Pliocene episodic exhumation and the significance of the Munsiari thrust in the northwestern Himalaya

Stübner, Konstanze; Grujić, Djordje; Dunkl, İstván; Thiede, Rasmus; Eugster, Patricia

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2017.10.036

Cited by 30 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Thus, the cooling pattern across the hinterland demonstrates that younger ages and a higher exhumation rate characterize the core of the KW structural culmination, which contrasts from structurally bounding higher thrust sheets. A recent thermochronologic study on an hinterland duplex structure in Himachal Pradesh, further to the southeast, near the Rampur window, indicate similar high exhumation rates (2–3 mm/year) since the Pliocene time (Stübner et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Tectonics 2006) and 30-45°C for the Pir Panjal and High Himalaya (Deeken et al, 2011;Kumar et al, 1995;Stübner et al, 2018), reflecting thermal differences between thick and cold foreland sediments, and more deeply exhumed crustal rocks in the hinterland. Additionally, we use a mean annual surface temperature of 20°C for the Sub-Himalaya valleys and 10°C for the Pir Panjal and High Himalaya Ranges.…”

Section: 1029/2017tc004668mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We broadly constrain the thermal history of our samples by combining the stratigraphic thicknesses of the Murree and Siwalik Formations with previously published estimates of geothermal gradient. We use a geothermal gradient of 18–24 °C/km for the Sub‐Himalayan (after Agarwal et al, ; van der Beek et al, ) and 30–45 °C for the Pir Panjal and High Himalaya (Deeken et al, ; Kumar et al, ; Stübner et al, ), reflecting thermal differences between thick and cold foreland sediments, and more deeply exhumed crustal rocks in the hinterland. Additionally, we use a mean annual surface temperature of 20 °C for the Sub‐Himalaya valleys and 10 °C for the Pir Panjal and High Himalaya Ranges.…”

Section: Apatite and Zircon (U‐th)/he Thermochronometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Cenozoic Foreland‐to‐Hinterland Low‐Temperature Exhumation History of the Kashmir Himalaya

et al. 2018

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New apatite and zircon (U‐Th)/He cooling ages quantify late Cenozoic exhumation patterns associated with fault activity across the Kashmir Himalaya. Apatite (U‐Th)/He (AHe) cooling ages of detrital grains from the Sub‐Himalayan foreland sediments indicate significant resetting. AHe data and thermal modeling reveal cooling and exhumation initiated by 4 Ma at the deformation front and by 2–4 Ma throughout other Sub‐Himalayan structures. Exhumation rates for Sub‐Himalayan structures are ≥1 mm/year. In the hinterland, thrust sheet samples from the Main Boundary thrust and Main Central thrust yield AHe cooling ages between 5.1 and 21.1 Ma. Published apatite fission track cooling ages (<3 Ma) and high exhumation rates (3.6–3.2 mm/year) across the Kishtwar window further to the north are consistent with AHe data from the Sub‐Himalayan structures. The pattern of cooling ages and rates indicates that exhumation occurs in association with changes in the Himalayan basal décollement ramp geometry. Hinterland zircon (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) data show a pronounced abundance and probability spike in cooling ages between 14 and 21 Ma, a period when Main Central thrust motion is well documented throughout the Himalaya. ZHe single‐grain ages from Sub‐Himalayan samples contain a nearly identical cluster from 16 to 23 Ma. Cooling patterns across the Kashmir Himalayas do not correlate spatially with modern monsoon precipitation, suggesting that climate‐related precipitation and exhumation are decoupled. Coeval translation over the basal décollement and distributed imbricate thrust deformation of the foreland in the upper plate characterizes fault‐related exhumation of the Sub‐Himalayan orogenic belt after 4 Ma.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: 1029/2017tc004668mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Apatite and Zircon (U‐th)/he Thermochronometrymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Late Cenozoic Foreland‐to‐Hinterland Low‐Temperature Exhumation History of the Kashmir Himalaya

et al. 2018

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“…In central Nepal the PT2 is characterized by rapid elevation and relief increase accompanied with highly steepened river channels that have been documented from the central Himalaya to the Sutlej/Beas region in the west (Seeber and Gornitz 1983;Wobus et al, 2003). In the western central Himalaya, increasing evidence supports the existence of a steep basement thrust ramp in the hanging wall of a LH-duplex (Stübner et al, 2018), and its surface exposure has been related to the Munsiari Thrust (MT) (Cadwell et al, 2013). Recent studies imply that this structure is active and has rapidly exhumed late Miocene-Pliocene high-grade metamorphic rocks from mid-crustal levels to the surface since 7-8 Ma (Vannay et al, 2004;Stübner et al, 2018).…”

Section: Short Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Deformation models and geophysical and geologic data suggest (Fig. 1) that shortening is mainly accommodated by active out-of-sequence deformation along basement thrust ramps (e.g., Wobus et al, 2003;Whipple et al, 2016;Thiede et al, 2017;Stübner et al, 2018) or by slip along a basal décollement including an orogen parallel ramp geometry (e.g., Bilham et al, 1997;Cattin and Avouac, 2000;Meade, 2010;Ader et al, 2012). However, seismic and geodetic measurements only reflect present-day conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fault activity, tectonic segmentation, and deformation pattern of the western Himalaya on Ma timescales inferred from landscape morphology

2018

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The location and magnitude of Himalayan tectonic activity has been debated for decades, and several aspects remain unknown. For instance, the spatial distribution of crustal shortening that ultimately sustains Himalayan topography and the activity of major fault zones remain unknown at Ma timescales. In this study, we address the spatial deformation pattern in the data-scarce western Himalaya. We calculated catchment averaged, normalized river-steepness indices of non-glaciated drainage basins with tributary catchment areas between 5 and 200 km 2 (n = 2138). We analyzed the spatial distribution of the relative change of river steepness both along and across strike to gain information about the regional distribution of differential uplift pattern and relate this to the activity of distinctive fault segments. For our study area, we observe a positive correlation of averaged k sn values with long-term exhumation rates derived from previously published thermochronologic datasets combined with thermal modeling as well as with millennial timescale denudation rates based on cosmogenic nuclide dating. Our results indicate three tectono-geomorphic segments with distinctive landscape morphology, structural architecture, and fault geometry along the western Himalaya: Garhwal-Sutlej, Chamba, and Kashmir Himalaya (from east to west). Moreover, our data recognize distinctive fault segments showing varying thrust activity along strike of the Main Frontal Thrust, the Main Boundary Thrust, and in the vicinity of the steep topographic transition between the Lesser and Greater Himalaya. In this region, we relate out-of-sequence deformation along major basement thrust ramps, such as the Munsiari Thrust with deformation along a mid-crustal ramp along the basal décollement. We suggest that during the Quaternary, all major fault zones in the Western Himalaya experienced out-of-sequence faulting and have accommodated some portion of crustal shortening.

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Some Unresolved Problems in the Himalaya

Bhargava¹

2022

Advances in Remote Sensing Technology and the Three Poles

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Pliocene episodic exhumation and the significance of the Munsiari thrust in the northwestern Himalaya

Cited by 30 publications

References 46 publications

Late Cenozoic Foreland‐to‐Hinterland Low‐Temperature Exhumation History of the Kashmir Himalaya

Late Cenozoic Foreland‐to‐Hinterland Low‐Temperature Exhumation History of the Kashmir Himalaya

Fault activity, tectonic segmentation, and deformation pattern of the western Himalaya on Ma timescales inferred from landscape morphology

Some Unresolved Problems in the Himalaya

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