Nd isotopic data reveal the material and tectonic nature of the Main Central Thrust zone in Nepal Himalaya

The Main Central Thrust (MCT) is a tectono-metamorphic boundary between the Higher Himalayan crystallines (HHC) and Lesser Himalayan metasediments (LHS), reactivated in the Tertiary, but which had already formed as a collisional boundary in the Early Paleozoic. To investigate the nature of the MCT, we analyzed whole-rock Nd isotopic ratios of rocks from the MCT and surrounding zones in the Taplejung–Ilam area of far-eastern Nepal, Annapurna–Galyang area of central Nepal, and Maikot–Barekot area of western Nepal. We define the MCT zone as a ductile–brittle shear zone between the upper MCT (UMCT) and lower MCT (LMCT). The protoliths of the MCT zone may provide critical constraints on the tectonic evolution of the Himalaya. The LHS is lithostratigraphically divided into the upper and lower units. In the Taplejung–Ilam area, different lithologic units and their ε_Nd (0) values are as follows; HHC (− 10.0 to − 18.1), MCT zone (− 18.5 to − 26.2), upper LHS unit (− 17.2), and lower LHS unit (− 22.0 to − 26.9). There is a distinct gap in the ε_Nd (0) values across the UMCT except for the southern frontal edge of the Ilam nappe. In the Annapurna–Galyang and Maikot–Barekot areas, different lithologic units and their ε_Nd (0) values are as follows; HHC (− 13.9 to − 17.7), MCT zone (− 23.8 to − 26.2 except for an outlier of − 12.4), upper LHS unit (− 15.6 to − 26.8), and lower LHS unit (− 24.9 to − 26.8). These isotopic data clearly distinguish the lower LHS unit from the HHC. Combining these data with the previously published data, the lowest ε_Nd (0) value in the HHC is − 19.9. We regard rocks with ε_Nd (0) values below − 20.0 as the LHS. In contrast, rocks with those above − 19.9 are not always the HHC, and some parts of them may belong to the LHS due to the overlapping Nd isotopic ratio between the HHC and LHS. Most rocks of the MCT zone have Nd isotopic ratios similar to those of the LHS, but very different from those of the HHC. The spatial patterns in the distribution of ε_Nd (0) value around the UMCT suggest no substantial structural mixing of the HHC and LHS during the UMCT activities in the Tertiary. A discontinuity in the spatial distribution of ε_Nd (0) values is laterally continuous along the UMCT throughout the Himalayas. These facts support the theory that the UMCT was originally a material boundary between the HHC and LHS, suggesting the MCT zone was mainly developed with undertaking a role of sliding planes during overthrusting of the HHC in the Tertiary.