structural geology and regional tectonic significance of the ramgarh thrust himalayan fold thrust belt of nepal 1 the ramgarh thrust is one of the major fault systems of the himalayan thrust belt in nepal and northern india the ramgarh thrust sheet is 0 2 2 0 km thick and can be traced along strike the entire length of the himalaya in nepal the fault generally places the oldest paleoproterozoic rocks in the lesser himalayan series upon younger lesser himalayan rocks or lower miocene foreland basin deposits regional balanced cross sections suggest that the ramgarh thrust had at least 120 km of initial south vergent displacement subsequently the frontal part of the thrust experienced further slip as the roof thrust for a large duplex in underlying lesser himalayan rocks ramgarh hanging wall strata are greenschist grade phyllite quartzite and augen gneiss all of which locally exhibit phyllonitic and mylonitic fabrics that indicate a top to the south sense of shear structural fabrics in the ramgarh thrust sheet are generally parallel to the fabrics in rocks above and below the thrust sheet regional and local mapping of the ramgarh thrust in nepal demonstrates that the fault always places a hanging wall flat upon a footwall flat except where local lateral ramps complicate its geometry similarly the structurally overlying main central thrust always places a hanging wall flat in greater himalayan series rocks upon the regionally flat ramgarh thrust sheet these geometric relationships preclude kinematic and thermal models that elevate greater himalayan and lower lesser himalayan rocks along high angle thrust ramps in the vicinity of the present traces of the ramgarh and main central thrust faults instead the corresponding footwall ramps for these thrusts must be located more than 100 km north of the current trace of the main central thrust the present steep dips of the ramgarh and main central thrust sheets can be attributed to tilting during emplacement of structurally lower thrust sheets within a large antiformal duplex that occupies most of the lesser himalayan zone the ramgarh thrust sheet overlaps a bed length of at least 100 km in lower miocene foreland basin deposits indicating that a significant amount of displacement on the thrust must have occurred after 15 ma growth of the lesser himalayan duplex and additional slip on the frontal part of the ramgarh thrust occurred from 12 to 5 ma the presence of a major greenschist grade metasedimentary thrust sheet composed of lesser himalayan rocks directly below the main central thrust suggests that the famous inverted metamorphism in this region is a result of structural inversion similarly the concept of a broad zone of intense shear strain related exclusively to emplacement of the main central thrust sheet is probably invalid in nepal

population wide garnet growth zoning revealed by la icp ms mapping implications for trace element equilibration and syn kinematic deformation during crystallisation the strong partitioning of many trace elements into garnet and their slow diffusivities in both garnet and the rock matrix means that their distribution may record valuable petrogenetic information not documented by major elements in metamorphic rocks complex trace element growth zoning in garnet porphyroblasts from a garnet grade metapelite from the barrovian sequence of the sikkim himalaya is assessed using quantified la icp ms raster mapping coupled with x ray micro computed tomography the data document systematic changes in the zoning patterns from early to late nucleated crystals and also suggest that the ree y chemistry incorporated into garnet is dependent on persistent disequilibrium in the rock volume there is evidence for hree y diffusion haloes surrounding growing garnets and a heterogeneous hree y distribution in the rock matrix annuli superimposed on oscillatory zoning are not consistent with formation during some rock wide event but are dependent on the spatial disposition of the garnet annuli are interpreted to reflect an integrated history of varying growth rates and the incorporation of pre existing heterogeneities due to relatively slow matrix diffusivities conversely smooth zoning of many transition metals indicate that their distribution in garnet may be controlled by equilibrium partitioning between garnet and the rock matrix significant rotation of garnet porphyroblasts during growth is revealed due to immobility of cr over the duration of the crystallisation interval and overprinting of the heterogenous precursor cr distribution strain rate estimates derived from this zoning are on the order of 10 11 10 12 hbox s 1

dynamic recrystallization mechanisms and their transition in the daling thrust dt zone darjeeling sikkim himalaya abstract the daling thrust dt delineates a zone of intense shear localization in the lesser himalayan sequence lhs of the darjeeling sikkim himalaya from microstructural studies of deformed quartzite samples we show a transition in the dynamic recrystallization mechanism with increasing distance from the dt dominated by grain boundary bulging blg recrystallization closest to the dt and progressively replaced by sub grain rotation sgr recrystallization away from the thrust the transition is marked by a characteristic variation in the fractal dimension d of grain boundaries estimated from the area perimeter method for the blg regime d 1 046 which decreases significantly to a value as low as 1 025 for the sgr regime using the available thermal data for blg and sgr recrystallization we infer increasing deformation temperatures away from the dt in the hanging wall based on the quartz piezometer our estimates reveal strong variations in the flow stress 59 00 mpa to 16 00 mpa over a distance of 1 2 km from the dt deformation mechanism maps constructed for different temperatures indicate that the strain rates 10 12 s 1 to 10 14 s 1 comply with the geologically possible range finally we present a mechanical model to provide a possible explanation for the cause of stress intensification along the dt

crustal architecture of the himalayan metamorphic front in eastern nepal abstract the himalayan metamorphic front consists of two basinal sequences deposited on the indian passive margin the mesoproterozoic lesser himalayan sequence and the neoproterozoic cambrian greater himalayan sequence the current paradigm is that the unconformity between these two basinal sequences coincides with a crustal scale thrust that has been called the main central thrust and that this acted as the fundamental structure that controlled the architecture of the himalayan metamorphic front geological mapping of eastern nepal and eight detailed stratigraphic kinematic strain and metamorphic profiles through the himalayan metamorphic front define the crustal architecture in eastern nepal the unconformity does not coincide with a discrete structural or metamorphic discontinuity and is not a discrete high strain zone in recognition of this we introduce the term himalayan unconformity to distinguish it from high strain zones in the himalayan metamorphic front the fundamental structure that controls orogen architecture in eastern nepal occurs at higher structural levels within the greater himalayan sequence and we suggest the name high himal thrust this 100 400 m thick mylonite zone marks a sharp deformation discontinuity associated with a steep metamorphic transition and separates the upper plate from the lower plate in the himalayan metamorphic front the high t moderate p metamorphism at 20 24 ma in the upper plate reflects extrusion of material between the high himal thrust and the south tibet detachment system at the top of the section the lower plate is a broad schistose zone of inverted diachronous moderate t high p metamorphic rocks formed between 18 and 6 ma the high himal thrust is laterally continuous into sikkim and bhutan where it also occurs at higher structural levels than the himalayan unconformity and main central thrust as originally defined to the west in central nepal the upper plate lower plate boundary has been placed at lower structural levels coinciding with the himalayan unconformity and has been named the main central thrust above the originally defined main central thrust or ramgarh thrust

the geometry and kinematics of the main boundary thrust and related neotectonics in the darjiling himalayan fold and thrust belt west bengal india abstract the main boundary thrust mbt is well exposed in a section of the tista river valley in the darjiling himalayan fold and thrust belt the fault trace trends e w across the n s flowing tista and thrusts gondwana permian age sandstones over lower siwalik miocene age sandstones the mbt has been folded into a fault propagation synform antiform pair by tectonic activity along a younger south kalijhora thrust skt in its footwall that transports lower siwalik rocks over middle siwalik sandstones the skt cuts through the fault propagation structure preserving the mbt fault propagation fold pair in its hanging wall the motion along the skt rotated the bedding and the limbs of the folded mbt in its hanging wall footwall imbrication in front of the skt further rotated the folded mbt footwall imbrication continued to about 30 km south of the study area in the middle siwalik and younger section the region has been subsequently reactivated as evident from uplifted gravel beds and strath terraces along the folded trace of the mbt fault zone and also in the footwall of the skt the reactivation resulted in the formation of connective splays off the existing faults probably forming horses of a connecting splay duplex in the sub surface within the siwalik section the motion along these splays passively folded overlying beds and formed uplifted gravel beds and strath terraces along the local drainage the rotations resulting from footwall imbrication and reactivated splays probably caused the southern limb of the fault propagation synform to become overturned the duplexing also raised the river bed and arrested the flow of the river tista causing the river to pond and deposit its load resulting in the formation of a bar upstream of the mbt trace the tectonic reactivation of the area points to taper building activities in a subcritical wedge probably in response to monsoon induced excessive erosion in the middle of the darjiling sikkim tibet himalayan thrust wedge

neogene foreland basin deposits erosional unroofing and the kinematic history of the himalayan fold thrust belt western nepal sedimentological and provenance data from the lower miocene pliocene dumri formation and siwalik group in western nepal provide new information about the timing of thrust faulting and the links between erosional unroofing of the himalaya and the cenozoic 87 sr 86 sr record of the ocean in western nepal the dumri formation is an 750 1300 m thick fluvial sandstone and overbank mudstone unit the siwalik group is 4200 m thick and consists of a lower member 850 m of 2 12 m thick fluvial channel sandstones and oxidized calcareous paleosols a middle member 2400 m of very thick 20 m channel sandstones and mainly organic rich histosols and an upper member 1000 m composed of gravelly braided river deposits paleocurrent data indicate that middle miocene pliocene rivers in western nepal flowed southward transverse to the thrust belt throughout deposition of the siwalik group no evidence was found for an axial fluvial trunk system i e the paleo ganges river in siwalik group sandstones a major increase in fluvial channel size is recorded by the transition from lower to middle siwalik members at 10 8 ma probably in response to an increase in seasonal discharge modal petrographic data from sandstones in the dumri formation and the siwalik group manifest an upsection enrichment in potassium feldspar carbonate lithic fragments and high grade metamorphic minerals modal petrographic analyses of modern river sands provide some control on potential source terranes for the miocene pliocene sandstones the dumri formation was most likely derived from erosion of sedimentary and low grade metasedimentary rocks in the tibetan tethyan himalayan zone during early miocene emplacement of the main central thrust the presence in dumri sandstones of plagioclase grains suggests exposure of crystalline rocks of the greater himalayan zone perhaps in response to tectonic unroofing by extensional detachment faults of the south tibetan detachment system during deposition of the lower siwalik group 15 11 ma emplacement of the dadeldhura thrust sheet one of the synformal crystalline thrust sheets of the southern himalaya on top of the dumri formation supplied abundant metasedimentary lithic fragments to the foreland basin a steady supply of plagioclase grains and high grade minerals was maintained by deeper erosion into the main central thrust sheet from 11 ma to the present k feldspar sand increased steadily suggesting that granitic source rocks became widely exposed during deposition of the upper part of the lower siwalik group this provenance change was caused by erosion of passively uplifted granites and granitic orthogneisses in the dadeldhura thrust sheet above a large duplex in the lesser himalayan rocks since the onset of deposition of the conglomeratic upper siwalik group 4 5 ma fault slip in this duplex has been fed updip and southward into the main boundary and main frontal thrust systems we obtained 113 u pb ages on detrital zircons from modern rivers and siwalik group sandstones that cluster at 460 530 ma 850 1200 ma 1 8 2 0 ga and 2 5 ga an abundance of cambrian ordovician grains in the siwalik group suggests sources of siwalik detritus in the granites of the dadeldhura thrust sheet and possibly the greater himalayan orthogneisses the older ages are consistent with sources in the greater and lesser himalayan zones an overall upsection increase in zircons older than 1 7 ga suggests increasing aerial exposure of lesser himalayan rocks none of the detrital zircons even in the modern river samples yielded a cenozoic age that might suggest derivation from the cenozoic greater himalayan leucogranites but this may be attributable to the inheritance problems that characterize the u pb geochronology of the leucogranites when compared with recent studies of the 87 sr 86 sr composition of paleosol carbonate nodules and detrital carbonate in paleosols from the siwalik group the provenance data suggest that erosion and weathering of metamorphosed carbonate rocks in the lesser himalayan zone and cambrian ordovician granitic rocks of the crystalline thrust sheets in central and eastern nepal may have played a significant role in elevating the 87 sr 86 sr ratio of middle miocene synorogenic sediments in the indo gangetic foreland basin and the bengal fan as well as global seawater

geometry and structural evolution of the central andean backthrust belt bolivia the central andean backthrust belt is a large scale west vergent thrust system along the western side of the eastern cordillera in the generally east vergent andean fold thrust belt of bolivia although west vergent structures in the central andes have been recognized previously we describe the backthrust belt at a regional scale emphasizing its implications for the kinematic development of the andes and the subsequent influence of these kinematics on amounts of tectonic shortening we use techniques such as line length balancing restorability and the viability of the progressive development of the structures to construct balanced cross sections across the backthrust belt and altiplano the cross sections are taken to a regional depth of detachment basement to examine the relationship between mapped surface structures and inferred subsurface structures the relationship of the backthrust belt to the altiplano suggests that the altiplano basin is a crustal scale piggyback basin created as a basement megathrust propagated up and over a half crustal scale ramp located just west of the physiographic boundary of the eastern cordillera this basement megathrust was the means by which a narrow paleocene fold thrust belt located to the west of the altiplano propagated eastward and emerged in the present eastern cordillera the relationship between the basement thrusts and the physiographic boundaries of the central andean plateau as defined by isacks 1988 suggests that extensive megathrust sheets involving crystalline basement or quartzite may play an important role in the formation of orogenic plateaus the kinematic development of the andean fold thrust belt indicates that the backthrust belt developed as a taper building mechanism after the basement megathrust overextended the system eastward the mechanism proposed in this study for the development of the central andean backthrust belt requires a minimum of 200 km of shortening within the altiplano eastern cordillera alone this increases minimum shortening estimates across the fold thrust belt in bolivia to as much as 300 340 km

lateral variation in geometry of thrust planes and its significance as studied in the shumar allochthon lesser himalayas eastern bhutan abstract the features mapped indicate a sse striking displacement vector for the shumar thrust of eastern bhutan sections parallel to this direction show that the frontal flat segment of the thrust plane along with the subthrust and the hanging wall rocks has been folded into a synform a longitudinal section however shows a cuspate lobate shape broad concave upward curves meeting along sharp crests of the thrust plane which laterally cuts up through the subthrust rocks the broad salients and sharp re entrants defining the multiple lobate pattern of the thrust trace is due to the cuspate lobate lateral curvature which is a primary feature of the thrust plane each cusp combined with the forward or backward inclination of the thrust plane imparts a scoop like shape several of which are joined by transverse ridges parallel to the displacement vector the s surfaces transposed parallel to the limbs and axial surfaces of the isoclinal early folds in the allochthon have been progressively reoriented parallel to the curviplanar thrust surface later post thrusting folds superposed on these initially curved surfaces have curved hinges which trend at high angles to the displacement direction as a result the bent hinges are congruent to the laterally curved thrust surface below the evolution of the shumar thrust can be explained by lateral propagation along concave upward trajectories thrust fronts propagating from multiple nuclei subsequently coalesced to form a single thrust surface the ridges along which the thrusts coalesce have the form of lateral ramps

field documentation and genesis of back structures in ductile and brittle regimes from the foreland part of a collisional orogen examples from the darjeeling sikkim lesser himalaya india in the foreland side of an orogen thrust related structures develop that verge towards the foreland fore thrusts although much less abundant structures with opposite vergence i e towards hinterland named back structures also exist we report back structures exposure scale back thrusts and associated folds from the darjeeling sikkim lesser himalaya india these structures occur mainly in three back structure zones bsz a b and c back structures probably originated in the ductile regime and continued in the brittle domain tectonic setting of the study area such as critical taper duplexing etc indicates a good potential for the presence of back structures in this region along with the previous work on back structures in collisional orogens himalaya in particular these structures seem to be ubiquitous the correlation of field observations with tectonics indicate that mechanisms e g critical taper sub surface barriers and passive roof duplex played roles in forming back structures in this part of the sikkim lesser himalaya

stratigraphy structure and tectonic evolution of the himalayan fold thrust belt in western nepal regional mapping stratigraphic study and 40ar 39ar geochronology provide the basis for an incremental restoration of the himalayan fold thrust belt in western nepal tectonostratigraphic zonation developed in other regions of the himalaya is applicable with minor modifications in western nepal from south to north the major structural features are 1 the main frontal thrust system comprising the main frontal thrust and two to three thrust sheets of neogene foreland basin deposits 2 the main boundary thrust sheet which consists of proterozoic to early miocene lesser himalayan metasedimentary rocks 3 the ramgarh thrust sheet composed of paleoproterozoic low grade metasedimentary rocks 4 the dadeldhura thrust sheet which consists of medium grade metamorphic rocks cambrian ordovician granite and granitic mylonite and early paleozoic tethyan rocks 5 the lesser himalayan duplex which is a large composite antiformal stack and hinterland dipping duplex and 6 the main central thrust zone a broad ductile shear zone the major structures formed in a general southward progression beginning with the main central thrust in late early miocene time eocene oligocene thrusting in the tibetan himalaya north of the study area is inferred from the detrital unroofing record on the basis of 40ar 39ar cooling ages and provenance data from synorogenic sediments emplacement of the dadeldhura thrust sheet took place in early miocene time the ramgarh thrust sheet was emplaced between 15 and 10 ma the lesser himalayan duplex began to grow by 10 ma simultaneously folding the north limb of the dadeldhura synform the main boundary thrust became active in latest miocene pliocene time transport of its hanging wall rocks over an 8 km high footwall ramp folded the south limb of the dadeldhura synform thrusts in the subhimalayan zone became active in pliocene time the minimum total shortening in this portion of the himalayan fold thrust belt since early miocene time excluding the tibetan zone is 418 493 km the variation depending on the actual amounts of shortening accommodated by the main central and dadeldhura thrusts the rate of shortening ranges between 19 and 22 mm yr for this period of time when previous estimates of shortening in the tibetan himalaya are included the minimum total amount of shortening in the foldthrust belt amounts to 628 667 km this estimate neglects shortening accommodated by small scale structures and internal strain and is therefore likely to fall significantly below the actual amount of total shortening

late miocene movement within the himalayan main central thrust shear zone sikkim north east india in the sikkim region of north east india the main central thrust mct juxtaposes high grade gneisses of the greater himalayan crystallines over lower grade slates phyllites and schists of the lesser himalaya formation inverted metamorphism characterizes rocks that immediately underlie the thrust and the large scale south tibet detachment system stds bounds the northern side of the greater himalayan crystallines in situ th pb monazite ages indicate that the mct shear zone in the sikkim region was active at c 22 14 15 and 12 10 ma whereas zircon and monazite ages from a slightly deformed horizon of a high himalayan leucogranite within the stds suggest normal slip activity at c 17 and 14 15 ma although average monazite ages decrease towards structurally lower levels of the mct shear zone individual results do not follow a progressive younging pattern lesser himalaya sample kbp1062a records monazite crystallization from 11 5 0 2 to 12 2 0 1 ma and peak conditions of 610 25 c and 7 5 0 5 kbar whereas in the mct shear zone rock chg14103 monazite crystallized from 13 8 0 5 to 11 9 0 3 ma at lower grade conditions of 525 25 c and 6 1 kbar the p t t results indicate that the shear zone experienced a complicated slip history and have implications for the understanding of mid crustal extrusion and the role of out of sequence thrusts in convergent plate tectonic settings

exhumation during crustal folding in the namche barwa syntaxis geological observation in the eastern end of the himalaya shows that the asia india suture is folded metamorphic rocks derived from india occur structurally below the suture in the core of a regional antiform isotopic and fission track dating establish cooling exhumation of rocks from c 30 km depth within the last 4 myr we argue that exhumation is caused by 10 mm yr 1 erosion coeval with crustal scale folding

energy balance and deformation mechanisms of duplexes abstract a duplex consists of a series of imbricate faults that are asymptotic to a roof thrust and a floor thrust depending on the final orientations of the imbricate faults and the final position of the branch lines a duplex may be hinterland dipping foreland dipping or an antiformal stack the exact geometry depends on various factors such as the initial dimensions of the individual slices horses their lithology the amount of displacement normalized to size of horse on each fault and the mechanics of movement along each fault the energy required in duplex formation can be determined by calculating the total work involved in emplacing each horse this is given by where w t w p w b w g w i wp is the work involved in initiating and propagating a fracture wb is the work involved in basal sliding which may be frictional or some form of ductile flow wg is the work done against gravity during the emplacement of the horse and wi is the work involved in the internal deformation of the horse by calculating and comparing these work terms it is possible to predict the conditions under which the different types of duplexes will form normally the development of a hinterland dipping duplex is most likely however if deformation conditions are favorable displacements on individual imbricate faults may be very large compared to the size of the horses leading to the formation of either antiformal stacks or foreland dipping duplexes

structural evolution of connecting splay duplexes and their implications for critical taper an example based on geometry and kinematics of the canyon range culmination sevier belt central utah abstract critical taper in an evolving orogenic wedge can be maintained by structural thickening in the back of the wedge this is often achieved by folding and uplift of pre existing large internal thrust sheets by the continued growth and or reactivation of duplexes in the hinterland the growth of a blind imbricate complex off a lower thrust provides another mechanism for folding a higher thrust individual splays in a blind imbricate complex may have fault propagation folds and or fault bend folds associated with them if the splays reach the overlying thrust they serve as connecting splays between the lower thrust floor and the upper thrust roof thereby forming a connecting splay duplex csd this type of duplex geometry requires periodic reactivation of the pre existing roof thrust the canyon range thrust in central utah is an internal thrust that is folded into an overturned antiform synform pair and overrides its own synorogenic conglomerates the same conglomerates are infolded into the core of the synform and preserve critical timing information regarding the history of folding and thrust reactivation the folding is caused by the development of a footwall antiformal stack in the core of the canyon range antiformal culmination the geometry and timing relationships suggest that the structure grew as a csd regional timing relationships suggest that the growth of the csd and reactivation of the thrust took place during the later part of the evolution of the orogenic wedge and may have helped the wedge maintain critical taper during thrusting in the external fold and thrust belt

upper crustal shortening and forward modeling of the himalayan thrust belt along the budhi gandaki river central nepal a balanced cross section along the budhi gandaki river in central nepal between the main central thrust including displacement on that fault and the main frontal thrust reveals a minimum total shortening of 400 km minimum displacement on major orogen scale structures include 116 km on the main central thrust 110 km on the ramgarh thrust 95 km on the trishuli thrust and 56 km in the lesser himalayan duplex the balanced cross section was also incrementally forward modeled assuming a generally forward breaking sequence of thrusting where early faults and hanging wall structures are passively carried from the hinterland toward the foreland the approximate correspondence of the forward modeled result to observe present day geometries suggest that the section interpretation is viable and admissible in the balanced cross section the trishuli thrust is the roof thrust for the lesser himalayan duplex the forward model and reconstruction emphasize that the lesser himalayan duplex grew by incorporating rock from the footwall and transferring it to the hanging wall along the main himalayan thrust as the duplex developed the lesser himalayan ramp migrated southward the movement of lesser himalayan thrust sheets over the ramp pushed the lesser himalayan rock and the overburdens of the greater and tibetan himalayan rock toward the erosional surface this vertical structural movement caused by footwall collapse and duplexing in combination with erosion exhumed the lesser himalaya

argon behaviour in an inverted barrovian sequence sikkim himalaya the consequences of temperature and timescale on 40ar 39ar mica geochronology abstract 40 ar 39 ar dating of metamorphic rocks sometimes yields complicated datasets which are difficult to interpret in terms of timescales of the metamorphic cycle single grain fusion and step heating data were obtained for rocks sampled through a major thrust sense shear zone the main central thrust and the associated inverted metamorphic zone in the sikkim region of the eastern himalaya this transect provides a natural laboratory to explore factors influencing apparent 40 ar 39 ar ages in similar lithologies at a variety of metamorphic pressure and temperature p t conditions the 40 ar 39 ar dataset records progressively younger apparent age populations and a decrease in within sample dispersion with increasing temperature through the sequence the white mica populations span 2 9 ma within each sample in the structurally lower levels garnet grade but only 0 3 ma at structurally higher levels kyanite sillimanite grade mean white mica single grain fusion population ages vary from 16 2 3 9 ma 2 to 13 2 1 3 ma 2 from lowest to highest levels white mica step heating data from the same samples yields plateau ages from 14 27 0 13 ma to 12 96 0 05 ma biotite yield older apparent age populations with mean single grain fusion dates varying from 74 7 11 8 ma 2 at the lowest structural levels to 18 6 4 7 ma 2 at the highest structural levels the step heating plateaux are commonly disturbed temperatures 600 c at pressures of 0 4 0 8 gpa sustained over 5 ma appear to be required for white mica and biotite ages to be consistent with diffusive open system cooling at lower temperatures and or over shorter metamorphic timescales more 40 ar is retained than results from simple diffusion models suggest diffusion modelling of ar in white mica from the highest structural levels suggests that the high temperature rocks cooled at a rate of 50 80 c ma 1 consistent with rapid thrusting extrusion and exhumation along the main central thrust during the mid miocene

a seismic hazard scenario in the sikkim himalaya from seismotectonics spectral amplification source parameterization and spectral attenuation laws using strong motion seismometry 1 in this paper we present a seismic hazard map of the indian himalayan state of sikkim lying between nepal and bhutan himalaya in terms of horizontal peak ground accelerations with 10 exceedance probability over the next 50 years these figures the first for the region were calculated through a stepwise process based on 1 an estimation of the maximum credible earthquake mce from the seismicity of the region and global seismic hazard assessment program considerations and 2 four seismotectonic parameters abstracted from accelerograms recorded at nine stations of the sikkim strong motion array specifically installed for this study the latter include 1 the frequency dependent power law for the shear wave quality factor qs 2 the site response function at each station using receiver function analysis and generalized inversion 3 source parameterization of various events recorded by the array and application of the resulting relationships between m0 and mw and corner frequency fc and mw to simulate spectral accelerations due to higher magnitude events corresponding to the estimated mce and 4 abstraction of regional as well as site specific local spectral attenuation laws at different geometrically central frequencies in low moderate and high frequency bands

structural anatomy of a dismembered ophiolite suite from gondwana the manamedu complex cauvery suture zone southern india abstract detailed geological and structural mapping of the manamedu ophiolite complex moc from the south eastern part of the cauvery suture zone csz within the gondwana collisional suture in southern india reveals the anatomy of a dismembered ophiolite succession comprising pyroxenite actinolite hornblendite hornblendite gabbro norite gabbro anorthosite amphibolite plagiogranite mafic dykes and associated pelagic sediments such as chert magnetite bands and carbonate horizons the magmatic foliation trajectory map shows inward dipping foliations and a variety of fold structures structural cross sections of the moc reveal gentle inward dips with repetition and omission of different lithologies often marked by curvilinear hinge lines the succession displays imbricate thrust sheets and slices of dismembered ophiolite suites distributed along several localities within the csz the moc can be interpreted as a deformed large duplex structure associated with south verging back thrust system consistent with crustal scale flower structure the nature and distribution of ophiolitic rocks in the csz suggest supra subduction zone setting associated with the lithospheric subduction of the neoproterozoic mozambique ocean followed by collision and obduction during the final stage of amalgamation of the gondwana supercontinent in the end precambrian

a new kinematic evolutionary model for the growth of a duplex an example from the rangit duplex sikkim himalaya india abstract the lesser himalayan duplex lhd is a prominent structure through much of the lesser himalayan fold thrust belt in the darjeeling sikkim himalaya a component of the lhd is exposed in the rangit window as the rangit duplex rd the rd consists of ten horses of the upper lesser himalayan sequence gondwana buxa upper daling the duplex varies from hinterland dipping in the north through an antiformal stack in the middle to foreland dipping in the south the ramgarh thrust rt is the roof thrust and based on a balanced cross section the main himalayan sole thrust is the floor thrust at a depth of 10 km and with a dip of 3 5 n retrodeformation suggests that the rd initiated as a foreland dipping duplex with the early ramgarh thrust as the roof thrust and the rt as the floor thrust the rt became the roof thrust during continued duplexing by a combination of footwall imbrication and concurrent rt reactivation this kinematic history best explains the large translation of the overlying mct sheets the restoration suggests that rd shortening is 125 km and the original gondwana basin extended 142 km northward of its present northernmost exposures within the window

the raniganj coal basin an example of an indian gondwana rift abstract rifting occurred in peninsular india during permian triassic gondwana sedimentation the rocks of the paleozoic mesozoic indian gondwana supergroup succeed the mesoproterozoic vindhyan sedimentary rocks and the indian precambrian shield unconformably and are renowned for their coal resources the rocks of the gondwana supergroup occur mainly in trough like depressions arranged in a more or less en echelon fashion along distinct shear fault zones which are parallel to ancient structural lineaments in the indian peninsular shield thus the gondwana group of basins occurs along the three major directions a son narmada and damodar koel valley running east west b son mahanadi valley with a nw se trend and c rewa pranhita godavari valley which trends in a nnw sse direction the important common structural imprints in most of the above basins are i a half graben basin geometry with a strong master boundary fault on one side and a homoclinal tilt of the basin towards it ii a network of intrabasinal faults one set oriented along the basin axis and which formed during the tensional stage and another iii transverse to it basin marginal oblique faults and slips coincide with both the tensional and compressional stages and have different manifestations syndepositional subsidence of the basin floor through loss of support from below due to the lateral transport of sub crustal mantle materials caused faulting at the axial zones of the basins sub basins to accommodate a thick pile of sediments volcanic activities in the region or in adjacent areas provide further support for these inferred processes and are confined within comparatively narrow and linear zones defined by the crustal weaknesses of considerable antiquity all these stages have their signatures imprinted in the sediments which have been studied in detail this paper presents relevant data on the raniganj coalfield of eastern india in order to examine whether these linear depressions are of rift origin the process of rifting was a prelude to the rafting of gondwana continents after the early cretaceous fragmentation of gondwanaland thus the gondwana rift valleys flanked the periphery of the peninsular indian stable blocks to collide ultimately with the sino eurasian plate in the north

the nature and evolution of the main central thrust structural and geochronological constraints from the sikkim himalaya ne india the main central thrust mct is a prominent continental scale fault within the himalaya its definition has been the topic of some debate in the literature after a brief consideration of the state of discussion to clarify the definition we use in this work we report features from the field to the microstructural scale of a particularly well exposed section in sikkim ne india the nature of the protoliths as well as the overlying and underlying rocks is characterized in terms of e nd the dates of motion on the fault are constrained using u pb geochronology of zircon and monazite from pegmatitic dikes that cross cut the deformation fabric it is found that the mechanism of deformation recorded in the fault zone rocks is different compared to that found in the overlying greater himalayan gh or the underlying lesser himalayan lh rocks the gh and lh have different protolith characteristics as well combined with existing data on p t history dates of metamorphism and cooling and exhumation rates of the gh and the lh our measurements show that major motion on this fault occurred before 20 ma at 450 700 c but after peak metamorphism of rocks 750 800 c in this zone isolated events occurred in this zone as late as 11 ma possibly in the brittle domain this underscores the pulsed nature of movement over an extended period on such major faults and the related difficulties in dating fault movement determination of the rates of movement and designating a fault plane as in or out of sequence within a propagating deformation front

the south tibetan detachment system facilitates ultra rapid cooling of granulite facies rocks in sikkim himalaya 1 the eastern himalaya is characterized by a region of granulites and local granulitized eclogites that have been exhumed via isothermal decompression from lower crustal depths during the india asia collision spatially most of these regions are proximal to the south tibetan detachment system an orogen parallel normal sense detachment system that operated during the miocene suggesting that it played a role in their exhumation here we use geo and thermochronological methods to study the deformation and cooling history of footwall rocks of the south tibetan detachment system in northern sikkim india these data demonstrate that the south tibetan detachment system was active in sikkim between 23 6 and 13 ma and that footwall rocks cooled rapidly from 700 to 120 c between 15 13 ma while active the south tibetan detachment system exhumed rocks from mid crustal depths but an additional heat source such as strain heating advected melt and or crustal thinning is required to explain the observed isothermal decompression cessation of movement on the south tibetan detachment system produced rapid cooling of the footwall as isotherms relaxed a regional comparison of temperature time data for the eastern south tibetan detachment system indicates a lack of synchronicity between the sa er sikkim yadong section and the nw bhutan section to accommodate this requires either strike slip tear faulting or local out of sequence thrusting in the younger segment of the orogen

the terminology of structures in thrust belts abstract a review of structures and geometric relationships recognized in thrust belts is presented a thrust is defined as any contractional fault a corollary being that thrusts must cut up section in their transport direction flats are those portions of a thrust surface which were parallel to an arbitrary datum surface at the time of displacement and ramps are those portions of thrusts which cut across datum surfaces ramps are classified on the basis of their orientation relative to the thrust transport direction and whether they are cut offs in the hangingwall or footwall of the thrust lateral variations in the form of staircase trajectories are joined by oblique or lateral ramps which have a component of strike slip movement an array of thrusts which diverge in their transport direction may form by either of two propagation models these are termed piggy back propagation which is foreland directed and overstep propagation which is opposed to the thrust transport direction an array of thrust surfaces is termed an imbricate stack and should these surfaces anastamose upwards a duplex will result the fault bounded blocks are termed horses a duplex is bounded by a higher roof thrust and a lower floor thrust the intersection of any two thrust planes is termed a branch line thrusts can be classified on the basis of their relationship to asymmetric fold limbs which they cut a further classification arises from whether a particular thrust lies in the hangingwall or footwall of another one the movement of thrust sheets over corrugated surfaces or the local development of thrust structures beneath will fold higher thrust sheets these folds are termed culminations and their limbs are termed culmination walls accommodation of this folding may require movement on surfaces within the hangingwall of the active thrust these accommodation surfaces are termed hangingwall detachments and they need not root down into the active thrust this category of detachment includes dip slip hangingwall drop faults which are developed by differential uplift of duplex roofs and out of the syncline thrusts which develop from overtightened fold hinges back thrusts as well as forming as hangingwall detachments may also form due to layer parallel shortening above a sticking thrust or by rotation of the hangingwall above a ramp

thrust geometries and deep structure of the outer and lesser himalaya kumaon and garhwal india implications for evolution of the himalayan fold and thrust belt the kumaon garhwal region of the himalaya lies near the center of the himalayan fold and thrust belt we have drawn two balanced cross sections 100 km apart through the outer and lesser himalaya the cross sections incorporate all the surface well log and earthquake seismic data currently available from the region two branch line maps showing trailing and leading branch lines and cutoff lines of the major thrusts in the region are also drawn the three dimensional deep structure of the outer and lesser himalaya is interpreted based on the balanced cross sections and the branch line maps deep structure of the higher and tethyan himalaya is extrapolated based on surface geology and is subject to revision as more surface and seismic data become available from these areas a sequential evolutionary model for the kumaon himalaya along the eastern pindari section is proposed according to this model the kumaon himalaya evolved by an overall forelandward progression of thrusting with some reactivation along the munsiari thrust mt the main boundary thrust mbt and the main central thrust mct we use structural stratigraphic and radiometric criteria to place time constraints on the motion of these thrusts earliest motion along the mbt may have occurred in early middle paleocene but the main episode probably started in late eocene and may still be continuing emplacement of the mt had occurred by middle late eocene whereas the mct shows activity around 20 ma thus exhibiting break back thrusting with respect to the mt shortening estimates are obtained from the pindari section minimum shortening in the sedimentary thrust sheets of the outer and lesser himalaya is 161 km or 65 as a first approximation we have also restored the crystalline sheets in order to obtain shortening estimates for the entire himalaya minimum shortening for the himalaya after restoring the mct sheet varies from 354 76 to 421 km 79 these estimates were further combined with published data from the area between the mct sheet and the indus tsangpo suture zone itsz minimum shortening between the indo ganga foreland and the itsz thus obtained lies in the range 687 754 km or 69 72 we compare our shortening estimates with those available from the pakistan and nepal himalaya

orogen transverse tectonic window in the eastern himalayan fold belt a superposed buckling model abstract the eastern lesser himalayan fold thrust belt is punctuated by a row of orogen transverse domal tectonic windows to evaluate their origin a variety of thrust stack models have been proposed assuming that the crustal shortening occurred dominantly by brittle deformations however the rangit window rw in the darjeeling sikkim himalaya dsh shows unequivocal structural imprints of ductile deformations of multiple episodes based on new structural maps coupled with outcrop scale field observations we recognize at least four major episodes of folding in the litho tectonic units of dsh the last episode has produced regionally orogen transverse upright folds f 4 the interference of which with the third generation f 3 orogen parallel folds has shaped the large scale structural patterns in dsh we propose a new genetic model for the rw invoking the mechanics of superposed buckling in the mechanically stratified litho tectonic systems we substantiate this superposed buckling model with results obtained from analogue experiments the model explains contrasting f 3 f 4 interferences in the lesser himalayan sequence lhs the lower order terrain scale folds have undergone superposed buckling in mode 1 producing large scale domes and basins whereas the rw occurs as a relatively higher order dome nested in the first order tista dome the gondwana and the proterozoic rocks within the rw underwent superposed buckling in modes 3 and 4 leading to type 2 fold interferences as evident from their structural patterns

preliminary stratigraphic and structural architecture of bhutan implications for the along strike architecture of the himalayan system article i nfo preliminary mapping and stratigraphic correlation of lesser himalayan rock in eastern bhutan using field characteristics u pb detrital zircon dating and nd geochemistry define the first order stratigraphic architecture of the indian passive margin sequence in the eastern himalaya we use this new image of the lateral and vertical relationships of the original stratigraphy to determine the structural framework of the eastern himalayan fold thrust belt in bhutan we propose that lesser himalayan rock in bhutan can be divided into lower lesser himalayan rocks with a paleoproterozoic detrital zircon signal and upper lesser himalayan rocks with detrital zircon signals of 1000 500 ma the 500 ma detrital grains are from rocks in the frontal portions of the fold thrust belt north of the main boundary thrust as well as directly in the footwall of the main central thrust in the hinterland our preliminary stratigraphic study coupled with mapping allows us to construct a composite balanced cross section through the kuru chu valley in eastern bhutan which provides the first image of the geometry and amount of shortening through bhutan the main frontal thrust tilts a 6 km of thick section of neogene foreland basin deposits these deposits are separated from folded and faulted upper lesser himalayan rocks by the main boundary thrust north of the main boundary thrust we propose two duplex systems the southernmost duplex contains 9 repeated sections of upper lesser himalayan units including the permian gondwana sequence and the cambrian or younger baxa group the northernmost duplex is located in the footwall of the main central thrust and is comprised of two repeated sections of the proterozoic shumar and daling formations the southern boundary of this northern duplex is the shumar thrust which acts as a roof thrust for the southern duplex system and may correlate to the ramgarh thrust in nepal and india we propose that the development of the duplex systems passively folded overlying tethyan and greater himalayan rocks minimum shortening for this part of the himalayan fold thrust belt is 359 km all of which has occurred from 22 ma to present defining a long term shortening rate of 16 mm yr

subsidence of a volcanic basin by flexure and lower crustal flow the eastern snake river plain idaho the eastern snake river plain esrp is a linear volcanic basin interpreted by many workers to reflect late cenozoic migration of north america over the yellowstone hotspot thermal subsidence of this volcanic province with respect to yellowstone has been documented by several workers but no one has characterized subsidence with respect to the adjacent basin and range province this paper documents crustal flexure along the northwest edge of the esrp uses flexure to model the dimensions of a dense load beneath the basin and presents evidence in support of density driven subsidence and lower crustal flow away from the basin crustal flexure adjacent to the esrp is reflected by the attitudes of mesozoic fold hinges and neogene volcanic rocks fold hinges formed with a subhorizontal plunge and a trend perpendicular to the esrp but now show a southward plunge near the esrp of as much as 20 25 we present a contour map of equal fold plunges proximal to the esrp that shows flexure is roughly parallel to and extends 10 20 km north of the average edge of the esrp flexural profiles indicate the minimum amount of esrp subsidence with respect to the basin and range subsidence ranges from 4 5 to 8 5 km the structural contour map and published seismic and gravity data were used to develop and constrain flexural subsidence models these models indicate the flexed crust is very weak flexural parameter of 4 10 km interpreted to be a result of the high heat flow of the esrp assuming subsidence was induced by emplacement of a dense crustal layer beneath the esrp a midcrustal sill identified in previous seismic surveys is too wide and probably too thin to produce the measured flexure new dimensions include a thickness of 17 25 km and a half width of 40 50 km which place the edge of the sill beneath the edge of the esrp the dimensions of the esrp sill are based on isostatic compensation in the lower crust because compensation in the asthenosphere requires an unreasonable sill thickness of 30 km and because esrp seismic gravity and heat flow data support lower crustal compensation density driven lower crustal flow away from the esrp is proposed to accommodate subsidence and maintain isostatic equilibrium timing of subsidence is constrained by esrp exploratory wells where 6 6 ma rhyolites at a depth of 1 5 km indicate most subsidence occurred prior to their emplacement and by strong spatial correlations between plunge contours and quaternary volcanic rift zones two processes interpreted to contribute to the load include an extensive midcrustal mafic load emplaced at 10 ma which provided the heat source for the initial rhyolitic volcanism on the esrp and continuing localized loads from dikes and sills associated with quaternary basalts widespread 10 ma magmatism and subsidence conflicts with simple time transgressive migration of the yellowstone hotspot indicating a need for revision of the hotspot paradigm

himalaya the northern frontier of east gondwanaland abstract the himalayan province which represents the northern platform of the peninsular india belonging to east gondwanaland was strongly affected by pan african diastrophism 500 25 ma ago this brought to an end the protracted purana cycle of sedimentation throughout the peninsular india and the lesser himalaya and interrupted basin filling in its northern tethyan domain but the sea returned in the early permian along a narrow depression formed due to rifting of the himalayan crust in what is today the southern lesser himalaya in the rift valley was deposited tillites by glaciers of the gondwana continent under grip of refrigeration along with the glacigene conglomerates were emplaced diamictites generated by submarine slides triggered presumably by earthquakes originating from faults delimiting the rift the diamictities are admixed with lava agglomerate and tuff indicating widespread volcanism in the rift valley the rifting culminated in the breaking away of the tibetan part of the himalaya in the late permian and formation of neotethys between the gondwanaland and the cimmerian microcontinent embodying tibet iran and turkey rivers of the northern peninsular india flowed in the northerly directions since the middle proterozoic through early eocene in the late eocene there was a drastic drainage reversal to south and southeast when the himalaya emerged in the northern front of the gondwanaland

topological constraints on imbricate thrust networks examples from the mountain city window tennessee u s a abstract the geometry of thrust belts is best described in three dimensions as a network of linear geometric elements trailing branch lines where two thrusts diverge leading branch lines where two thrusts converge tip lines where thrust displacement vanishes and cutoff lines where a stratigraphic horizon intersects a thrust plane there are a number of topological constraints in three dimensions on the interrelationship of these linear elements these constraints provide a method of deciphering the three dimensional structure of an area from the geologic map pattern alone if topography or structural culminations and depressions create significant structural relief the mountain city window tennessee is an example of an imbricate thrust network which reveals its topology on the map pattern because of the presence of culminations the analysis of linear elements in this area allows the regional structural geometry to be described and also two kinematically distinct types of imbricate thrust systems to be characterized namely hinterland and foreland dipping duplexes the doe ridges culmination is a hinterland dipping duplex characterized by leading branch lines in a common roof thrust with the branch lines arranged in the same order hinterland to foreland as in the undeformed state the limestone cove culmination is a foreland dipping duplex characterized by trailing branch lines in a common roof thrust with the branch lines reversed in order hinterland dipping duplexes are the common and well known type foreland dipping duplexes are formed by successive trailing branch lines moving up off the lower flat horizon onto the ramp at which the imbricate slices are formed

the curvature of wadati benioff zones and the torsional rigidity of subducting plates it is an axiom of plate tectonics that lithospheric plates are to a good approximation torsionally rigid that is inextensible in the plane of the plate1 3 although few scientists would question this assumption when it is applied to oceanic lithosphere at the earth s surface there is no consensus as to whether or not oceanic lithosphere maintains its mechanical integrity during subduction com pare refs 4 7 with refs 8 11 i show here that the shapes of many wadati bemoff zones are inconsistent with the notion that they manifest subducted portions of oceanic plates subject only to very small 1 membrane strains

the use of finite strain data in constructing a retrodeformable cross section of the meade thrust sheet southeastern idaho u s a abstract a method for drawing a balanced cross section is presented which uses the constraint of both the interpretation of the geometry and the analysis of the internal deformation within the meade thrust sheet southeastern idaho u s a earliest deformation associated with the meade thrust sheet is layer parallel shortening which is indicated by a spaced solution cleavage and deformed fossils in the jurassic twin creek formation this early layer parallel shortening fabric is rotated by folding in front of the main meade thrust sheet these folds are then truncated by the meade thrust locally finite strain markers indicate fault parallel shear

evidence for a wide and gently dipping main himalayan thrust in western bhutan the main himalayan thrust mht is the source of great earthquakes that have been documented along the range its geometry is a key parameter that influences accommodation of tectonic loading and earthquake magnitudes along the himalayan arc although seismic images are available for both the western and the central part of the range this geometry remains poorly constrained for the bhutanese himalayas here we address this issue using a 10be cosmogenic nuclides denudation transect across western bhutan we observe a wide low denudation rate domain between 50 km and 110 km from the front followed by a strong northward increase using a joint inversion of denudation rates gps data and holocene uplift rates we interpret this pattern as a consequence of a flat ramp transition along the mht compared to central nepal and sikkim this location of the ramp suggests a wider decollement with implications for greater seismogenic potential of the mht in western bhutan

on the formation mode of the guleman chromite deposits turkey kefdag and soridag chromite pods occur in upper mantle residual peridotites which consist of harzburgite and dunites the peridotites represent the residual of multistage depleted upper mantle peridotites the chromitite bodies were formed during the uprising of chromium rich picritic melts through the residual upper mantle diapir along the magma conduits chromitite grains were deposited in the caves of the magma conduits under the control of the convection currents

using isotopic and chronologic data to fingerprint strata challenges and benefits of variable sources to tectonic interpretations the paro formation bhutan himalaya 1 we combine detrital zircons dz and epsilon neodymium nd signatures with field mapping in the paro formation in western bhutan dz age spectra are strongly variable and display signatures that have been used to uniquely identify both greater himalayan gh and lesser himalayan lh strata dz age peaks from six quartzite samples require sources for 0 5 0 8 1 2 1 4 1 7 1 8 and 2 5 ga zircons in the paro formation the youngest 0 5 ga zircons argue for a cambrian maximum deposition age two samples have a youngest 1 8 ga peak typically attributed to paleoproterozoic lh rocks a 450 ma crystallization age from two granite samples constrains the minimum deposition age as ordovician new nd signatures from six detrital samples from the paro formation show significant variation with lithology schists have nd 0 values between 12 0 and 16 9 while quartzite values vary between 18 8 and 24 5 these data imply that the paro formation was derived from both young and old sources with dz and nd values obtained from the same quartzite samples requiring old detritus while the nd values obtained from interbedded schist require younger detritus using published isotopic and chronologic definitions of himalayan strata schist rich layers wouldbeconsideredgh whiletheinterbeddedquartzite

tectonic and polymetamorphic history of the lesser himalaya in central nepal abstract the lesser himalaya in central nepal consists of precambrian to early paleozoic low to medium grade metamorphic rocks of the nawakot complex unconformably overlain by the upper carboniferous to lower miocene tansen group it is divided tectonically into a parautochthon two thrust sheets thrust sheets i and ii and a wide shear zone main central thrust zone from south to north by the bari gad kali gandaki fault the phalebas thrust and the lower main central thrust respectively the lesser himalaya is overthrust by the higher himalaya along the upper main central thrust umct the lesser himalaya forms a foreland propagating duplex structure each tectonic unit being a horse bounded by imbricate faults the umct and the main boundary thrust are the roof and floor thrusts respectively the duplex is cut off by an out of sequence fault at least five phases of deformation d 1 d 5 are recognized in the lesser himalaya two of which d 1 and d 2 belong to the pre himalayan pre tertiary orogeny petrographic microprobe and illite crystallinity data show polymetamorphic evolution of the lesser and higher himalayas in central nepal the lesser himalaya suffered a pre himalayan probably early paleozoic anchizonal prograde metamorphism m 0 and a neohimalayan syn to post umct diagenetic to garnet grade prograde inverted metamorphism m 2 the higher himalaya suffered an eohimalayan pre or early umct kyanite grade prograde metamorphism m 1 which was in turn overprinted by neohimalayan syn umct retrograde metamorphism m 2 the isograd inversion from garnet zone in the lesser himalaya to kyanite zone in the higher himalaya is only apparent due to post metamorphic thrusting along the umct both the lesser and higher himalayas have undergone late stage retrogression m 3 during exhumation

history of the sevier orogenic wedge in terms of critical taper models northeast utah and southwest wyoming problems with applying critical taper models to ancient orogenic wedges are overcome in the late cretaceous late paleocene sevier orogenic wedge in utah and wyoming by a symptomatic approach in which wedge behavior is inferred from the time space distribution of thrust faulting erosion and synorogenic sediment accumulation in association with the orogenic wedge in turn the causes of wedge behavior are interpreted in terms of features that are known about the sevier wedge such as the locations of major decollements and the lithologic constituents of major thrust sheets from coniacian through late paleocene time 35 m y basement and cover rocks in the sevier wedge were shortened by 100 km in three major and one minor events an overall eastward progression of thrusting was punctuated by several episodes of out of sequence and hinterland vergent thrusting over the long term wedge taper was controlled by internal wedge strength initial taper and changes in the durability of the upper surface of the wedge and its internal lithostratigraphy critical taper was maintained by the offsetting effects of basement duplexing in the rear of the wedge and forward imbrication at the front of the wedge while the basal decollement was mainly in basement rocks the wedge was highly tapered and thrust spacing was relatively close 15 km beginning ca 75 ma the basal decollement ramped upward and eastward into weak cambrian shale and jurassic salt thrust spacing increased to 25 45 km and wedge taper decreased drastically the highly tapered rear part of the wedge carried strong basement rocks above moderately weak mylonitic and cataclastic decollements whereas the frontal lower taper part of the wedge carried sedimentary rocks above extremely weak salt and shale decollements through time internal strength of the wedge decreased as it incorporated an increasing proportion of sedimentary rocks the thrust belt was able to advance eastward in spite of its decreasing internal strength and decreasing taper because the basal decollement of the wedge also became weaker through time both by strain softening beneath the rear of the wedge and by propagating along extremely weak rocks beneath the front of the wedge provenance data from associated synorogenic conglomerates indicate that the durability of the upper surface of the wedge probably increased over the long term history of the sevier wedge as an increasing proportion of the erosional surface became occupied by resistant precambrian quartzite and basement rocks this would have had the effect of decreasing the rate of erosion through time and maintaining a steeper surface slope which would have helped the wedge to remain at critical to supercritical taper the sevier wedge also exhibits several shorter term 10 km and 3 was subjected to regional erosion marked by major unconformities that ultimately caught up with tectonic thickening and caused the wedge to stall this cyclicity is attributed to the need for wedges to become supercritical before they can propagate forward over large distances and a lag time between wedge thickening and uplift and wedge erosion erosion eventually catches up to the rate of uplift the wedge stalls and the locus of deformation shifts to the rear of the wedge in order to rebuild taper this analysis suggests that orogenic wedges continually deform and find a way to maintain taper sufficient to allow forward propagation as long as a sufficient push from the rear exists the actual taper value may change substantially through time as lithostratigraphy internal strength upper surface durability and presence absence of weak potential stress guides conspire to maintain a critical taper

reconsidering himalayan river anticlines the observation that major himalayan rivers flow parallel to and down the axis of anticlines oriented transverse to the primary structural grain of the range has puzzled geomorphologists for decades although there is a general consensus that the courses of trans himalayan rivers predate the himalayan orogeny the close association of rivers and structural highs would not be expected to result from the superposition of rivers onto pre existing structures moreover in the past several decades structural studies have shown that the development of river anticlines represents the most recent phase of deformation in the range it is proposed that himalayan river anticlines are the consequence of focused rock uplift in response to significant differences between net erosion along major rivers and surrounding regions this hypothesis is supported by large gradients in observed and predicted erosion rates across major himalayan rivers and by results from an isostasy driven model which requires relatively low flexural rigidities to match the wavelength of himalayan river anticlines whether the amplitude of these structures is due to isostasy or also reflects active crustal channeling is not well constrained but given the uncertainty in the flexural rigidity and in the local and far field erosion rates both possibilities remain viable explanations given the observed correlation between the arun river anticline and local rainfall maxima it is proposed that himalayan river anticlines are the expression of a relatively fine scale linkage between tectonics erosion and climate superimposed on the broader and older canvas of the himalayan orogeny finally it is suggested that the development of river anticlines represents one example along a continuum of features arising from different degrees of erosion structure coupling in active orogens

implications of shortening in the himalayan fold thrust belt for uplift of the tibetan plateau 1 recent research in the himalayan fold thrust belt provides two new sets of observations that are crucial to understanding the evolution of the himalayan tibetan orogenic system first u pb zircon ages and sm nd isotopic studies demonstrate that 1 greater himalayan medium to high grade metasedimentary rocks are much younger than true indian cratonic basement and 2 these rocks were tectonically mobilized and consolidated with the northern margin of gondwana during early paleozoic orogenic activity these observations require that greater himalayan rocks be treated as supracrustal material in restorations of the himalayan fold thrust belt rather than as indian cratonic basement in turn this implies the existence of greater himalayan lower crust that is not exposed anywhere in the fold thrust belt second a regional compilation of shortening estimates along the himalayan arc from pakistan to sikkim reveals that 1 total minimum shortening in the fold thrust belt is up to 670 km 2 total shortening is greatest in western nepal and northern india near the apex of the himalayan salient and 3 the amount of himalayan shortening is equal to the present width of the tibetan plateau measured in an arc normal direction north of the indus yalu suture zone this information suggests that a slab of greater indian lower crust composed of both indian cratonic lower crust and greater himalayan lower crust with a north south length of 700 km may have been inserted beneath the tibetan crust during the cenozoic orogeny we present a modified version of the crustal underthrusting model for himalayan tibetan orogenesis that integrates surface geological data recent results of mantle tomographic studies and broadband seismic studies of the crust and upper mantle beneath the tibetan plateau previous studies have shown that incremental mesozoic and early cenozoic shortening had probably thickened tibetan crust to 45 55 km before the onset of the main cenozoic orogenic event thus the insertion of a slab of greater indian lower crust with maximum thickness of 20 km tapering northward could explain the cenozoic uplift of the tibetan plateau the need for tibetan crust to stretch laterally as the greater indian lower crust was inserted may explain the widespread east west extension in the southern half of the plateau our reconstruction of the himalayan fold thrust belt suggests that indian cratonic lower crust of presumed mafic composition and high strength should extend approximately halfway across the tibetan plateau to the banggong suture from there northward we predict that the tibetan plateau is underlain by more felsic and therefore weaker lower crust of greater himalayan affinity two slab break off events are predicted by the model the first involved neotethyan oceanic lithosphere that foundered 45 35 ma and the second consisted of greater indian lithosphere most likely composed of greater himalayan material that delaminated and foundered 20 10 ma asthenospheric upwelling associated with the break off events may explain patterns of cenozoic volcanism on the tibetan plateau although the model predicts a northward migrating topographic front due solely to insertion of greater indian lower crust the actual uplift history of the plateau was complicated by early middle tertiary shortening of tibetan crust

the strain and textural history of thin skinned tectonic zones examples from the assynt region of the moine thrust zone nw scotland abstract the moine thrust zone at assynt is a classical example of a foreland propagating thin skinned thrust zone ideal for an examination of thrust related folds deformation textures and strains and complex incremental strain history divergent transport directions oblique trending folds duplex zones and extensional strains normal to the main transport direction may all be explained in terms of thrust propagation leading to the development of oblique to lateral ramps the majority of thrusts cut up section from basement to cover in the transport direction but there is also localised extensional flow and thinning of the thrust sheets in northern assynt the thrust zone involves a wide vertical zone of sinistral shear within which forethrusts backthrusts and associated folds and cleavages are oblique to the general transport direction it is suggested that north of this shear the thrusts moved further probably under a thicker cover while to the south movement was more intermittent probably under a thinner cover this variation is probably due to a change in thrust geometry in the moines east of the moine thrust zone causing a variation in gravitational potential along the length of the moine thrust

duplexes as slip transfer zones application to the himalayan fold thrust belt abstract duplex fault zones and imbricate fans originally termed schuppen schuppenstruktur or imbricate structure were first described in the late 1800s from the alps nw highlands scotland and montana rockies lewis thrust sheet as originally defined duplexes contained shingled imbricate slices bounded above and below by through going thrusts these duplex fault zones commonly occur along the base of major regional thrust sheets or within the body of such sheets accommodating regional bed parallel shortening and transferring slip from a lower stratigraphic horizon to a higher one thereby providing a mechanical advantage to the emplacement of large thrust sheets however faulting is not the only means of layer parallel shortening lps and displacement transfer within duplexes lps cleavage and detachment folds are also common and can play the same role as imbricate faults based on some selected examples we recognize three types of duplexes 1 fault duplex 2 cleavage duplex and 3 fold duplex the style of duplex that forms is likely a function of mechanical stratigraphy and deformation conditions the relationships among the three basic duplex styles can be plotted on a ternary diagram each duplex type constituting an apex given the complexities of most sedimentary sequences hybrid duplexes with a mix of fault fold and cleavage shortening can also form hybrid duplexes plot along the side of the triangle as fault fold fold cleavage and fault cleavage duplexes while those combining all three mechanisms plot in the middle if the partitioning of shortening by the different mechanisms can be quantified the ternary diagram provides a means of representing the contributions of the three mechanisms in shortening and slip transfer along much of the himalayan fold thrust belt a significant portion of the lesser himalayan shortening is taken up by the lesser himalayan duplex a first order fault duplex with subsidiary cleavage and fold development the geometry of and shortening within the duplex varies significantly along the length of the himalaya

age of initiation of collision between india and asia a review of stratigraphic data abstract the collision of india with asia is perhaps the most profound tectonic event to have occurred in past 100 ma it is responsible for the uplift of the himalayas and tibetan plateau and has been argued to have been responsible for geological geochemical and climatological consequences of global extent yet the age of initiation of this collision remains poorly constrained the literature is replete with estimates that range from the late cretaceous 65 ma to latest eocene

reconstructing the greater indian margin a balanced cross section in central nepal focusing on the lesser himalayan duplex across much of the himalaya rocks in the lesser himalayan duplex are covered by roof thrusts of other paleoproterozoic lesser himalayan rocks or greater himalayan rocks however in central nepal between the main central thrust and the main boundary thrust lesser himalayan rocks are exposed in structurally complex relationships within the lesser himalayan duplex we present two balanced cross sections with different stratigraphy involved in the duplex one with the basal kuncha formation and one without this unit to test stratigraphic assumptions both cross sections have roof thrust sheets consisting of the main central thrust ramgarh munsiari thrust and trishuli thrust folded over the hinterland dipping lesser himalayan duplex dissected by late faults cross section 1 has a shortening estimate from the main central thrust to the main boundary thrust including motion on the main central thrust of 359 km or 78 cross section 2 has a shortening estimate of 349 km or 76 over the same region because the amount and percentage of shortening are not significantly different between the two cross sections the different stratigraphic assumptions did not change the shortening results this similarity suggests that many of the choices made when constructing a cross section may be less important than researchers previously thought

tectonic evolution of the himalayan thrust belt in western nepal implications for channel flow models we present a new geologic map of western nepal and three balanced regional cross sections in the himalayan thrust belt the minimum shortening between the south tibetan detachment and the main frontal thrust is 485 743 km and suggests that total himalayan shortening may exceed 900 km all rocks involved in the thrust belt are of upper crustal affinity implying that a comparable length of indian lower crust and mantle lithosphere was subducted beneath tibet major structural features are the subhimalayan thrust system lesser himalayan imbricate zone dadeldhura thrust sheet lesser himalayan duplex ramgarh thrust sheet main central thrust sheet and a north dipping normal sense shear zone possibly related to the south tibetan detachment these structures are continuous along the entire nepalese portion of the himalayan thrust belt new 40 ar 39 ar ages from the ramgarh thrust zone greater himalayan rocks and the lower part of the tethyan sequence support a kinematic model in which major thrust systems in nepal propagated southward from early miocene time onward the geometry and kinematic history of the thrust belt in western nepal are not compatible with recent models for southward ductile extrusion of greater himalayan rocks in a mid crustal channel instead the thrust belt in western nepal behaved like a typical forward propagating thrust system involving unmetamorphosed brittlely deformed rocks in its frontal part and ductilely deformed higher grade metamorphic rocks in its hinterland region although our results do not support published versions of the channel flow model they provide additional geological and geo chronological data that will assist future attempts to develop geodynamic models for the himalayan tibetan orogenic system

mineral chemistry and k ar ages of plutons across the karakoram fault in the shyok nubra confluence of northern ladakh himalaya india abstract petrographic analyses of plutons across the karakoram fault in the shyok nubra confluence of northern ladakh area revealed that the rocks consist of diorite granodiorite granite and leucogranite pyroxene and biotite chemistries by epma indicate that most of the diorite granodiorite and granite are calc alkaline and formed in an arc related tectonic setting these calc alkaline plutons yield k ar biotite ages from 49 3 1 1 to 51 2 1 1 for ladakh batholith in khardung la and from 60 8 1 3 to 65 8 1 4 ma for granites and diorites in hundar area the k ar ages of the hundar igneous complex are within the age range of 46 70 ma of the ladakh batholith near leh town and the neighbor sites indicating the hundar igneous complex as a part of the ladakh arc their ages are also coincident with the khardung volcanics 67 4 and 60 5 ma the calc alkaline granites from panamik of karakoram block yield k ar biotite ages of 95 7 2 1 and 96 7 2 1 ma suggesting that the granites are member of the plutons 90 120 ma occurring in northern pakistan tangtse in ladakh and western tibet that emplaced during subduction of the neo tethyan oceanic plate under the karakoram block the leucogranite and granodiorite in the panamik region yield k ar biotite and muscovite ages ranging from 9 18 0 21 to 9 45 0 21 ma the leucogranites are the s type related to post collision tectonic setting and are considered to have emplaced in relating to activation of the karakoram fault

duplex structures and imbricate thrust systems geometry structural position and hydrocarbon potential duplexes and imbricate thrust systems form some of the most complex hydrocarbon traps in overthrust belts the geometry of a duplex is controlled by the ramp angle thgr and height hr the final spacing between adjacent thrusts a prime and the relative displacements on them d1 d2 for constant thgr and hr three different classes are recognized 1 independent ramp anticlines and hinterland sloping duplexes 2 true duplexes and 3 overlapping ramp anticlines imbricate thrust systems consist of several thrust faults each of which loses displacement upsection and eventually dies out by progressively transferring its displacement to a fold at its tip or by distributing it among several splays hybrid duplexes are ormed from systems of fault propagation folds that are subsequently carried over ramps so they have a more complex geometry and a greater structural relief these different types of thrust systems occur as outcrops and prospect scale structures and they define the regional structural styles of most fold and thrust belts second and third order duplexes and imbricate thrust systems occur in specific structural positions such as footwalls hanging walls and frontal zones of major thrust ramps and in cores of major anticlines several types of duplexes and imbricate thrust systems form important hydrocarbon traps examples include the system of independent anticlines of the turner valley and highwood oil and gas fields the hinterland sloping duplex consisting of the chestnut ridge sandy ridge system of the ben hur oil field the partly overlapping anticlines of the waterton and savanna creek gas fields and the completely overlapping anticlines of the rose hill oil field