Exhumation history of the NW Indian Himalaya revealed by fission track and 40Ar/39Ar ages

Schlup, M.; Steck, A.; Carter, Andrew; Epard, Jean-Luc; Hunziker, Johannes C.

doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.06.008

Cited by 31 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…During this time a major fault ramp has been established in the hanging wall of the Lesser Himalayan duplex (Stübner et al, ; Vannay et al, ). Rapid exhumation above this ramp is reflected by an ~40‐km‐wide belt of Pliocene ZFT, ZHe, and AFT cooling ages northeast of the LKRW (Schlup et al, ; Stübner et al, ; Thiede et al, , and this study). These results agree with earlier interpretations that the periodicity of exhumation is caused by the passage of material points over ramp and flat segments of the basal detachment as well as out‐of‐sequence fault zone in the hanging wall resulting in variable rock uplift rates in space and time (Stübner et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

“…In contrast, samples and cooling patterns south of the Rohtang Pass exhibit continuous rapid denudation (AFT 1–3 Ma, ZHe 2–5 Ma, and ZFT 6–9 Ma) since at least late Miocene time (Schlup et al, ; Stübner et al, ). In contrast to the Chandra Valley, the cooling pattern suggests that rocks are moving continuously over deep‐seated ramps from depths >6 km (assuming a thermal gradient 35°/km), most likely related to the MT (Stübner et al, ; Vannay et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In summary, the regional cooling pattern illustrates that the exhumation pattern of the study area is episodic. During the late Oligocene to early Miocene, thrusting along the MCT and extrusion along the STD (1) exhumed the GHS rapidly from ~20‐ to 30‐km depth to shallow crustal depth resulting in cooling below the muscovite 40 Ar/ 39 Ar closure temperature by ~21 to 15 Ma (Schlup et al, ; Stübner et al, ; Vannay et al, ). Results of previous thermal modeling studies (Stübner et al, ; Thiede et al, ) suggest that low (~0.3 mm/year) middle Miocene exhumation rates in central Himachal Himalaya can be attributed to a shallow dip of the MCT (Stübner et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Segmentation of the Main Himalayan Thrust Revealed by Low‐Temperature Thermochronometry in the Western Indian Himalaya

et al. 2018

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Despite remarkable tectonostratigraphic similarities along the Himalayan arc, pronounced topographic and exhumational variability exists in different morphotectonic segments. The processes responsible for this segmentation are debated. Of particular interest is a 30-to 40-km-wide orogen-parallel belt of rapid exhumation that extends from central Nepal to the western Himalaya and its possible linkage to a midcrustal ramp in the basal décollement, and the related growth of Lesser Himalayan duplex structures.Here we present 26 new apatite fission track cooling ages from the Beas-Lahul region, at the transition from the Central to the Western Himalaya (~77°-78°E) to investigate segmentation in the Himalayan arc from a thermochronologic perspective. Together with previously published data from this part of the orogen, we document significant lateral changes in exhumation between the Dhauladar Range to the west, the Beas-Lahul region, and the Sutlej area to the east of the study area. In contrast to the Himalayan front farther east, exhumation in the far western sectors is focused at the frontal parts of the mountain range and associated with the hanging wall of the Main Boundary Thrust fault ramp. Our results allow us to spatially correlate the termination of the rapid exhumation belt with a midcrustal ramp to the west. We suggest that a plunging anticline at the northwestern edge of the Larji-Kullu-Rampur window represents the termination of the Central Himalayan segment, which is related to the evolution of the Lesser Himalayan duplex.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Segmentation of the Main Himalayan Thrust Revealed by Low‐Temperature Thermochronometry in the Western Indian Himalaya

et al. 2018

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“…Spatial Variation in Exhumation Rates Across Ladakh and the Karakoram Low-temperature thermochronological data have delineated significant cooling age variations and trends across and between different portions of the western Himalaya-Karakoram. Extremely young AFT dates (<2 Ma) in the high Himalaya generally increase northward toward the Zanskar shear zone, a portion of the South Tibetan Detachment (approximately 15-19 Ma, Figure 1) [Schulp et al, 2011]. Farther NW, AFT dates decrease again across the Tso Morari dome (Figure 1) from approximately 30-40 Ma to approximately 7 Ma at the Indus suture [Schulp et al, 2003].…”

Section: 1002/2015tc003943mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variation in exhumation rates across Ladakh and the Karakoram: New apatite fission track data from the Eastern Karakoram, NW India

et al. 2016

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Characterization of low-temperature cooling histories and associated exhumation rates is critical for deciphering the recent evolution of orogenic regions. However, these may vary significantly over relatively short distances within orogens. It is pertinent therefore to constrain cooling histories and hence exhumation rates across major tectonic boundaries. We report the first apatite fission track ages from the Karakoram Fault Zone in the Eastern Karakoram range, which forms part of the western margin of the Tibetan Plateau. Ten samples, from elevations of 3477-4875 m, have apatite fission track dates from 3.3 ± 0.3 Ma to 7.4 ± 1.1 Ma. The ages correspond to modeled average erosional exhumation rates of 0.67 + 0.27/À0.18 mm/yr across the Eastern Karakoram. The results are consistent with a trend northward from the Indus suture zone, across the Ladakh terrane and into the Karakoram, in which tectonic uplift associated with crustal thickening increases toward the north, raising elevation and promoting glaciation and generation of extreme relief. As a result, erosion and exhumation rates increase south to north. Present-day precipitation on the other hand varies little within the study area and on a larger scale decreases southwest to northeast across this portion of the orogen. The Eastern Karakoram results highlight the diverse patterns of exhumation driven by regional variations in tectonic response to collision along the western margin of Tibet.

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“…Although recent efforts in the eastern Himalaya have made progress on these issues (e.g., Coutand et al, ; Landry et al, ; Long et al, ), constraints on LH exhumation across the western Himalaya still remain problematic. Whereas existing low‐temperature thermochronometric data sets from NW India have helped address localized interactions between surface processes and tectonics (e.g., Colleps et al, ; Deeken et al, ; Schlup et al, ; Stübner et al, ; Thiede et al, ; Thiede et al, ; Thiede et al, ; Vannay et al, ), a focus on low‐grade metasedimentary LH rocks widely exposed in NW India is essential to unravel the along‐strike exhumational evolution of the Himalayan fold‐thrust belt west of Nepal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neogene Kinematic Evolution and Exhumation of the NW India Himalaya: Zircon Geo‐ and Thermochronometric Insights From the Fold‐Thrust Belt and Foreland Basin

et al. 2019

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The kinematic and exhumational evolution of the Lesser Himalaya (LH) remains a topic of debate. In NW India, the stratigraphically diverse LH is separated into the inner LH (iLH) of late Paleo‐Mesoproterozoic rocks and the outer LH (oLH) of Cryogenian to Cambrian rocks. Contradictory models regarding the age and structural affinity of the Tons thrust—a prominent structure bounding the oLH and iLH—are grounded in conflicting positions of the oLH prior to Himalayan orogenesis. This study presents new zircon (U‐Th)/He and U‐Pb ages from the thrust belt and foreland basin of NW India that refine the kinematic and exhumational evolution of the LH. Combined cooling ages and foreland provenance data support emplacement and unroofing of the oLH via southward in‐sequence propagation of the Tons thrust by middle Miocene time. This requires that, before India–Asia collision, the oLH was positioned as the southernmost succession of Neoproterozoic–Cambrian strata along the north Indian margin. This is further supported by detrital zircon U‐Pb ages from Cretaceous–Paleogene strata (Singtali Formation) unconformably overlying the oLH, which yield diagnostic Cretaceous detrital zircons correlative with coeval strata in the frontal Himalaya of Nepal. A pulse of rapid exhumation along the Tons thrust front at ~16 Ma was followed by east‐to‐west development of a midcrustal ramp at ~12 Ma which facilitated diachronous iLH duplexing. This duplexing shifted the locus of maximum exhumation northward, eroding away Main Central Thrust hanging wall rocks until the iLH breached the surface at ~9–11 Ma near Nepal and by ~3–7 Ma within the Kullu‐Rampur window.

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Exhumation history of the NW Indian Himalaya revealed by fission track and 40Ar/39Ar ages

Cited by 31 publications

References 73 publications

Segmentation of the Main Himalayan Thrust Revealed by Low‐Temperature Thermochronometry in the Western Indian Himalaya

Segmentation of the Main Himalayan Thrust Revealed by Low‐Temperature Thermochronometry in the Western Indian Himalaya

Spatial variation in exhumation rates across Ladakh and the Karakoram: New apatite fission track data from the Eastern Karakoram, NW India

Neogene Kinematic Evolution and Exhumation of the NW India Himalaya: Zircon Geo‐ and Thermochronometric Insights From the Fold‐Thrust Belt and Foreland Basin

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