

The significant discordance of the radiometric (Rb-Sr, Pb-U, K-Ar and fission track) ages from various orogenic cycles of the Dharwar, Satpura, Aravalli and Himalayan orogenic belts in India, coupled with their corresponding blocking temperatures for various radiometric clocks in whole rocks and minerals, has been used to evaluate the cooling and the uplift histories of the respective orogenic belts. The blocking temperatures used in the present study of various Rb-Sr (isotopic homogenization at 600°C, muscovite at 500°C and biotite at 300°C), Pb-U (monazite at 530°C), K-Ar (muscovite at 350°C and biotite at 300°C) and fission-track clock (zircon at 350°C, sphene at 300°C, garnet at 280°C, muscovite at 130°C, hornblende at 120°C and apatite at 100°C for the cooling rate l°C/Ma) have been found suitable to explain the differences in mineral ages by different radiometric techniques. The nature of the cooling curves drawn using the temperature versus age data for various orogenic cycles in India has also been discussed. The cooling and the uplift patterns determined for various orogenic cycles of India, suggest comparatively slow cooling (5.0–0.2°C/Ma) and uplift (180–2 m/Ma) for the Peninsular regions and rapid cooling (25.0–1.0° C/Ma) and fast uplift (800–30 m/Ma) during the Himalayan Orogenic Cycle (Upper Cretaceous—Tertiary) in the Extra-Peninsular region.     

Mechanism solution of the Kashmir—Sinkiang border earthquake of February 13, 1980

This study reports the mechanism solution of the Kashmir—Sinkiang border earthquake of February 13, 1980. The first motions of the P and PKP phases were used for this investigation. The mechanism solution of this earthquake is characterized by a large component of thrust faulting and the deduced orientation of the compressional axis is nearly north—south.     

Nubra-Gartang Superlineament,Ladakh -some geological observations and their implications

Geological observations along the Leh-Panamic traverse, which includes the northwestern portion of the Nubra-Gartang Superlineament, are being reported. Nubra-Shyok Thrust and the Tirit-Khalsar Fault are two imporant structural features in the area, the latter having a linear trend over regional extent is clearly picked up in the LANDSAT imagery.     

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.