SYNCONVERGENT, DUCTILE N-DIRECTED SHEARING ON THE WESTERN MARGIN OF THE NANGA PARBAT SYNTAXIS, N. PAKISTAN

A key issue in orogenic research today is the recognition and explanation of normal faulting in the heart of collisional mountain belts. The active Himalayan system remains an ideal locality for studying this phenomenon, both as E—W synconvergent extension of the Tibetan plateau and normal motion on the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS). However, these processes are difficult to correlate with the evolution of the northwest Himalaya, particularly the Nanga Parbat syntaxis where a Neogene tectono\|thermal overprint partially obscures the early collisional history. An integrated programme of structural mapping, petrography, thermobarometry and isotopic dating is presented that places important constraints on both the early\| and pre\|Himalayan evolution of the syntaxis. These data include evidence for synconvergent, ductile extension predating syntaxis development, and improved isotopic correlation of the tectonic units with the familiar central Himalayan thrust sheets, building on the work of Whittington et al (1999).Recent studies have focused on the rapid exhumation of the Nanga Parbat\|Haramosh Massif (NPHM) during the last 10Ma, and the related Neogene thermal effects dominating the core of the massif (e.g. Zeitler et al. 1982, 1993). However, the degree of both structural and metamorphic Neogene overprinting varies within the massif, becoming weaker away from the summit region. In addition, the considerable variation in rock\|type outside the gneissic core results in both strain partitioning and various degrees of metamorphic reworking. Thus several workers (e.g. Wheeler et al. 1995) could reconstruct elements of the early and pre\|Himalayan history from field relations and mineral assemblages virtually untouched by Neogene processes. The eastern margin of the massif, in contrast to the active western margin, has remained largely unchanged during the Neogene, except for essentially passive rotation on the limb of the major syntaxial antiform. The original, ductile Main Mantle Thrust (MMT), which emplaced the Ladakh Island Arc (LIA) over the Indian margin in the late Cretaceous, is preserved in a steepened orientation. Dextral shear sense indicators in this steep fabric can be clearly related to southward thrusting on the MMT at peak metamorphic conditions during the early Himalayan stage (600～700°C and 900～1200MPa) once the N—S trending syntaxial antiform is unfolded.