GEOLOGY OF THE TAPLEJUNG WINDOW AND FRONTAL BELT, FAR EASTERN NEPAL HIMALAYA

We present a preliminary result of the study carried out in the northern and southern sections of the Taplejung Window and the frontal part of the thrust sheet near The study area comprises of three tectonic units: (1) The Lesser Himalayan (LH) Unit exposed in the Taplejung Window (Fig. 1a, 1b, Upreti and Le Fort, 1999), (2) The thrust sheet consisting of the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) and forming the hanging wall of the Main Central Thrust (MCT) exposed around the window, and which has traveled far south reaching very close to the MBT (Fig.1c), and (3) The Lesser Himalayan Unit sandwiched between the MBT and the southern extension of the MCT (Fig.1c).The LH Unit of the window and the sandwiched southern part consist mainly of phyllites, schists, quartzites, gneisses and augen gneiss of granitic origin with minor association of amphibolites, marbles (Fig. 1a, 1c). An foliated granitic rock is found within the phyllites and schists near the Kabeli bridge within the window. The HHC consists mainly of the garnet, kyanite, sillimanite bearing banded gneisses interbedded with quartzites with incipient traces of mobilization. Detailed petrography of all these rocks are described.