RECORD OF BLOCK ROTATION AND MAGNETIC FIELD REVERSALS IN THE TETHYAN HIMALAYA (HIDDEN VALLEY, CENTRAL NEPAL)

Metasediments from the Tethyan Himalaya (TH) were sampled for paleomagnetic studies in several areas. In this paper, we will present the first results from Carboniferous and Early Triassic marly limestones from Hidden Valley (Central Nepal).. The paleomagnetic directions reflect a Tertiary overprint probably synchronous with the metamorphism. In this area, the metamorphic conditions reached during Tertiary are poorly constrained. Temperatures are probably in between 300 and 400℃. The age of the thermal event is still debated. No geochronological data is available in this area. Previously published geochronological data from the northern part of TH metasediments in India ranges from 47 to 42Ma (Ar/Ar Illite) after Weissman et al. (1999) and Bonhomme and Garzanti (1991). While in the southern part (close to HHC), biotite Ar/Ar data ranges from 30 to 26Ma in Marsyandi Valley (Coleman and Hodges, 1998) and muscovite Ar/Ar ranges from 18 to 12Ma in the upper Kali Gandaki Valley (Godin et al., 1998).. In this context, the age of the magnetization can′t be defined with precision.