Domal structures and high-grade metamorphism in the Higher Himalayan Crystalline, Zanskar Region, north-west Himalaya, India

ABSTRACT In the main Himalayan range in the Ladakh-Zanskar area, domal structures have been observed at structurally deeper levels in the tectonic unit of the Higher Himalayan Crystalline. Their formation occurred during a second, temperature-dominated phase (M₂) of high-grade regional metamorphism, characterized by the semipelitic paragenesis of sillimanite-K-feldspar and incipient anatexis. The doming event reveals a local system of synmetamorphic uplift superimposed on a regional system of northeast-southwest trending compression. In the main Himalayan range the development of the dominant S₂ foliation is related to deformation during the doming phase, which started early in the M₂ event. The deformation propagated continuously north-east and south-west with time. In the north-east, on the northern slopes of the main Himalayan range, this deformation is expressed by extensional shear movements of the upper tectonic levels finally leading to the late- to postmetamorphic normal fault system of the Zanskar shear zone. Towards the south-west, deformation is expressed by compressional movements, e.g. at the Main Central Thrust (MCT) in the Kishtwar window area. The observed compression and extension is inferred to relate to an increased uplift of the domal bulges of the tectonic Kishtwar window and of the whole main Himalayan range.     

Fabric controls on strain accommodation in naturally deformed mylonites: The influence of interconnected micaceous layers

We present microstructural analyses demonstrating how the geometrical distribution and interconnectivity of mica influences quartz crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) development in naturally deformed rocks. We use a polymineralic (Qtz + Pl + Kfs + Bt + Ms ± Grt ± Tur) mylonite from the Zanskar Shear Zone, a section of the South Tibetan Detachment (NW Himalaya), to demonstrate how quartz CPO intensity decreases from quartz-dominated domains to micaceous domains, independently of whether or not quartz grains are pinned by mica grains. We then use a bimineralic (Qtz + Ms) mylonite from the Main Central Thrust (NW Himalaya) to show how increasing mica grain connectivity is concomitant with a systematic weakening of quartz CPO. Our results draw distinctions between CPO weakening due to: (i) second phase drag, leading to ineffective recovery in quartz; and (ii) increased transmission and localisation of strain between interconnected mica grains. In the latter case, well-connected micaceous layers take up most of the strain, weakening the rock and preventing straining of the stronger quartz matrix. Our findings suggest that rock weakening in quartz-rich crustal rocks is influenced not only by the presence of mica-rich layers but also the degree of mica grain connectivity, which allows for more effective strain localization through the entire rock mass.     

Eocene migmatite formation and diachronous burial revealed by petrochronology in NW Himalaya,Zanskar

In this contribution, we highlight the importance of in-situ monazite geochronology linked to P−T modelling for identification of timescales of metamorphic processes. Barrovian-type micaschists, migmatites and augengneiss from the Gumburanjun dome in the southeastern extremity of the Gianbul dome, NW Himalaya, have been studied in order to correlate the early stages of Himalayan metamorphism at different crustal levels and infer the timing of anatexis. P−T−t paths are constrained through combined pseudosection modelling and in-situ and in-mount monazite and xenotime laser ablation–split-stream inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Petrography and garnet zoning combined with pseudosection modelling show that garnet-staurolite schists record burial from ~530 to 560°C and 5.5 kbar to ~630 to 660°C and 7 kbar; staurolite-kyanite schists from ~530 to 560°C and 5 kbar to ~670 to 680°C and 7−9 kbar; and garnet-kyanite migmatites from 540−570°C and 5 kbar to ~680 to 750°C and 7−10 kbar, probably also to >750°C and >9 kbar above the muscovite stability field. The decompression paths of garnet-staurolite schists indicate cooling on decompression, while garnet rim chemistry and local sillimanite growth point to a stage of re-equilibration at ~600 to 670°C and 4−6 kbar in some of the staurolite-kyanite schists, and at ~670 to 700°C and 6 kbar in garnet-kyanite migmatites. Some of the staurolite-kyanite schists and garnet-kyanite migmatites also contain andalusite or andalusite-cordierite. Monazite and xenotime were analysed in thin sections in garnet, staurolite and kyanite, and in the matrix; and in mounts. BSE images and compositional maps of monazite (xenotime was too small) show variable internal structures from homogeneous through patchy zoning with embayed to sharp boundaries. Two groups of samples can be identified on the basis of the presence or absence of c. 44 − 37 Ma ages. The first group of samples—two garnet-staurolite schists—recorded only c. 31 − 27 Ma ages in porphyroblasts and no c. 40 Ma ages. The second group (samples of staurolite-kyanite schist, garnet-kyanite migmatites, augengneiss) have both the older, c. 44 − 37 Ma monazite ages in porphyroblasts and younger ages down to c. 22 Ma. These significantly different ranges of ages from porphyroblasts of 44−37 Ma, and 31−27 Ma, are interpreted as the duration of prograde P−T paths in Eocene and Oligocene, and indicate diachronous two-stage burial of rocks. Early migmatization occurred at 38 Ma. The c. 29 Ma is interpreted as the time when rocks from the lower and middle crustal levels were partially exhumed and came in to contact with rocks that were downgoing at this time. Localized monazite recrystallization is as young as 26−24 Ma. The youngest ages of 23−22 Ma are related to leucogranite emplacement.     

Thermal model for the Zanskar Himalaya

ABSTRACT Crustal thickening along the northern margin of the Indian plate, following the 50 Ma collision along the Indus Suture Zone in Ladakh, caused widespread high-temperature, medium-pressure Barrovian facies series metamorphism and anatexis. In the Zanskar Himalaya metamorphic isograds are inverted and structurally telescoped along the Main Central Thrust (MCT) Zone at the base of the High Himalayan slab. Along the Zanskar valley at the top of the slab, isograds are the right way-up and are also telescoped along northeast-dipping normal faults of the Zanskar Shear Zone (ZSZ), which are related to culmination collapse behind the Miocene Himalayan thrust front. Between the MCT and the ZSZ a metamorphic-anatectic core within sillimanite grade rocks contains abundant leucogranite-granite crustal melts of probable Himalayan age. A thermal model based on a crustal-scale cross-section across the Zanskar Himalaya suggests that M₁ isograds, developed during early Himalayan Barrovian metamorphism, were overprinted during high-grade MCT-related anatexis and folded around a large-scale recumbent fold developed in the hanging wall of the MCT.     

Metamorphic evolution of the High Himalayan Crystallines in SE Zanskar, India

ABSTRACT The High Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) of SE Zanskar consist of biotite paragneisses, of orthogneisses that derive from early-Palaeozoic granitoids, of minor metabasics and of post-metamorphic leucogranites of Miocene age. Two main metamorphic events have been documented in the HHC. The first event occurred at P= 12.0 ± 0.5 kbar and T= 750 ± 50° C in rare metabasics intruded by early-Palaeozoic granitoids. In the biotite paragneisses, thermobarometric estimates of the first event point to comparable T at P 4–5 kbar lower. The first event is followed by a pervasive syn-tectonic crystallization characterized by lower P and T. On the basis of the cooling ages of the metamorphic minerals and on the geological evidence, the second event is referred to the Tertiary Himalayan crystallization. Further petrological and geochronological studies are necessary to prove whether a few mineral relics ascribed to the first event define a polyphase Himalayan evolution or if they record the incomplete obliteration of an older history during the Himalayan event. The HHC of SE Zanskar show a decrease in metamorphic grade from the middle structural levels upward, close to the Kade unit, and downward, close to the Lesser Himalaya (from sillimanite-K-feldspar-biotite-bearing assemblages to kyanite-staurolite-muscovite-bearing assemblages). This metamorphic zonation is probably a consequence of the polyphase history of intracontinental thrusts and of the tectonic emplacement of hot crustal slabs within shallower and colder thrust sheets at relatively late stages of the continental collision between India and Eurasia.     

Tracking denudation and sediment production and transport with cosmogenic 10Be in arid,high-altitude Himalayan half-grabens,Zanskar, northern India

Understanding the extent to which local factors, including bedrock and structure, govern catchment denudation in mountainous environments as opposed to broader climate or tectonic patterns provides insight into how landscapes evolve as sediment is generated and transported through them, and whether they have approached steady-state equilibrium. We measured beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) concentrations in 21 sediment samples from glaciated footwall and hanging wall catchments, including a set of nested catchments, and 12 bedrock samples in the Puga and Tso Morari half-grabens located in the high-elevation, arid Zanskar region of northern India. In the Puga half-graben where catchments are underlain by quartzo-feldspathic gneissic bedrock, bedrock along catchment divides is eroding very slowly, about 5 m/Ma, due to extreme aridity and ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments are the highest (~60–90 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂) as colluvium accumulates on hillslopes, decoupled from their ephemeral streams. At Puga, ¹⁰Be concentrations and the average erosion rates of a set of six nested catchments demonstrate that catchment denudation is transport-limited as sediment stagnates on lower slopes before reaching the catchment outlet. In the Tso Morari half-graben, gneissic bedrock is also eroding very slowly but ¹⁰Be concentrations in sediments in catchments underlain by low grade meta-sedimentary rocks, are significantly lower (~10–35 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂). In these arid, high-elevation environments, ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments have more to do with bedrock weathering and transport times than steady-state denudation rates. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Frontal recession of Parkachik Glacier between 1971-2015, Zanskar Himalaya using remote sensing and field data

Parkachik Glacier is located in the Suru sub-basin of the Upper Indus River, Zanskar Himalaya. The Glacier has been analysed using Corona KH-4B (1971), Landsat-TM (1999), field survey (2015), Google Earth^TM (2015) and ASTER GDEM (2015) for frontal recession and area changes. Overall, from 1971 to 2015, the Glacier has retreated by 127 ± 0.09 m i.e. (0.75 ± 0.07%) at a rate of 2.9 ± 0.004 ma^?1 with a simultaneous decrease in area from 49.5 to 48.8 km² i.e. 740 ± 0.7 m² (1.5 ± 0.09%) at a rate of 74 ± 0.7 m²a^?1. However, during recent decade (1999–2015), the rate of glacier recession of 3.9 ± 0.004 ma^?1 with a corresponding area loss of 500 ± 0.74m² (1 ± 0.1%) was higher than the retreat rate of 2.3 ± 0.001 ma^?1 and an area loss of 240 ± 0.02m² (0.48 ± 0.08%) during 1971–1999. In the field, the evidences of glacier recession are present in the form of separated dead ice blocks from the main Glacier, recessional dumps/moraines, active ice calving activity and a small proglacial pond/lake at the terminus/snout of the Glacier. However, the recession over the studied period has been very slow and is controlled by its topographic configuration, particularly the large altitudinal range (6030–3620 m), almost northerly aspect and steep slope (average ~ 30°).     

Glacier fluctuations between 1975 and 2008 in the Greater Himalaya Range of Zanskar, southern Ladakh

Glaciers in the Himalaya are often heavily covered with supraglacial debris,making them difficult to study with remotely-sensed imagery alone.Various methods such as band ratios can be used effectively to map clean-ice glaciers;however,a thicker layer of debris often makes it impossible to distinguish between supraglacial debris and the surrounding terrain.Previously,a morphometric mapping approach employing an ASTER-derived digital elevation model has been used to map glaciers in the Khumbu Himal and the Tien Shan.This study on glaciers in the Greater Himalaya Range in Zanskar,southern Ladakh,aims (i) to use the morphometric approach to map large debris-covered glaciers;and (ii) to use Landsat and ASTER data and GPS and field measurements to document glacier change over the past four decades.Field work was carried out in the summers of 2008.For clean ice,band ratios from the ASTER dataset were used to distinguish glacial features.For debris-covered glaciers,topographic features such as slope were combined with thermal imagery and supervised classifiers to map glacial margins.The method is promising for large glaciers,although problems occurred in the distal and lateral parts and in the fore field of the glaciers.A multi-temporal analysis of glaciers in Zanskar showed that in general they have receded since at least the mid-to late-1970s.However,some few glaciers that advanced or oscillated - probably because of specific local environmental conditions - do exist.     

Cooling age record of domal uplift in the core of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC), southwest Zanskar, India

The cooling and tectonic history of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) in southwest Zanskar (along the Kishtwar-Padam traverse) is constrained by K-Ar biotite and fission-track (FT) apatite and zircon ages. A total of nine biotite samples yields ages in the range of 14–24 Ma, indicating the post-metamorphic cooling of these rocks through ∼ 300°C in the Miocene. Overall, the ages become younger away from the Zanskar Shear Zone (ZSZ), which marks the basement-cover detachment fault between the HHC and the Tethyan sedimentary zone, towards the core of the HHC. The same pattern is also observed for the FT apatite ages, which record the cooling of the rocks through ∼ 120°C. The apatite ages range from 11 Ma in the vicinity of the ZSZ to 4 Ma at the granitic core of the HHC. This pattern of discordant cooling ages across the HHC in southwest Zanskar reveals an inversion of isotherms due to fast uplift-denudation (hence cooling) of the HHC core, which is, in turn, related to domal uplift within the HHC. The Chisoti granite gneiss is the exposed domal structure along the studied traverse. Cooling history of two granite gneisses at the core of the HHC is also quantified with the help of the biotite, zircon and apatite ages; the time-temperatures thus obtained indicate a rapid pulse of cooling at ∼ 6 Ma, related to accelerated uplift-denudation of the HHC core at this time. Long-term denudation rates of 0.5–0.7 mm/yr are estimated for the high-grade rocks of the Higher Himalaya in southwest Zanskar over the past 4.0–5.5 m.yr.