Geomorphic appraisals of active tectonics associated with uplift of the Gohpur–Ganga section in Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India

The Gohpur–Ganga section is located southwest of Itanagar, India. The study area and its adjacent regions lie between the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and the Himalayan Front Fault (HFF) within the Sub-Himalaya of the Eastern Himalaya. The Senkhi stream, draining from the north, passes through the MBT and exhibits local meandering as it approaches the study area. Here, five levels of terraces are observed on the eastern part, whereas only four levels of terraces are observed on the western part. The Senkhi and Dokhoso streams show unpaired terraces consisting of very poorly sorted riverbed materials lacking stratification, indicating tectonic activity during deposition. Crude imbrications are also observed on the terrace deposits. A wind gap from an earlier active channel is observed at latitude 27°04′42.4″ N and longitude 93°35′22.4″ E at the height of about 35 m from the present active channel of Senkhi stream. Linear arrangements of ponds trending northeast–southwest on the western side of the study section may represent the paleochannel of Dokhoso stream meeting the Senkhi stream abruptly through this gap earlier. Major lineament trends are observed along NNE–SSW, NE–SW and ENE–WSW direction. The Gohpur–Ganga section is on Quaternary deposits, resting over the Siwaliks with angular contact. Climatic changes of Pleistocene–Holocene times seem to have affected the sedimentation pattern of this part of the Sub-Himalaya, in association with proximal tectonism associated with active tectonic activities, which uplifted the Quaternary deposits. Older and younger terrace deposits seem to mark the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary in the study area with the older terraces showing a well-oxidized and semi-consolidated nature compared to the unoxidized nature of the younger terraces.     

四川大梁子和天宝山铅锌矿床地球化学差异及地质意义

通过矿床宏观地质特征和地球化学特征的讨论,认为天宝山和大梁子矿床是构造-岩浆-热液形成的矿床,形成于晚燕山期-喜马拉雅期,与印度-欧亚板块碰撞作用诱发的陆内造山有关.天宝山和大梁子矿床地球化学特征差异,是构造-岩浆-热液运移路径所在地质环境的差异所致,反映了双会地区在复杂地质演化过程中,沿构造带走向所形成的地质环境差异.     

喜马拉雅东构造结附近强震对滇西南地区断层的影响研究

以在喜马拉雅东构造结发生的2000年6月7日缅甸MS6.9地震、2011年3月24日缅甸MS7.2地震和2012年11月11日缅甸MS7.0地震作为主要破裂源,计算3次地震震后周围应力的空间变化,给出其对滇西南地区断层造成的静态库仑应力变化的时间影响范围。结果表明:3次地震对滇西南地区活动断层库仑破裂应力变化主要为负值,即受到应力卸载的影响,其中包括大盈江断裂、龙陵—瑞丽断裂、南汀河西支断裂、南汀河东支断裂、孟连—澜沧断裂、打洛—景洪断裂和怒江断裂,量值范围在-0.06~-0.002 bar(1 bar=0.1 MPa),卸载影响最大的断裂为打洛—景洪断裂,为-0.06 bar,木嘎断裂和龙陵—澜沧断裂受到加载的影响,断层的库仑破裂应力分别为+0.002 bar和+0.004 bar。     

GEOLOGICAL EVIDENCES OF LATE QUATERNARY ACTIVITY OF MOTUO FAULT IN EASTERN HIMALAYAN SYNTAXIS

Motuo Fault locates at the east of Namjagbarwa Peak in eastern Himalayan syntaxis.Based on the remote sensing interpretation,the previous work,and with the field investigation,this paper obtains the spatial distribution and movement characteristics of Motuo Fault in China,and geological evidences of late Quaternary activity.Two trenches in Motuo village and Dongdi village located in Yalung Zangbo Grand Canyon reveal that the Motuo Fault dislocates the late Quternary stratum and behaves as a reverse fault in Motuo village and normal fault in Dongdi village.Motuo Fault is dominated by left-lateral strike-slip associated with the faulted landforms,with different characteristics of the tilting movement in different segments.The trench at Didong village reveals the latest stratum dislocated is~2780±30 a BP according to radiocarbon dating,implying that Motuo Fault has ruptured the ground surface since late Holocene.The movement of left-lateral strike-slip of Motuo Fault is related to the northward movement process of Indian pate.     

Impact of terrain complexity on the turbulence drag coefficient: A case study from the Indian Himalayan region

The aerodynamic drag coefficient (C_D) is conjectured to change (or remains almost uniform) with the horizontal wind speed (U) over a flexible (or fixed) surface element, which is represented with the surface roughness (z₀). This conjecture is tested for the near neutral atmospheric turbulence (i.e. when surface stability z/L is almost equal to 0, where z is the measurement height and L is Obukhov length) of monsoon and winter season at an on-slope and a ridge-top site in the Indian Himalaya, wherein the ridge-top site is associated with a higher degree of sensitivity to the roughness element and terrain attributes. This hypothesis is successfully verified for two conditions, (i) the monsoon period observations of ridge-top site are found to have higher z₀ due to vegetative growth than the winter period for flows having similar terrain signature, and (ii) the monsoon and winter period observations of on-slope site are noted to have similar z₀ for flows having signature of steep terrain. Subsequently, constants (i.e. a and b) of the power-law relationships between C_D and U (i.e. C_D = aU^b), as a function of z₀, are optimized. It is noted that the relationship between C_D and U has higher sensitivity towards the terrain slope than the vegetative growth.     

高喜马拉雅中段基性捕虏体的变质作用及其构造意义

西藏南部聂拉木—樟木剖面出露的高喜马拉雅变质带主要由副变质片麻岩和花岗质片麻岩组成,其次为伟晶岩和淡色花岗侵入体,区域变质程度为角闪岩相。我们对其中的变质基性捕虏体进行详细的变质作用研究,内容包括变质矿物组合,矿物变质反应结构和变质作用的温度—压力条件分析。基性捕虏体中的石榴子石角闪片麻岩和斜长角闪片麻岩均保存了两期变质矿物组合。温度与压力计算结果表明,石榴子石角闪片麻岩早期变质阶段(M1)温度约为829 ℃,压力为7.3 kbar; 晚期(M2)变质温度为625 ℃,压力为4.3 kbar。斜长角闪片麻岩所经历的早期变质阶段(M1)温度约为776 ℃、压力约为10.6 kbar; 晚期(M2)变质温度超过692 ℃,压力为7.4 kbar。石榴子石角闪片麻岩和斜长角闪片麻岩捕虏体均记录了典型的顺时针P-T轨迹,表明高喜马拉雅变质带曾向北俯冲到下地壳深度,之后被抬升到地表剥蚀出露。变质基性捕虏体的研究说明高喜马拉雅结晶岩系经历过较高温度—压力的变质作用,支持了其沿着藏南拆离系和主中央逆冲断裂系向南挤出的大地构造模型。     

Provenance of the Langjiexue Group to the south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone in southeastern Tibet: Insights on the evolution of the Neo-Tethys Ocean in the Late Triassic

ABSTRACT

The Upper Triassic Langjiexue Group, which lies immediately south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone in the Shannan area of southeastern Tibet, represents an important part of the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence (THS). Its provenance and palaeogeography have been the subject of debate. We present new data on petrographic composition, whole-rock geochemistry, and detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology to constrain the provenance of the Langjiexue Group. The dominance of quartz grains and felsic volcanic lithic fragments suggests that the sandstones are litho-quartzose. The trace element geochemical signatures (V–Ni–Th*10, Co/Th–La/Sc, Eu/Eu*–Th/Sc) suggest derivation from felsic igneous sources. The detrital zircon age spectra display three major peaks: a Meso-to-Neoproterozoic peak (1200–900 Ma, 7–18%), a Neoproterozoic-to-Late Cambrian peak (750–500 Ma, 32–65%), and a Late Carboniferous-to-Late Triassic peak (300–200 Ma, 11–33%). The maximum depositional age of early Carnian (236–235 Ma) is obtained by calculating weighted average ages of the youngest zircons (≤250 Ma). The youngest age cluster (300–200 Ma) is incompatible with sources from neighbouring terranes, including the South Qiangtang terrane, Lhasa terrane, THS, and Higher Himalayan Crystalline. Correlations of the Permian–Triassic zircons with those of time-equivalent strata in northwest Australia, west Burma, and the Banda Arc unveil a potential connection to the Tasmanides along the convergent margin of eastern Australia. The New England Orogen (300–230 Ma) could have supplied the Langjiexue Group with magmatic materials via continent-scale drainage systems or a submarine fan complex. This scenario provides a new perspective into the transport of detritus from distal orogens to sedimentary basins thousands of kilometres away.     

Early subduction–exhumation and late channel flow of the Greater Himalayan Sequence: implications from the Yadong section in the eastern Himalaya

Based on metamorphic studies of the Yadong high-pressure (HP) granulite and multiple thermochronological investigations of granitoids from both upper and lower parts, the Yadong section in the eastern Himalaya constrains the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS). The Yadong HP granulite, located at the top of the GHS, underwent a peak-stage HP granulite facies metamorphism and two stages of retrograde metamorphism. Granulite and hornblende facies retrograde metamorphism took place at 48.5 and 31.8 Ma, respectively, marking the time of exhumation of the subducted Indian slab to lower and middle crustal levels. Subsequently, an average young zircon U–Pb age obtained from the Yadong HP granulite indicated that this unit was captured by its surroundings in a partially molten condition at 16.9 Ma. In addition, three granitoids from both the lower and the upper parts of the GHS yielded biotite ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages of 11.0, 11.3, and 11.5 million years. These consistent ages suggest that the GHS along the Yadong section was laterally extruded and synchronously cooled to ～300°C at ～11.3 Ma. Furthermore, the granitic gneisses yield apatite fission track ages of ～7 million years, documenting the cooling of the GHS to ～110°C. A two-stage model describes the Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the GHS: (1) the Indian slab had subducted under Tibet before ～55 Ma, and was exhumed to the lower crust (50-40 km) at 48.5 Ma, and to the middle crust (22-15 km) at 31.8 Ma; and (2) the partial melting occurred at middle crustal levels during the period 31.8 to 16.9 Ma, causing channel flow. In the late stage, the GHS was laterally extruded by ductile mid-crustal flow during the period 16.9 to ～7 Ma, characterized by a fast cooling rate of ～2 mm per year.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001223

The Paleogene succession of the Himalayan foreland basin is immensely important as it preserves evidence of India-Asia collision and related records of the Himalayan orogenesis. In this paper, the depositional regime of the Paleogene succession of the Himalayan foreland basin and variations in composition of the hinterland at different stages of the basin developments are presented. The Paleogene succession of the western Himalayan foreland basin developed in two stages, i.e. syn-collisional stage and post-collisional stage. At the onset, chert breccia containing fragments derived from the hanging walls of faults and reworked bauxite developed as a result of erosion of the forebulge. The overlying early Eocene succession possibly deposited in a coastal system, where carbonates represent barriers and shales represent lagoons. Up-section, the middle Eocene marl beds likely deposited on a tidal flat. The late Eocene/Oligocene basal Murree beds, containing tidal bundles, indicate that a mixed or semi-diurnal tidal system deposited the sediments and the sedimentation took place in a tide-dominated estuary. In the higher-up, the succession likely deposited in a river-dominated estuary or in meandering rivers. In the beginning of the basin evolution, the sediments were derived from the Precambrian basement or from the metasediments/volcanic rocks possessing terrains of the south. The early and middle Eocene (54.7–41.3 Ma) succession of the embryonic foreland possibly developed from the sediments derived from the Trans-Himalayan schists and phyllites and Indus ophiolite of the north during syn-collisional stage. The detrital minerals especially the lithic fragments and the heavy minerals suggest the provenance for the late Eocene/Oligocene sequences to be from the recycled orogenic belt of the Higher Himalaya, Tethyan Himalaya and the Indus-suture zone from the north during post-collisional stage. This is also supported by the paleocurrent measurements those suggest main flows directed towards southeast, south and east with minor variations. This implies that the river system stabilized later than 41 Ma and the Higher Himalaya attained sufficient height around this time. The chemical composition of the sandstones and mudstones occurring in the early foreland basin sequences are intermediate between the active and passive continental margins and/or same as the passive continental margins. The sedimentary succession of this basin has sustained a temperature of about 200 °C and undergone a burial depth of about 6 km.     

Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility and petrofabric studies in the Garhwal synform, Outer Lesser Himalaya: Evidence of pop-up klippen

Abstract   Geological field, petrographic, and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility studies help in understanding the evolutionary history of the Garhwal synform that lies in the western Outer Lesser Himalaya. Orientations of the magnetic susceptibility axes reveal large variations at short distances as a result of superimposed deformation, and predominant stress conditions favorable for normal faulting. Rocks forming the outer limbs of the Garhwal Synform are metamorphosed up to the lower greenschist facies. The metamorphic grade increases to chlorite zone in the inner limb and the core is characterized by chlorite–biotite to garnet zones. The different grades of metamorphism are separated by thrusts and the structure is described as a pop-up klippen.