No abstract

Competing hypotheses suggest that Himalayan topography is sustained and the plate convergence is accommodated either solely along the basal décollement, the Main Himalayan thrust (MHT), or more broadly, across multiple thrust faults. In the past, structural, geomorphic, and geodetic data of the Nepalese Himalaya have been used to constrain the geometry of the MHT and its shallow frontal thrust fault, known as Main Frontal thrust (MFT). The MHT flattens at depth and connects to a hinterland mid-crustal, steeper thrust ramp, located ~100 km north of the deformation front. There, the present-day convergence across the Himalaya is mostly accommodated by slip along the MFT. Despite a general agreement that in Nepal most of the shortening is accommodated along the MHT, some researchers have suggested the occurrence of persistent out-of-sequence shortening on interior faults near the Main Central thrust (MCT). Along the northwest Himalaya, in contrast, some of these characteristics of central Nepal are missing, suggesting along-strike variation of wedge deformation and MHT fault geometry. Here we present new field observations and seven zircon (U-Th)/He (ZHe) cooling ages combined with existing low-temperature data sets. In agreement with our previous findings, we suggest that the transect of cooling age patterns across the frontal Dhauladhar Range reveals that the Main Boundary thrust (MBT) is a primary fault, which has uplifted and sustained this spectacular mountain front since at least the late Miocene. Our results suggest that the MBT forms an ~40-km-long fault ramp before it soles into the MHT, and motion along it has exhumed rocks from depth of ~8-10 km. New three-dimensional thermokinematic modeling (using Pecube finite-element code) reveals that the observed ZHe and apatite fission track cooling ages can only be explained by sustained mean MBT slip rates between ~2.6 and 3.5 mm a-1 since at least 8 Ma, which corresponds to a horizontal shortening rate of ~1.7-2.4 mm a-1. We propose that the MBT is active today, despite a lack of definitive field or seismogenic evidence, and continues to accommodate crustal shorting by out-of-sequence faulting. Assuming that present-day geodetic shorting rates (~14 ± 2 mm a-1) across the northwest Himalaya have been sustained over geologic time scales, this implies that the MBT accommodated ~15% of the total Himalayan convergence since its onset. Furthermore, our modeling results imply that the MHT is missing a hinterland mid-crustal ramp further north.

The southernmost thrust of the Himalayan orogenic wedge that separates the foreland from the orogen, the Main Frontal Thrust, is thought to accommodate most of the ongoing crustal shortening in the Sub-Himalaya. Steepened longitudinal river profile segments, terrace offsets, and back-tilted fluvial terraces within the Kangra reentrant of the NW Sub-Himalaya suggest Holocene activity of the Jwalamukhi Thrust (JMT) and other thrust faults that may be associated with strain partitioning along the toe of the Himalayan wedge. To assess the shortening accommodated by the JMT, we combine morphometric terrain analyses with in situ 10 Be-based surface-exposure dating of the deformed terraces. Incision into upper Pleistocene sediments within the Kangra Basin created two late Pleistocene terrace levels (T1 and T2). Subsequent early Holocene aggradation shortly before~10 ka was followed by episodic reincision, which created four cut-andfill terrace levels, the oldest of which (T3) was formed at 10.1 AE 0.9 ka. A vertical offset of 44 AE 5 m of terrace T3 across the JMT indicates a shortening rate of 5.6 AE 0.8 to 7.5 AE 1.1 mm a À1 over the last~10 ka. This result suggests that thrusting along the JMT accommodates 40-60% of the total Sub-Himalayan shortening in the Kangra reentrant over the Holocene. We speculate that this out-of-sequence shortening may have been triggered or at least enhanced by late Pleistocene and Holocene erosion of sediments from the Kangra Basin.

Abstract. The Lesser Himalaya exposed in the Kishtwar Window (KW) of the Kashmir Himalaya exhibits rapid rock uplift and exhumation (∼3 mm yr−1) at least since the late Miocene. However, it has remained unclear if it is still actively deforming. Here, we combine new field, morphometric and structural analyses with dating of geomorphic markers to discuss the spatial pattern of deformation across the window. We found two steep stream segments, one at the core and the other along the western margin of the KW, which strongly suggest ongoing differential uplift and may possibly be linked to either crustal ramps on the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) or active surface-breaking faults. High bedrock incision rates (>3 mm yr−1) on Holocene–Pleistocene timescales are deduced from dated strath terraces along the deeply incised Chenab River valley. In contrast, farther downstream on the hanging wall of the MCT, fluvial bedrock incision rates are lower (<0.8 mm yr−1) and are in the range of long-term exhumation rates. Bedrock incision rates largely correlate with previously published thermochronologic data. In summary, our study highlights a structural and tectonic control on landscape evolution over millennial timescales in the Himalaya.

Understanding millennial-scale fault activity and related structural architecture from seismic gaps in active orogens is important for assessment of future seismic risks.