metamorphism melting and extension age constraints from the high himalayan slab of southeast zanskar and northwest lahaul abstract we present evidence for two distinct stages of tertiary metamorphism m1 and m2 in the high himalayan slab of southeast zanskar and northwest lahaul as well as evidence for an older pre himalayan metamorphism pre m1 the m1 was a regional barrovian type event related to crustal shortening and thickening of the indian plate margin while m2 was associated with crustal melting and the emplacement of the gumburanjon leucogranite into the zanskar shear zone at the top of the slab u pb dating of metamorphic and magmatic accessory phases constrains the timing of m1 between 30 and 37 ma and the crystallization and emplacement age of the gumburanjon leucogranite at 21 22 ma inherited accessory phases in metamorphic and magmatic samples suggest that the protoliths of the slab are at least lower paleozoic in age and that they experienced a major pre m1 thermal perturbation at ca 450 500 ma whether this was associated with a regional barrovian type metamorphism or whether it was a thermal event rel

mantle dynamics uplift of the tibetan plateau and the indian monsoon convective removal of lower lithosphere beneath the tibetan plateau can account for a rapid increase in the mean elevation of the tibetan plateau of 1000 m or more in a few million years such uplift seems to be required by abrupt tectonic and environmental changes in asia and the indian ocean in late cenozoic time the composition of basaltic volcanism in northern tibet which apparently began at about 13 ma implies melting of lithosphere not asthenosphere the most plausible mechanism for rapid heat transfer to the midlithosphere is by convective removal of deeper lithosphere and its replacement by hotter asthenosphere the initiation of normal faulting in tibet at about 8 3 ma suggests that the plateau underwent an appreciable increase in elevation at that time an increase due solely to the isostatic response to crustal thickening caused by india s penetration into eurasia should have been slow and could not have triggered normal faulting another process such as removal of relatively cold dense lower lithosphere must have caused a supplemental uplift of the surface folding and faulting of the indo australian plate south of india the most prominent oceanic intraplate deformation on earth began between about 7 5 and 8 ma and indicates an increased north south compressional stress within the indo australian plate a tibetan uplift of only 1000 m if the result of removal of lower lithosphere should have increased the compressional stress that the plateau applies to india and that resists india s northward movement from an amount too small to fold oceanic lithosphere to one sufficient to do so the climate of the equatorial indian ocean and southern asia changed at about 6 9 ma monsoonal winds apparently strengthened northern pakistan became more arid but weathering of rock in the eastern himalaya apparently increased because of its high altitude and lateral extent the tibetan plateau provides a heat source at midlatitudes that should oppose classical symmetric hadley circulation between the equator and temperate latitudes and that should help to drive an essentially opposite circulation characteristic of summer monsoons for the simple case of axisymmetric heating no dependence on longitude of an atmosphere without dissipation theoretical analyses by hou lindzen and plumb show that an axisymmetric heat source displaced from the equator can drive a much stronger meridianal monsoonlike circulation than such a source centered on the equator but only if heating exceeds a threshold whose level increases with the latitude of the heat source because heating of the atmosphere over tibet should increase monotonically with elevation of the plateau a modest uplift 1000 2500 m of tibet already of substantial extent and height might have been sufficient to exceed a threshold necessary for a strong monsoon the virtual simultaneity of these phenomena suggests that uplift was rapid approximately 1000 m to 2500 m in a few million years moreover nearly simultaneously with the late miocene strengthening of the monsoon the calcite compensation depth in the oceans dropped plants using the relatively efficient c4 pathway for photosynthesis evolved rapidly and atmospheric co2 seems to have decreased suggesting causal relationships and positive feedbacks among these phenomena both a supplemental uplift of the himalaya the southern edge of tibet and a strengthened monsoon may have accelerated erosion and weathering of silicate rock in the himalaya that in turn enhanced extraction of co2 from the atmosphere thus these correlations offer some support for links between plateau uplift a downdrawing of co2 from the atmosphere and global climate change as proposed by raymo ruddiman and froehlich mantle dynamics beneath mountain belts not only may profoundly affect tectonic processes near and far from the belts but might also play an important role in altering regional and global climates

influence of late cenozoic mountain building on ocean geochemical cycles in a steady state ocean input fluxes of dissolved salts to the sea must be balanced in mass and isotopic value by output fluxes for the elements strontium calcium and carbon rivers provide the primary input whereas marine biogenic sedimentation dominates removal dissolved fluxes in rivers are related to rates of continental weathering which in turn are strongly dependent on rates of uplift the largest dissolved fluxes today arise in the himalayan and andean mountain ranges and the tibetan plateau during the past 5 m y uplift rates in these areas have increased significantly this suggests that weathering rates and river fluxes may have increased also the oceanic records of carbonate sedimentation level of the calcite compensation depth and delta sup 13 c and delta sup 87 sr in biogenic sediments are consistent with a global increase in river fluxes since the late miocene the cooling of global climate over the past few million years may be linked to a decrease in atmospheric co sub 2 driven by enhanced continental weathering in these tectonically active regions

accelerated mass flux to the arabian sea during the middle to late miocene possible links between orogenic uplift and the strengthening of the south asian monsoon are best examined in the arabian sea where the erosional flux is not dominated by the high himalaya as in the bengal fan but is controlled by tibet the karakoram and the hindu kush the erosional flux from these mountains into a basin where the monsoon is well dated allows a direct comparison of erosional tectonic and climatic processes new seismic data from the proximal indus fan permit the thickest part of this system to be dated for the first time through correlation to drilling sites after converting time sections to depth and then accounting for sediment compaction the data show a two to threefold increase in mass flux to the upper fan and continental shelf peaking during the middle miocene 16 11 ma and falling from the late miocene to the present increased sedimentation rates are accompanied by the growth of channel levee complexes high sediment flux does not correlate with monsoonal strengthening at 8 5 ma but follows uplift of the murray ridge uplift in tibet and the karakoram after 20 ma and the start of transpression along the karakoram fault at 18 ma 20 km of erosion

higher erosion rates in the himalaya geochemical constraints on riverine fluxes the modern erosion rate of continental scale mountains is difficult to estimate and is usually based on measurement of the suspended load flux of rivers combined with assumptions about river bedload transport and sedimentation in flood plains these two parameters are very difficult to measure directly in continental scale basins in this paper we examine the chemical composition of the suspended load bedload and dissolved load of the ganga and brahmaputra rivers and compare them with the average composition of himalayan source rocks a mass balance equation of erosion fluxes shows that a si rich component is needed in addition to suspended and dissolved load fluxes to account for the composition of the source rock it corresponds to bedload sediment and flood plain deposits which are enriched in quartz by mineral sorting during transport the combined budget of si al and fe in the river system allows us to estimate this si rich flux by this method the total himalayan erosion is estimated to be twice the measured flux of suspended load the comparison between the brahmaputra and the ganga shows that the eastern himalaya has a higher erosion rate 2 9 mm yr than the western himalaya 2 1 mm yr this is likely the result of the higher runoff in the brahmaputra basin the intensity of the monsoon acts as a first order control of the erosion rate in the range

reduced himalayan sediment production 8 myr ago despite an intensified monsoon uplift of the tibetan plateau about 7 8 myr ago1 2 may have been responsible3 5 for the apparent intensification of the asian monsoon 6 10 around that time increases in the oceanic 87sr 86sr ratio during the neogene period have been attributed11 12 to increased erosion from the himalayan orogen it has been suggested that the monsoonal intensification may have enhanced overall erosion rates in the region5 13 if this were the case sediment accumulation rates would have increased in the surrounding basins at this time here we present a reanalysis of stratigraphic data from the indo gangetic foreland and the bengal fan which demonstrates that both of these basins experienced a decline in sediment accumulation rates 8 myr ago thus it seems that monsoonal intensification was accompanied by a decrease in mechanical weathering this decrease could be due to reduced tectonic activity decreased himalayan glaciation or slope stabilization from dense plant cover

age and composition of dikes in southern tibet new constraints on the timing of east west extension and its relationship to postcollisional volcanism controversy exists over whether east west extension in southern tibet is related to plateau uplift or to the accommodation of plate boundary forces relationships between the onset of extension plateau uplift and the thermal state of the lithosphere are critical to this debate we present new data on postcollisional north south trending dikes in southern tibet their ages range from 18 3 2 7 ma to 13 3 0 8 ma and define the onset of regional east west extension in southern tibet dikes are compositionally indistinguishable from postcollisional lavas in southern tibet being either ultrapotassic having a source in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle or calc alkaline with a dominantly crustal origin the ultrapotassic dikes demonstrate that east west extension and subcontinental lithospheric mantle derived magmatism were temporally and spatially linked supporting models that relate the latest phase of plateau uplift to subcontinental lithospheric mantle thinning thus the onset of extension by 18 3 2 7 ma represents the time at which the potential energy of the plateau exceeded convergent boundary forces this places a new age limitation on the attainment of high elevation in southern tibet with implications for models that relate cenozoic monsoon intensification to plateau uplift

tectonic significance of 24 ma crustal melting in the eastern hindu kush pakistan northward directed subduction has continued beneath the hindu kush from the mesozoic when the region formed part of the southern margin of asia until today the kohistan arc was accreted at ca 100 ma followed by the indian plate at 54 50 ma after the india asia collision a regional crustal melting event occurred at ca 25 21 ma to the east of the hindu kush in the karakoram range producing the baltoro pluton in the eastern hindu kush range most of the granitoids appear to be subduction related plutons that predate the india asia collision however the gharam chasma pluton is a two mica garnet tourmaline leucogranite that has intruded into staurolite grade schists and sillimanite k feldspar grade migmatites u pb ages on monazite xenotime and uraninite from undeformed samples of the gharam chasma pluton and a leucogranite dike that crosscuts the migmatites indicate that crustal melting occurred at ca 24 ma synchronous with the baltoro melting event this age also provides an upper limit on the age of the regional staurolite grade metamorphism in the eastern hindu kush

enormous ganges brahmaputra sediment discharge during strengthened early holocene monsoon rivers are the main source of terrigenous sediment delivered to continental margins and thus exert a major control on coastal evolution and sequence development however little is known about past changes in fluvial sediment loads despite the recognition of significant variation under changing climatic regimes in this study we present the first quantified estimate of sediment discharge for a major river system under conditions of an intensified early holocene monsoon development of the ganges brahmaputra river delta began ca 11000 yr b p when rising sea level flooded the bengal basin thereby trapping most of the river s discharge on the inner margin chronostratigraphic data from these deltaic deposits are used to calculate the rates of sediment storage on the margin which provide a minimum estimate of the river s past sediment load results reveal that 5 1012 m3 of sediment was stored in the bengal basin from ca 11000 to 7000 yr b p which corresponds to a mean load of 2 3 109 t yr in comparison modern sediment load of the ganges brahmaputra is 1 109 t yr ranking it first among the world s rivers and underscoring the significance of a two fold increase sustained over 4 k y furthermore the timing of immense discharge in the early holocene strongly suggests its relation to a stronger than present southwest monsoon in south asia similar patterns of high monsoon related sediment discharge have been noted throughout the tropics and subtropics suggesting a widespread fluviosedimentary response the potential magnitude of which is showcased by the ganges brahmaputra system

from gullies to mountain belts a review of sediment budgets at various scales this paper reviews the state of the art in the concept as well as in the application of sediment budgets in sedimentary research sediments are a product of mass dispersal at the earth surface and take part in global cycles sediment budgets aim at quantifying this mass transfer based on the principle of mass conservation and are the key to determine ancient fluxes of solid matter at the earth surface this involves fundamental questions about the interplay of uplift climate and denudation in mountain belts and transfer of sediments from the continents to the oceans as well as applied issues such as soil and gully erosion reservoir siltation and coastal protection first after introducing basic concepts relevant scales and methodologies the different components of quaternary routing systems from erosion in headwaters river systems glacial and paraglacial systems lakes deltas estuaries coasts shelves epicontinental seas and deep sea fans are discussed in terms of their sediment budget most suitable are sedimentologically closed or semi closed depositional environments e g alluvial fans lakes deltas and deep sea fans in a second step the dynamics of passive active and collisional tectonic settings and sediment budgets in related sedimentary basins are explored and new concepts of sediment portioning at large geodynamic scales are introduced ancient routing systems are more or less incomplete and may be intensively fragmented or destroyed in active tectonic settings in terms of sedimentary basin types rifts intracontinental and epicontinental settings are preferred objects of sediment budgets because of their persistence and relatively simple overall sedimentary architecture however closing basins such as foreland forearc retroarc piggy back and wedge top basins may provide excellent snapshots of orogenic sediment fluxes in a third step the large long lived routing systems of the amazon the ganges brahmaputra and the rhine are reviewed for each system estimates of either sediment volumes mass or sediment fluxes of continental and marine subsystems have been compiled in order to receive a complete routing in terms of mass conservation for specific time periods since the late glacial maximum as well as the cenozoic following lessons can be taken from these case studies i depositional centers and fluxes show strong shifts in space and time and call for caution when simply looking at subsystems ii the response times of these large systems are within the milankovich time interval thus lower than predicted from diffusion models iii cyclic routing of sediments in continental basins is much more dominated by climate human control than by eustacy and iv at long time scales ultimate sinks win over intermittent storage it is concluded from this review that the quantitative understanding of global sediment cycling over historic and geologic time and its response to allogenic forcing is still in its infancy and further research is needed towards a holistic view of sediment routing systems at various temporal and spatial scales and their coupling with global biogeochemical cycles this includes i to better determine response times of large routing systems by linking quaternary with cenozoic sediment budgets and continental with marine sub systems ii to combine advanced provenance techniques with sediment budgets in order to reconstruct ancient systems iii to study sediment partitioning at the basin scale iv to reconcile continental supply dominated sequence stratigraphy with the eustatic dominated marine concept and iv to account for non actualism of ancient systems with respect to their erosion and transport mode in particular during glaciations and pronounced arid intervals glacial and eolian sediment routing may cross over hydrologic boundaries of drainage basins thus challenging the principle of mass conservation

mass accumulation rates in asia during the cenozoic summary this work establishes estimates of mass accumulation rates in 18 mostly offshore sedimentary basins in asia since the beginning of the cenozoic 66 ma the estimates were derived from isopach maps cross sections and drill holes or stratigraphic columns assuming regional similarity of the strata average solid phase volumes and accumulation rates were calculated for nine epochs approximately corresponding to geological periods palaeocene 66 58 ma eocene 58 37 ma oligocene 37 30 and 30 24 ma miocene 24 17 17 11 and 11 5 ma pliocene 5 2 ma and quaternary 2 0 ma these rates shed new light on the geological history of asia since the onset of the collision of india with asia 50 ma the overall average accumulation rates curve for asian sedimentary basins since the beginning of the tertiary shows an exponential form with slow accumulation rates less than 0 5 106 km3 myr 1 until the beginning of the oligocene more than 15 myr after the onset of the collision from the oligocene onwards rates increase quickly in an exponential manner reaching their maximum values in the quaternary more than 1 5 106 km3 myr 1 from these observations we suggest that extrusion and crustal shortening are complementary processes that have been successively dominant throughout the india eurasia collision history at smaller scales one may distinguish between independent histories at the subcontinental and basin scales this permits a comparison of the relative importance of tectonic and climatic erosion processes affecting the different mountain belts of asia during the cenozoic

the detrital record of orogenesis a review of approaches and techniques used in the himalayan sedimentary basins the sediment archive of material eroded from an active tectonic region and stored in adjacent basins can provide a valuable record of hinterland tectonism especially when information in the source region itself is obscured by later metamorphism or removed by tectonism or erosion using the sediment record to document tectonism is a well established approach but more recently there has been a burgeoning of the number of isotopic techniques which can be applied to detrital material in particular single grain analyses thus the scope for application of detrital studies to a number of different tectonic problems has widened considerably in this review the example of sediments eroded from the himalayan orogen and preserved in the suture zone basin foreland basin remnant ocean basins and deep sea fans is used to illustrate the approach techniques as diverse as petrography heavy mineral xrf and sr nd studies single grain dating by ar ar u pb and fission track methodologies and single grain sm nd and pb isotopic analyses are described the paper documents how the sediment record can be used to determine the thermal and tectonic evolution of the orogen constrain mechanisms of continental deformation exhumation rates and palaeodrainage

reconciling the intertropical convergence zone himalayan tibetan tectonics and the onset of the asian monsoon system abstract numerous climate proxies from across central south and east asia have yielded different ages for the start or intensification of a monsoon climate system common estimates include the early part of the early miocene 23 20 ma and the late miocene 11 8 ma in the early miocene the average position of the intertropical convergence zone itcz was likely to be the 2000 km closer to the himalaya than at present based on published data for the palaeolatitude of the central pacific itcz such that himalayan climate was marked by high precipitation but not necessarily seasonality here we propose that increased seasonality in the late miocene in the himalaya and neighbouring regions was a response to an increase in the distance between the itcz and the himalaya tibet such that the itcz was only brought northwards during the northern hemisphere summer each year this is essentially the pattern of the modern south asian monsoon system these climatic changes coincide with a switch from north south extensional shear on the northern side of the high himalaya thrusting on the main central thrust and rapid metamorphic exhumation to thrusts further south in the himalaya main boundary thrust and a reduction in high himalayan exhumation rates we speculate that the tectonic changes were at least in part a response to a reduction in precipitation over the high himalaya the himalayan thrust belt re organised to maintain a critical taper appropriate to a drier orogen the reduction in metamorphic exhumation after the early miocene would also have led to a reduction in the flux of metamorphic co2 to the atmosphere thereby promoting the global shift to a cooler climate in the mid miocene

detection of inherited monazite in the manaslu leucogranite by 208pb232th ion microprobe dating crystallization age and tectonic implications abstract although leucogranites are among the least petrologically variable of all igneous rocks ironically they are among the most difficult to reliably date the high himalayan leucogranites have been the subject of numerous geochronological investigations because of their interrelationship with the most significant tectonic features of that mountain belt for a variety of reasons linked to the minimum melt composition of these leucogranites these dating studies have not been entirely successful we report results of a new ion microprobe dating method based on the decay of 232 th to 208 pb in monazite that has directly revealed the presence of inherited pb in monazite from the manalsu granite casting doubt on its previously accepted age monazite ages obtained from this leucogranite yield two distinct populations a large number of ages with a normal distribution and mean age of 22 4 0 5 ma 2 s e that we interpret to be the crystallization age and a smaller inherited fraction with an age of ca 600 ma because formation of the granite is thought to be related to slip on the main central thrust both this date and a second less precise result from a structurally similar pluton near mt everest indicate that the main central thrust was active in the interval 24 22 ma but do not constrain its initiation together with crosscutting relationships these data require that movement on the north himalayan fault occurred prior to 22 ma at both locations

geochemistry and isotopic study of southern bay of bengal sediments implications for provenance and paleoenvironment during the middle miocene abstract the bay of bengal bob the largest bay in the world is known to receive large amounts of fresh water and suspended particulate matter from different sources the sediments deposited in the bay serve as a repository for paleoenviromental reconstruction studies the miocene epoch is an important interval in geologic time as it is marked by major climatic events that controlled ocean productivity redox conditions and provenance of sediments however limited work has been carried out to establish paleoenviromental changes and provenance of sediments during the miocene here we present detailed geochemical and radiogenic sr nd isotopic results from predominantly middle miocene sediments of ocean drilling program odp site 758a located in the southern bob lat 5 23 n long 90 21 e water depth 2925 m to understand paleoredox conditions paleoproductivity and provenance the results suggest that these sediments are strongly linked to climatically modulated surface processes that affected the region the distribution of redox sensitive element proxies u v cr at interval 17 8 ma points to an oxic depositional environment the major trace and rare earth elements distribution supports prevalence of the indian summer monsoon ism at 12 10 ma productivity proxies babio porg show a decreasing trend during colder events east antarctic ice sheet expansion eais and advent of late miocene cooling lmc events the trace and rare earth element concentrations are generally low except at intervals where glass shards were found the 87sr 86sr and end 0 values indicate that the sediments belong to the high himalayan sedimentary series hhss throughout the middle miocene however prior to initiation of the ism these sediments underwent meteoric alteration in the lowlands before deposition in the bob our records suggest that sediments at odp site 758a may have been introduced into the bob through the irrawaddy yarlung tsangpo drainage system during the entire period of this study the irrawaddy yarlung tsangpo system drained the indus tsangpo suture zone southern tibet the eastern himalayas and the arakan coast before debouching in the bob

age cooling history and origin of post collisional leucogranites in the karakoram batholith a multi system isotope study u pb dating on zircon and monazite from different varieties of leucogranites in the karakoram batholith reveals two distinct pulses of plutonism at 25 5 0 3 0 8 and 21 4 0 3 0 6 ma in both granites these minerals contain inherited components documenting the presence of precambrian material in the magma source a crustal origin of the granites and long crustal residence times of the source rocks are confirmed by highly negative epsilon i nd strongly positive epsilon i sr and t dm nd in excess to 1 ga a biotite gneiss and a granitic dike from the karakoram metamorphic complex south of the batholith yield very similar epsilon i nd epsilon i sr t dm nd in a pb evolution diagram initial isotopic compositions for both the granites and the rocks from the metamorphic complex plot far above the reference field for morb documenting very close affinity to the eurasian tibetan continental crust the striking similarity of isotope signatures between leuco

structure and early evolution of the arabian sea and east somali basin summary the laxmi ridge is a large scale basement high buried beneath the sediments of the indus fan the location of the ocean continent transition oct on this margin has previously been proposed at either the southern edge of the laxmi ridge or beyond it towards the india pakistan shelf the former explains the margin parallel laxmi basin as thinned continental crust the latter as a failed rift of earlier seafloor spreading to examine the structure of this margin a reassessment of marine magnetic data has detailed seafloor spreading magnetic anomalies prior to anomaly 24 in both the arabian and east somali basins the previously identified anomaly 28 is not interpreted as a seafloor spreading anomaly but as a magnetized basement feature adjacent to and merging with the ridge the laxmi spur new gravity models across the laxmi ridge and adjacent margin using ship and satellite data corroborate the existence of underplated crust beneath the laxmi ridge and basin and the location of the oct at the southern edge of the ridge the results are not compatible with the existence of a pre anomaly 28 phase of seafloor spreading although large scale intrusions may be the origin of some of the basement features in the laxmi basin the models also identify the laxmi spur as a low density feature with a natural remanent magnetization nrm compatible with serpentinization the laxmi ridge is mapped to the southeast where it appears to terminate at a point coinciding with the appearance of e w magnetic lineations and gravity anomalies at 15 5 n thereafter it becomes indistinct this is interpreted as necessary in the reconstruction to the mascarene plateau to avoid continental overlap

the world class wona kona gold deposit burkina faso abstract the world class 4 moz wona kona gold deposit is hosted within the paleoproterozoic birimian hounde greenstone belt which is the most important gold mineralized belt in the western part of burkina faso with a cumulative reserve of 11 moz the mineralization consists of a pervasive silicification with disseminated pyrite arsenopyrite crosscut by quartz carbonate veinlets 1 to 10 cm wide forming a vertical thick up to 40 m and laterally extensive 5 km northeast trending orebody hosted within a large 200 m wide shear zone of regional extent gold occurs in association with 3 generations of pyrite and 2 generations of arsenopyrite free gold interpreted as the last mineralizing event occurs as late fracture filling in the pervasive silicification zone

k ar and ar ar geochronology of the himalayan collision in nw pakistan constraints on the timing of suturing deformation metamorphism and uplift mica and hornblende k ar and ar ar data are presented from each of the three crustal components of the himalayan collision zone in north pakistan the asian plate the kohistan island arc and the indian plate together with u pb and rb sr data published elsewhere these new data 1 date the age of suturing along the northern suture which separates kohistan from asia at 102 85 ma 2 establish that the basic magmatism in kohistan which postdates collision along the northern suture predates 60 ma and that the later granite magmatism spanned a range of 60 25 ma 3 show that uplift amounts within kohistan are greater toward the nanga parbat syntaxis than away from it and that rate of uplift near the syntaxis increased over the last 20 ma to a current figure of about 5 5 mm a year 4 show that much of southern kohistan had cooled to below 500 c by 80 ma and that the major deformation which imbricated kohistan probably predated 80 ma and certainly predated 60 ma and was related to the kohistan asia collision rather than the kohistan india one 5 imply that uplift along the hunza shear in the asian plate together with imbrication of the metamorphics in its hanging wall took place at about 10 ma and was associated with breakback thrusting in the hanging wall of the main mantle thrust 6 suggest that the indian plate has a lengthy pre himalayan history with an early metamorphism at about 1900 ma major magmatism at 500 550 ma and early jurassic lithospheric extension or inversion and 7 show that the indian plate rocks were metamorphosed shortly after the collision within kohistan which occurred at circa 50 ma and subsequently cooled back through 500 c at circa 38 ma and 300 c at 30 35 ma with ages of cooling through 200 and 100 c as determined by fission track data locally controlled by nanga parbat related uplift tectonics

development of asian monsoon revealed by marked ecological shift during the latest miocene in northern pakistan carbon isotopes from soil carbonate1 4 and soil organic matter5 6 yield palaeoecological information because the carbon in the soil carbonate forms in isotopic equilibrium with local soil co2 refs 1 7 the isotopic composition of which is in turn determined by local plant cover siwalik group sediments in northern pakistan contain a well exposed palaeosol record spanning the past 18 myr here we report on stable carbon isotope results from associated pedogenic carbonate which indicate a dramatic ecological shift from to dominated floodplain biomass beginning 7 4 7 0 myr ago the earlier c3 floodplain biomasses were probably mainly composed of trees and shrubs whereas c4 grasslands dominated in the plio pleistocene oxygen isotopes also exhibit a shift in the latest miocene probably corresponding to a major climate change which may have induced the forest to grassland transition this dramatic ecological shift in the latest miocene may mark the inception or a marked strengthening of the asian monsoon system

magnetic polarity stratigraphy and ages of siwalik group rocks of the potwar plateau pakistan abstract six magnetic polarity sections have been established over the potwar plateau region of pakistan including the major stratotypes of the siwalik group in all six sections the dominant feature of the magnetic polarity stratigraphy is a long normal polarity zone which is contained within the nagri formation this conspicuous normal polarity zone has been radiometrically dated at 9 5 0 6 m y which identifies it as magnetic chron 9 radiometric dates from the upper siwalik formation have also been used to identify the chron 2 3 boundary in two of the sections the magnetic polarity stratigraphy of three of the sections has been correlated securely with the accepted magnetic polarity time scale so that the ages of the local stratigraphy are indexed accordingly based exclusively on data from stratotype sections the chinji nagri and dhok pathan formations have nominal age ranges of 10 1 13 1 7 9 10 1 and 5 1 7 9 m y age fluctuations on the order of 105 years may be anticipated for these formational boundaries within radius of some 20 km of the designated stratotype mean sediment accumulation rates during the chinji nagri and dhok pathan interval range from 13 to 52 cm 103 yr essentially linear sediment accumulations are locally maintained over time intervals of several million years the chinji nagri lithofacies boundary marks a transition from slow to faster sediment accumulation over much of the potwar plateau indicating a fundamental sedimentary tectonic change at this time

geology and hydrocarbon potential of offshore indus basin pakistan geologic notes the indus offshore basin located in the south of the karachi trough and thar slope between murray ridge and the indian border 23 to 25 n lat 66 to 68 e long has been investigated geologically from the point of view of hydrocarbon potential nine wells were drilled in the area two onshore wells karachi 1 2 three wells near the karachi shore dabbo creek patiani creek and korangi creek one well on the offshore platform karachi south a 1 and three wells in offshore depressions indus marine a 1 b 1 and c 1 no oil or gas deposit was discovered but gas shows and traces were recorded however considering the large area 7 700 mi2 20 000 km2 the number of wells drilled represents an insufficient effort of exploration and drilling tectonically the indus offshore basin can be divided into three units 1 an offshore depression on the west between murray ridge and the hinge line 2 the offshore karachi trough platform in the middle between the hinge line and the karachi shoreline and 3 offshore thar slope platform or indus river deltaic area on the east the hinge line zone and the outer margin of the carbonate platform where there is a possibility of reef buildups seem to be potential areas for hydrocarbons and further investigation and drilling for suitable structural traps should be pursued

effects of climate sea level and tectonics unraveled for last deglaciation turbidite records of the arabian sea turbidite sedimentation in a slope basin of the active margin of southwestern pakistan makran and on the abyssal plain of the arabian sea indus fan off the passive margin of southeastern pakistan sindh was most frequent during the last sea level lowstand in both regions turbidite sedimentation rates decreased during early sea level rise it stopped on the midfan of the indus system after 11500 14c yr b p while turbidite sedimentation in the slope basin of the makran continued although at slower rates after ca 7000 14c yr b p sedimentation rates in the makran decreased further as a consequence of increasing continental aridity but turbidite sedimentation did not stop the climate signal is identified in the hemipelagic intervals by conspicuous trends in grain size and chemical composition the continued sedimentation on the makran can be attributed to the narrow shelf width which is a characteristic of active plate margins

a time slice approach to the history of cenozoic sedimentation in the indian ocean abstract results from drilling at over 100 sites have been combined with a new plate tectonic model to produce a series of palinspastic maps which represent snap shots of the changing patterns of sediment accumulation in the indian ocean through the cenozoic the maps clearly delineate the main sedimentary depocenters and show how the sedimentary record has responded on an oceanwide scale to major changes in paleogeography tectonics paleocirculation and or climate paleogene sediment accumulation rates were generally low with significant accumulation in only limited areas suggesting weak ocean circulation and stable well stratified conditions by contrast the vigorous thermohaline circulation of the neogene resulted in substantial widespread sedimentation accumulation rates were generally high and displayed a wide range of values following rapid growth of the east antarctic ice sheet in the mid miocene carbonate sedimentation has been progressively restricted to the shallow ridges and plateaus of the western indian ocean but accumulates there with locally high rates the link between tectonics and terrigenous sedimentation is exemplified by the major deep sea fans off east africa zambezi fan and india indus and bengal fans which developed in response to uplift and erosion beginning in late oligocene time in the east african rift system and the himalayas respectively although maps from only five widely spaced times are shown the methodology is such that a continuous series of maps at intervals as close as 1 m y can readily be generated ultimately the combination of such time slice maps with the results of detailed time series studies will provide a powerful tool for understanding past oceanic environments

rapid early miocene acceleration of uplift in the gangdese belt xizang southern tibet and its bearing on accommodation mechanisms of the india asia collision abstract five samples from a biotite hornblende granodiorite phase of the 42 5 ma quxu pluton gangdese batholith southern tibet have been collected at 250 m vertical intervals biotite from these rocks yields monotonically decreasing40ar 39ar isochron ages with decreasing elevation of 26 8 0 2 23 3 0 5 19 7 0 3 18 4 0 4 and17 8 0 1ma tc 335 c coexisting k feldspars have virtually identical minimum apparent40ar 39ar ages of 17 0 0 4ma tc 285 c these data indicate parts of southern tibet experienced a pulse of uplift in the early miocene with the rate of uplift rising from 0 07 to 4 4 mm year in the interval 20 to 17 ma an apatite fission track age of 9 9 0 9ma from this locality constrains the average uplift rate at this site to about 0 81 mm year between 17 and 9 9 ma and 0 30 mm year from 9 9 ma to present k feldspar from the dagze granite 30 km to the east near lhasa yields a minimum apparent40ar 39ar age of 35 9 0 9ma tc 227 c which indicates an average uplift rate there of 0 21 mm year since then the marked pulse of uplift of the quxu granodiorite and the difference in uplift history between the dagze and quxu plutons suggests southern tibet has experienced discrete pulses of uplift variable in both space and time these data are not consistent with models which require a large proportion of uplift of the tibetan plateau to have occurred in the last 2 ma the data support the suggestion that convergence between india and asia was largely accommodated by tectonic escape during the opening of the south china sea 32 to 17 ma ago and permit distributed shortening as a mechanism for crustal thickening and uplift of this part of the tibetan plateau subsequent to 20 ma

pliocene uplift of the northern tibetan plateau neogene redbeds passing upward into upward coarsening conglomerate and debris flow deposits at the foot of the kunlun mountains record the change in paleoslope related to uplift of the surface of the northern tibetan plateau detailed magnetostratigraphy of a 4 5 km section near yecheng in the western kunlun mountains shows that the change from deposition on distal alluvial plains to proximal alluvial fans occurred during the gilbert reversed chron 4 5 3 5 ma the change in depositional facies was accompanied by an increase in sedimentation rate from an average 0 15 mm yr between the earliest oligocene and the earliest pliocene to 1 4 mm yr in the gauss normal chron 3 6 2 6 ma we interpret the change in depositional facies and increase in sedimentation rate as indicating that the main uplift of the northwestern tibetan plateau began ca 4 5 ma

thermal history of the giant qulong cu mo deposit gangdese metallogenic belt tibet constraints on magmatic hydrothermal evolution and exhumation abstract a complete thermal history for the qulong porphyry cu mo deposit tibet is presented zircon u pb geochronology indicates that the mineralization at qulong resulted from brecciation veining events associated with the emplacement of a series of intermediate felsic intrusions combined with previously published ages our results reveal a whole intrusive history of the qulong composite pluton causative porphyries were emplaced at 16 0 ma as revealed by 40ar 39ar dating of hydrothermal biotite 15 7 0 2 ma and sericite 15 7 0 2 ma zircon and apatite u th he zhe and ahe dating of qulong revealed that both followed similar monotonic thermal trajectories from 900 c u pb ages 17 5 15 9 ma to 200 c zhe 15 7 14 0 ma and that the causative porphyries experienced faster cooling at a maximum rate of greater than 200 c myr the qulong deposit was exhumed between 13 6 ma and 12 4 ma ahe at an estimated rate of 0 16 0 24 mm y which is consistent with previous estimates for other gangdese miocene porphyry deposits our ahe thermochronology results suggest that neither the gangdese thrust system nor the yadong gulu graben affected or accelerated exhumation at the qulong deposit