Tectonothermal evolution of the Lesser Himalaya, Nepal: Constraints from 40Ar/39Ar ages from the Kathmandu Nappe

Abstract The Himalaya is a fold-and-thrust wedge formed along the northern margin of the Indian continent, and consists of three thrust-bounded lithotectonic units; the Sub-Himalaya, the Lesser Himalaya, and the Higher Himalaya with the overlying Tethys Himalaya from south to north, respectively. The orogen-scale, intracrustal thrusts which bound the above lithotectonic units are splays off an underlying subhorizontal dkcollement, and show a southward propagating piggy-back sequence with an out-of-sequence thrust. Among these thrusts, the Main Central Thrust zone (MCT zone) has played a major role in Himalayan tectonics. The MCT zone represents a shear zone which has accommodated southward thrusting of the Higher Himalayan crystalline thrust sheet over the Lesser Himalayan sequence for ～140 km. The Kathmandu Nappe in central Nepal has been transported over the Lesser Himalayan metasediments along the MCT zone, and is locally separated from the Higher Himalayan thrust sheet in the north by an out-of-sequence thrust. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages have been determined for one whole-rock phyllite and six muscovite concentrates from metasedimenta-ry rocks and variably deformed granites in the Kathmandu Nappe. These ages range from 44 Ma to 14 Ma, and suggest a record of both Eo-Himalayan (Eocene) and Neo-Himalayan (Miocene) tectonothermal events in the Tertiary Himalayan orogeny. The Miocene event was associated with translation along the MCT zone. No tectonothermal event of the Late Miocene to Early Pliocene ages have been reported near the MCT zone in southern Lesser Himalayan crystalline nappe or klippe, although such events have been documented within and around the MCT zone in the northern root zone of the Higher Himalaya. This suggests that out-of-sequence thrusting may have occurred between 14 Ma and 5 Ma, probably during the period 10-7.5 Ma. Since then the frontal MCT zone below the Kathmandu Nappe has been inactive, but the MCT zone in the northern root zone has remained active. The rapid increase in denudation rates of the Higher Himalaya since the Late Miocene may have been caused by ramping along the out-of-sequence thrust at depth.     

福建泉州市区域稳定性的探讨

本文对泉州市区域地壳结构、地质构造、构造应力场和地震活动性进行了综合分析。结果表明,泉州市在第四纪中更新世之前位于环太平洋中、新生代构造一岩浆活动带中,地壳运动频繁而又强烈,地质构造复杂;现代处于菲律宾海板块对欧亚板块挤压形成的“台湾动力触角”影响区,但区内的断裂不具全新世活动性,新构造运动不强烈,有史以来未见≥5．0级地震记载,属于地壳相对稳定区,未来遭遇6．0级地震的危险性不大,其地震破坏性影响主要来自周边孕震区,特别是东部海域,与“台湾动力触角”的作用和滨海断裂带的活动有关。