Contrasting P-T Paths in the Eastern Himalaya, Nepal: Inverted Isograds in a Paired Metamorphic Mountain Belt

Petrology and phase equilibria of rocks from two profiles inEastern Nepal from the Lesser Himalayan Sequences, across theMain Central Thrust Zone and into the Greater Himalayan Sequencesreveal a Paired Metamorphic Mountain Belt (PMMB) composed oftwo thrust-bound metamorphic terranes of contrasting metamorphicstyle. At the higher structural level, the Greater HimalayanSequences experienced high-T/moderate-P metamorphism, with ananticlockwise P–T path. Low-P inclusion assemblages ofquartz + hercynitic spinel + sillimanite have been overgrownby peak metamorphic garnet + cordierite + sillimanite assemblagesthat equilibrated at 837 ± 59°C and 6·7 ±1·0 kbar. Matrix minerals are overprinted by numerousmetamorphic reaction textures that document isobaric coolingand re-equilibrated samples preserve evidence of cooling to600 ± 45°C at 5·7 ±1·1 kbar.Below the Main Central Thrust, the Lesser Himalayan Sequencesare a continuous (though inverted) Barrovian sequence of high-P/moderate-Tmetamorphic rocks. Metamorphic zones upwards from the loweststructural levels in the south are: Zone A: albite + chlorite + muscovite ± biotite; Zone B: albite + chlorite + muscovite + biotite + garnet; Zone C: albite + muscovite + biotite + garnet ± chlorite; Zone D: oligoclase + muscovite + biotite + garnet ± kyanite; Zone E: oligoclase + muscovite + biotite + garnet + staurolite+ kyanite; Zone F: bytownite + biotite + garnet + K-feldspar + kyanite± muscovite; Zone G: bytownite + biotite + garnet + K-feldspar + sillimanite+ melt ± kyanite. The Lesser Himalayan Sequences show evidence for a clockwiseP–T path. Peak-P conditions from mineral cores average10·0 ± 1·2 kbar and 557 ± 39°C,and peak-metamorphic conditions from rims average 8·8± 1·1 kbar and 609 ± 42°C in ZonesD–F. Matrix assemblages are overprinted by decompressionreaction textures, and in Zones F and G progress into the sillimanitefield. The two terranes were brought into juxtaposition duringformation of sillimanite–biotite ± gedrite foliationseams (S₃) formed at conditions of 674 ± 33°C and5·7 ± 1·1 kbar. The contrasting averagegeothermal gradients and P–T paths of these two metamorphicterranes suggest they make up a PMMB. The upper-plate positionof the Greater Himalayan Sequences produced an anticlockwiseP–T path, with the high average geothermal gradient beingpossibly due to high radiogenic element content in this terrane.In contrast, the lower-plate Lesser Himalayan Sequences weredeeply buried, metamorphosed in a clockwise P–T path anddisplay inverted isograds as a result of progressive ductileoverthrusting of the hot Greater Himalayan Sequences duringprograde metamorphism. KEY WORDS: thermobarometry; P–T paths; Himalaya; metamorphism; inverted isograds; paired metamorphic belts