mapping granite and gneiss in domes along the north himalayan antiform with aster swir band ratios a series of five gneiss domes that are exposed along the axis of the north himalayan antiform 50 km south of the indus tsangpo suture southern tibet are characterized by cores of cambrian gneiss and neoproterozoic paleozoic schists and migmatites often intruded by tertiary granites and mantled by metamorphosed equivalents of tethyan sedimentary successions images from the swir short wave infrared bands recorded by the aster advanced spaceborn thermal emission and reflection radiometer sensor on the earth observation system terra satellite reveal with unprecedented clarity the nature of the cores of the domes and the extent of the surrounding mantles of metamorphic rock using band ratio methods we distinguish tertiary granite from cambrian gneiss on the basis of the presence of 5 10 muscovite in the granite this methodology is ideally suited to the mapping of a relatively inaccessible area with excellent exposure but limited ground truth with the exception of the well studied kangmar dome our images of the cores of the domes and their associated mantles bear little resemblance to the published geological maps of the region and reveal hitherto unrecognized exposures of granites the true disposition of the domes within the north himalayan antiform have now been established revealing a systematic westward increase in the granite component of himalayan age within the domes across the study area

tectonic implications of felsic tuffs within the lower miocene gangrinboche conglomerates southern tibet felsic tuffs are interbedded with the gangrinboche conglomerates adjacent to the yarlung tsangpo suture zone in southern tibet laser ar ar dating of mineral separates indicates they are of early miocene age such tuffs are most likely an eruptive manifestation of geochemically indistinguishable coeval felsic adakitic intrusions that are widely reported across southern tibet the considerable lateral e w extent of the gangrinboche conglomerates and their depositional setting indicates sediment accumulation in an overall n s compressional regime and thereby places important constraints on the tectonic setting in which magmatism initiated the conglomerates were folded and truncated during back thrusting associated with development of the north directed great counter thrust as n s trending rifts associated with e w extension of the tibetan plateau cut both the conglomerates and this thrust system it can be inferred that post collisional volcanism is unlikely to have been genetically linked to later e w extension early miocene slab break off beneath tibet provides a model that appears to be consistent with petrogenesis of the associated magmatic suite which requires a lowermost crust or lithospheric mantle generation molasse accumulation and uplift and emplacement of north himalayan gneiss domes

40ar 39ar illite dating of late caledonian acadian metamorphism and cooling of k bentonites and slates from the welsh basin u k the vacuum encapsulation laser 40ar39ar technique allows extremely small 10 6 g samples of fine grained materials such as diagenetic clays to be dated here we show that the method can be extended to higher grade clay minerals the integration of transmission electron microscopic tem characterization with 40ar39ar dating of vacuum encapsulated samples permits the resolution of the timing of metamorphic growth cooling from the time of diagenesis we have applied this technique to well characterized lower paleozoic slates and k bentonites from the welsh basin which span the transition from anchizonal to epizonal grade which had been previously studied using rbsr and smnd dating tem observations of epizonal k bentonites and slate showed that illite in these samples is of 2m1 polytype of muscovite like composition and oriented parallel to cleavage suggesting that they are of metamorphic origin total gas ages equivalent to conventional kar ages for encapsulated epizonal k bentonites and slate 340 408 ma are considerably variable the ar retention ages calculated from 39ar and 40ar atoms retained in the sample after irradiation are more consistent 383 411 ma the 39ar recoil losses are minor for illites from whole rock samples of epizonal k bentonites but very significant for clay separates of epizonal slate plateaus in age spectra were observed in epizonal k bentonites and slate the plateau ages 414 421 ma and retention ages 383 411 ma can be correlated with the onset of acadian metamorphism and culmination of uplift and inversion of the welsh basin respectively these ages are significantly younger than the 450 ma ages previously reported for diagenetic clays using the same method suggesting that diagenetic history has been lost in these epizonal k bentonites and slate tem observations of anchizonal slates showed that there are two modes of illite the first mode is similar to that observed in epizonal samples suggesting a metamorphic origin the second mode consists of the 1md polytype has typical diagenetic illite composition and is oriented parallel to bedding suggesting a diagenetic origin total gas ages for encapsulated anchizonal slates vary considerably 361 422 ma the retention ages are more consistent 413 432 ma than the total gas ages the 39ar recoil losses are more significant than those for epizonal k bentonites and slate plateaus in age spectra are generally not observed however the consistent retention ages for the anchizonal slates correspond to the plateau ages for the epizonal samples and are inferred to represent the onset of acadian metamorphism these data when combined with our previously published results for diagenetic shales suggest that thermal conditions near the boundary of anchizonal and epizonal grades are necessary to completely reset ar systems in shales and slates

new insights into the origin of two contrasting himalayan granite belts the two parallel belts of miocene granite that extend along much of the himalaya differ in age petrogenesis and emplacement style we suggest that their origin is linked to shear heating on a continuously active decollement that cuts through previously metamorphosed indian supracrustal rocks that were transformed into basement during the initial stages of the indian asian collision numerical simulations assuming a shear stress of 30 mpa indicate that initiation of slip on the himalayan thrust at 24 ma could trigger discontinuous melting reactions leading to formation of the high himalayan granite chain from 24 to 20 ma and the north himalayan belt from 18 to 12 ma this model result agrees well with observation as do model predictions regarding emplacement style and location

tectonic evolution of the bindura shamva greenstone belt northern zimbabwe progressive deformation around diapiric batholiths abstract the bindura shamva greenstone belt northern zimbabwe and adjacent batholiths are regarded as one of the type areas for granite greenstone tectonics structural observations and three dimensional strain analyses have been used to propose a model for the tectonic evolution of this late archaean greenstone belt the data indicate that pluton emplacement triggered the deformation of the greenstone sequences and that the deformation history is single phase progressive rather than polyphase they do not however lead to an unambiguous interpretation of the emplacement mechanism structural features are best explained by a combination of pluton diapirism and ballooning plutonism criteria used as evidence for pluton related deformation include the pattern of foliation and stretching lineation trajectories the variation in strain type and strain intensity fold types sense of shear at the batholith greenstone interface metamorphic zoning and timing of porphyroblast growth specific structural and strain patterns within cleavage triple points interdomal synclinoria saddle culminations and batholith margins demonstrate interference between strain fields developed around each batholith

kinematic evolution of the ama drime detachment insights into orogen parallel extension and exhumation of the ama drime massif tibet nepal abstract the ama drime massif is a north south trending antiformal structure located on the southern margin of the tibetan plateau that is bound by the ama drime and nyonno ri detachments on the western and eastern sides respectively detailed kinematic and vorticity analyses were combined with deformation temperature estimates on rocks from the ama drime detachment to document spatial and temporal patterns of deformation deformation temperatures estimated from quartz and feldspar microstructures quartz c axis fabrics and two feldspar geothermometry of asymmetric strain induced myrmekite range between 400 and 650 c micro and macro kinematic indicators suggest west directed displacement dominated over this temperature range mean kinematic vorticity estimates record early pure shear dominated flow 49 66 pure shear overprinted by later simple shear 1 57 pure shear high strain 36 50 shortening and 57 99 down dip extension dominated flow during the later increments of ductile deformation exhumation of the massif was accommodated by at least 21 42 km of displacement on the ama drime detachment samples from the nyonno ri detachment were exhumed from similar depths we propose that exhumation on the nyonno ri detachment during initiation of orogen parallel extension 11 13 ma resulted in a west dipping structural weakness in the footwall that reactivated as the ama drime detachment

39ar recoil artifacts in chloritized biotite biotite separates from the metamorphosed granitic rocks of eastern taiwan yield disturbed 40ar39ar age spectra their disturbed profiles become more pronounced with increasing degree of chloritization and are attributed to mixed release of argon from sub micron scale biotite and chlorite intercalations 39ar internal recoil best explains the discordance of the age spectra chlorite is randomly intercalated with biotite at scales ranging from 10 a to several tens of microns both 40ar and k were evidently lost during the chloritization reaction during the neutron irradiation 39ar atoms recoil into the chlorite from the adjacent biotite intercalations the recoil and chloritization combine to produce a variable 40ar39ar spatial distribution in the intercalated biotite chlorite during 40ar39ar step heating analyses argon in biotite is released in two pulses centered at 650 c and 950 1050 c which represent two stages of dehydroxylation of the biotite chlorite out gasses in two pulses centered at 550 c and 700 900 c during dehydroxylation and then decomposes this differential thermal release of argon from each mineral phase with variable 40ar39ar ratios yields discordant incremental heating age spectra

the interpretation of 40ar 39ar apparent age spectra produced by mixing application of the method of asymptotes and limits abstract a method is presented for the analysis and interpretation of apparent age spectra produced during 40 ar 39 ar step heating experiments application of this method is particularly relevant to complex apparent age spectra produced from minerals taken from exhumed metamorphic tectonites particularly when these rocks once resided in an ancient argon partial retention zone such rocks may have been subject to localised deformation and or recrystallisation during orogenesis yet microstructures relict of earlier episodes of deformation and or metamorphism may retain relatively old apparent ages as a result complex apparent age spectra can be produced during a conventional step heating experiment and these age spectra often cannot be simply interpreted the recognition and the interpretation of a plateau in such spectra is sometimes uncertain and in any case the definition of a plateau is then a concept of limited theoretical validity to avoid these difficulties an alternative strategy is presented based on a theory of mixing gas from different microstructural microchemical reservoirs this method relies on the definition of asymptotes and limits in sequences of apparent ages in apparent age spectra obtained from step heating experiments frequently measured ages fmas in individual datasets can then be recognized using statistical analysis the significance of fmas must be independently assessed

an empirical evaluation of the argon diffusion geometry in muscovite the temperature time significance of 40ar 39ar muscovite ages is difficult to evaluate quantitatively because of ambiguities in the choice of an appropriate model diffusion geometry the effective diffusion dimension and large uncertainties in experimentally determined diffusion parameters laser 40ar 39ar studies of natural 40ar concentration gradients suggest that argon loss in muscovite occurs primarily via cylindrical volume diffusion commonly with an effective diffusion dimension equal to the crystal diameter the present study tests the cylinder model geometry and the control of physical grain size on the effective diffusion dimension by measuring the anisotropy of a natural40ar diffusion gradient parallel and perpendicular to 001 in a single euhedral muscovite phenocryst the new data combined with previous studies clearly indicate loss of 40ar via cylindrical volume diffusion and strongly suggest that loss of 40ar across the 001 sheets slab diffusion geometry is minimal in undeformed crystals

the four plutonic belts of the transhimalaya himalaya a chemical mineralogical isotopic and chronological synthesis along a tibet nepal section

u th pb systematics and ages of himalayan leucogranites south tibet abstract the age and origin of five leucogranites from the high and tethys himalaya and two country rock gneisses were investigated by u pb dating of zircon fractions and single grains and fractions of monazite additionally th u concentrations in whole rock powders and isotopic compositions of pb in leached k feldspars were determined monazites yield ages of 16 8 0 6 m y for the nialam migmatite granite 15 1 0 5 m y for the lhagoi kangri granite 14 3 0 6 m y for a granite from mt everest and 9 8 0 7 m y and 9 2 0 9 m y for two varieties of the maja granite these data together with monazite ages of 21 9 0 2 and 24 0 0 4 m y determined earlier on the makalu granite 1 substantiate a period of intracontinental granite emplacements from 24 to 9 m y ago i e from uppermost oligocene to late miocene times such a period of plutonic activity is consistent with the view that all these granites result from intracrustal melting following the collision of india with eurasia furthermore the individual ages together with structural relationships between granites and country rocks suggest that granite formation and tectono metamorphism occurred as alternating and strongly related processes with a periodicity of 7 to 9 m y inherited lead components present in all granite zircons point to large proportions of precambrian material in the magma source regions up to 2200 m y old th u systematics between monazite and country rocks indicate that u has been leached from most of the granites after crystallisation of monazite zircon dating of the kangmar granite gneiss which occurs in a window through the tethys himalayan sediments shows that this pluton transformed to a gneiss during the alpine orogeny crystallised in lowermost palaeozoic times 562 4 m y ago

excess argon in k ar and ar ar geochronology the k ar and ar ar dating techniques occasionally produce anomalously old ages attributed to excess argon and such data is often rejected as not offering any insight into the age thermal history or geochemistry of the rock however improvements in the quantification of argon geochemistry now provide a framework to model excess argon in both open and closed systems solubility data for argon in hydrous fluids melts and emerging data for minerals can be used to understand the behaviour of excess argon and provide valuable insights into the environment in which the samples cooled to their argon retention or closure temperature treating excess argon as a trace element also throws light on its behaviour in minerals above the closure temperature in deeply buried dry systems such as eclogites blueschists granulites and even in the lithospheric mantle extremely low partition coefficients between k feldspar and hydrous fluid phases predict lower excess argon susceptibility than micas and this is observed in fluid poor systems variation of partition coefficients can lead to excess argon in fluids being introduced into minerals or removed from minerals as grain boundary fluids change during flow through a rock however excess argon can also be introduced or removed from minerals by varying temperature without the need for fluid flow high mineral melt and mineral fluid partition coefficients are also the reason why excess argon is often concentrated in inclusions within minerals partition coefficients between minerals and hydrous fluids as low as 10 6 lead fluid inclusions to dominate the radiogenic argon budget particularly in low potassium minerals melt inclusions are less dominant but become critical in dating younger samples

crustal channel flows 1 numerical models with applications to the tectonics of the himalayan tibetan orogen 1 plane strain thermal mechanical numerical models are used to examine the development of midcrustal channel flows in large hot orogens in the models radioactive self heating reduces the viscosity of tectonically thickened crust and increases its susceptibility to large scale horizontal flow channels can be exhumed and exposed by denudation focused on the high relief transition between plateau and foreland we interpret the himalaya to have evolved in this manner channel flows are poorly developed if the channel has a ductile rheology based on wet quartz flow laws and well developed if there is an additional reduction in viscosity to 1019 pa s this reduction occurs from 700 c to 750 c in the models and is attributed to a small percentage of in situ partial melt melt weakening model ht1 provides an internally consistent explanation for the tectonic evolution of many features of the himalayan tibetan orogenic system erosional exhumation exposes the migmatitic channel equivalent to the greater himalayan sequence ghs between coeval normal and thrust sense ductile shear zones corresponding to the south tibetan detachment and the main central thrust systems outward flow of unstable upper crust rotates these shears to low dip angles in the model both the ghs and the lesser himalayan sequence are derived from indian crust with the latter from much farther south similar models exhibit a range of tectonic styles including the formation of domes resembling north himalayan gneiss domes model results are relatively insensitive to channel heterogeneities and to variations in the behavior of the mantle lithosphere beneath the model plateau

causes and consequences of protracted melting of the mid crust exposed in the north himalayan antiform gneiss domes exposed by the north himalayan antiform in southern tibet provide evidence for protracted melting of the mid crust during convergent tectonics anatexis was initiated during underthrusting and recurred during the southwards extrusion of a low viscosity crustal sheet sr nd isotope systematics establish that the cores of the domes dominated by cambrian gneiss form a window of the high himalayan crystalline series hhcs indian plate combined trace element and isotopic analyses from 4 two mica granites that intrude both core and the metasedimentary mantle of the domes indicate an origin from melting of the high himalayan crystalline series by the incongruent breakdown of muscovite and to a lesser extent biotite at temperatures from 680 to 760 c u pb dating of accessory phases extends the known period of granite magmatism from the late oligocene to mid miocene a ca rich garnet bearing leucogranite of oligocene age 27 5 ma provides a rare insight into the pre miocene history of the underthrust indian plate reflecting prograde melting at greater depths during a period of crustal thickening the origin of the miocene granites 15 10 ma can be modeled from the exhumation of an extruding channel at a rate of ca 1 mm year constrained by ar isotope data melting over a protracted time scale along the leading edge of the indian plate less than 50 km from the suture accelerated horizontal shortening within the collision zone and provided a positive feedback mechanism between magmagenesis and deformation

in situ uv laser 40ar 39ar geochronology of a micaceous mylonite an example of defect enhanced argon loss muscovite and biotite from a crustal scale mylonite zone pogallo shear zone southern alps were investigated using furnace step heating and in situ uv laser ablation 40ar 39ar geochronology undeformed muscovite porphyroclasts yield 40ar 39ar plateau ages of 182 0 1 6 ma whereas in situ uv laser ablation 40ar 39ar dating and furnace step heating of strongly deformed muscovite and biotite grains display a range of apparent ages that are systematically younger the range of 40ar 39ar ages measured in the deformed muscovite and biotite is consistent with protracted cooling through argon closure in minerals that exhibit variably developed segmentation on the intra grain scale these microstructurally controlled segments are bound by either first order lattice discontinuities sub microscopic structural defects and or zones of high defect density which create variable length scales for intragranular argon diffusion the observed deformational microstructures within muscovite and biotite acted as intra grain fast diffusion pathways in the slowly cooled mylonitic rocks therefore the high spatial resolution 40ar 39ar data record the initial and final closure to argon diffusion over a time span of about 60 ma

evolution of north himalayan gneiss domes structural and metamorphic studies in mabja dome southern tibet field structural and metamorphic petrology investigations of mabja gneiss dome southern tibet suggest that contractional extensional and diapiric processes contributed to the structural evolution and formation of the domal geometry the dome is cored by migmatites overlain by sillimanite zone metasedimentary rocks and orthogneiss metamorphic grade diminishes upsection and is defined by a series of concentric isograds evidence for three major deformational events two older penetrative contractional and extensional events and a younger doming event is preserved metamorphism migmitization and emplacement of a leucocratic dike swarm were syntectonic with the extensional event at mid crustal levels metamorphic temperatures and pressures range from 500 8c and 150 450 mpa in chloritoid zone rocks to 705 65 8c and 820 100 mpa in sillimanite zone rocks we suggest that adiabatic decompression during extensional collapse contributed to development of migmatites diapiric rise of low density migmatites was the driving force at least in part for the development of the domal geometry the structural and metamorphic histories documented in mabja dome are similar to kangmar dome suggesting widespread occurrence of these events throughout southern tibet q 2004 elsevier ltd all rights reserved

crustal generation of the himalayan leucogranites abstract detailed studies of the himalayan two mica leucogranites such as the manaslu pluton indicate that they have very uniform mineralogical petrological and structural characteristics one can relate their occurrence to the thickest zones of the underlying tibetan slab in these zones migmatization attains its greatest development and vertical extension the granite is emplaced at first along the main disharmonic plane above the main central thrust mct at the top of the tibetan slab infrastructure ductile deformation of the granite is variable the granite being syn to late kinematic with regard to the functioning of the mct major elements are very homogeneous except for na and k implying that p t conditions of melting were relatively uniform the melted material was of a similar composition over a vast volume and the percentage of melting was small 10 15 trace elements are highly variable some are characteristic for very evolved material ta rb cs u or show the link with the tibetan slab ba sr whilst others are problematic th ree ree and th abundances being much less in the granite than in the tibetan slab imply that they have been extracted during one of the main stages of formation possibly by monazite radiogenic pb sr nd and stable o isotopes are consistent with the origin of the granite from the tibetan slab however the heterogeneous sr isotopic ratios make age dating difficult and imply poor mixing or little fluid interaction during its evolution h isotope data indicate that magmatic compositions of the main body of the manaslu granite have been preserved late or post magmatic alterations are extremely local in the main pluton to the north another belt of two mica granites occurs whose characteristics are very similar to the high himalaya belt they were probably generated in a similar way during this recent intracontinental evolution

the kangmar dome a metamorphic core complex in southern xizang tibet the kangmar metamorphic igneous complex is one of the most accessible examples of an enigmatic group of gneiss domes the north himalayan belt that lies midway between the greater himalaya and the indus tsangpo suture in southern tibet structural analysis suggests that the domal structure formed as a consequence of extensional deformation much like the tertiary metamorphic core complexes in the north american cordillera unlike its north american counterparts the kangmar dome developed in an entirely convergent tectonic setting the documentation of metamorphic core complexes in the himalayan orogen supports the emerging concept that extensional processes may play an important role in the evolution of compressional mountain belts

distributed deformation in southern and western tibet during and after the india asia collision field and radiometric data are used to describe and date strain and stress states in southern longitude 88 o to 91oe latitude 28 o to 30on and western tibet longitude 79 o to 82oe latitude 30 o to 34on we factorize deformation into syncollisional and postcollisional and we present stretching lineation and displacement orientation maps two sections across the indian shelf sequence and stress orientations calculated from mesoscale fault slip data in southern tibet syncollisional stretching and displacement directions trend 90 46 o and displacement is top to south synkinematic low grade metamorphism is dated at 50 ma at one locality in the indian shelf sequence underlying the main mantle thrust of the indus yarlung suture this implies paleocene onset of continental collision for the investigated section postcollisional structures comprise a backthrust group which includes foreland and hinterland directed thrusts reverse and strike slip faults and folds it dominates postcollisional deformation is concentrated along the indus yarlung suture and portrays n s compression otrend of 8o 17 o o2 of 97o 17o a strike slip group consists of conjugate strike slip faults is concentrated in east trending narrow highly deformed zones and indicates that n s compression is locally compensated by e w extension oof 15o 29 o o3 of 103o 30o synkinematic muscovite dates postcollisional deformation as late early miocene 17 5 ma at one locality at the suture strike slip and oblique normal 03 of 600 23 o oof 144o 21 o and normal o3 114o 16 o faulting dated between late miocene and recent and including active deformation represents dominant e w and minor n s extension due to e w stretching of southern tibet and oroclinal bending along the himalayan arc restoring syncollisional and postcollisional deformation yields a minimum of 67 258 km shortening across the indian shelf sequence incorporating recently published contraction estimates across the eastern himalaya yields minimum shortening between undeformed india and the indus yarlung suture of 66 536 km the himalaya tibet orogenic system south of the indus yarlung suture had an initial width of 811 km in the southern tibetan section in western tibet imbrication of an ophiolite sequence of the bangong nujiang suture is top to south stretching lineation trend of 15o 18o and o3 of active deformation trends ese faulting along the shiquanhe fault zone which transfers displacement from the northern part of the karakorum fault to a system of rifts in western central tibet indicates dextral strike slip alternating with sinistral oblique normal faulting and block rotations around vertical axes during a prolonged shearing history the indian shelf sequence south of mount kailas shows top to south imbrication stretching lineation trend of 52o 60o both indian shelf rocks and oligocene miocene kailas conglo merates record backthrusting and backfolding oof 33 o and recent e w extension 03 of 85o 28o

stratigraphy of the upper cretaceous and lower tertiary strata in the tethyan himalayas of tibet tingri area china the 1500 m thick marine strata of the tethys himalaya of the zhepure mountain tingri tibet comprise the upper albian to eocene and represent the sedimentary development of the passive northern continental margin of the indian plate investigations of foraminifera have led to a detailed biozonation which is compared with the west tethyan record five stratigraphic units can be distinguished the gamba group upper albian lower santonian represents the development from a basin and slope to an outer shelf environment in the following zhepure shanbei formation lower santonian middle maastrichtian outer shelf deposits continue pebbles in the top layers point to beginning redeposition on a continental slope intensified redeposition continues within the zhepure shanpo formation middle maastrichtian lower paleocene the series is capped by sandstones of the jidula formation danian deposited from a seaward prograding delta plain the overall succession of these units represents a sea level high at the cenomanian turonian boundary followed from the turonian to danian by an overall shallowing upward megasequence this is followed by a final transgression regression cycle during the paleocene and eocene documented in the zhepure shan formation upper danian lutetian and by upper eocene continental deposits the section represents the narrowing and closure of the tethys as a result of the convergence between northward drifting india and eurasia the plate collision started in the lower maastrichtian and caused rapid changes in sedimentation patterns affected by tectonic subsidence and uplift stronger subsidence and deposition took place from the middle maastrichtian to the lower paleocene the final closure of remnant tethys in the tingri area took place in the lutetian

emplacement age of leucogranite in the kampa dome southern tibet abstract himalayan leucogranite is an important rock to decipher the orogenic evolution of the himalayan orogen it has been recognized that the leucogranite occurred as two separate but parallel belts within himalaya leucogranite in the north belt is mainly exposed an intrusion component within the gneissic dome although most domes have been intensively studied the kampa dome located in the east of southern tibet is less investigated due to its inaccessibility in this study we conducted a comprehensive set of u th pb zircon monazite and xenotime dating and trace element composition analyses using laser ablation technique in order to constrain the emplacement age and lithological nature of the kampa leucogranite zircons from gneiss are mainly magmatic and define a protolith age of ca 498 ma but no cenozoic age is documented zircons from leucogranite display inherited magmatic core overgrown by thin dark rim which occasionally gives a much younger age of 27 7 1 0 ma however monazites from leucogranite yield a th pb age of 25 7 0 5 ma to 26 8 0 4 ma which is comparable to the u pb age of 24 8 0 4 ma obtained from xenotimes for the granitic gneiss into which the leucogranite intruded monazites and xenotimes give ages of 25 8 0 6 ma to 26 6 0 8 ma and 25 0 0 4 ma to 26 0 1 0 ma respectively these ages are comparable to those obtained from the leucogranite and suggest that the metamorphic monazite and xenotime from gneiss formed during the leucogranite emplacement trace element analyses indicated that zircons from leucogranite have high p up to 3721 ppm and ree concentrations but have low in th u ratios 0 04 0 16 similarly monazites from leucogranite generally show extreme hree depletion and significant negative eu anomaly with some displaying significantly tetrad effect these geochemical features indicated that the kampa leucogranite was highly fractionated during its evolution

first field identification of the cuonadong dome in southern tibet implications for ew extension of the north himalayan gneiss dome the cuonadong dome exposes in east southern margin of the north himalayan gneiss domes nhgd which is reported first time in this study the cuonadong dome is located at the southern part of the zhaxikang ore concentration area which is divided into three tectono lithostratigraphic units by two curved faults around the dome geometry from upper to lower or from outer to inner the upper unit middle unit and lower unit and the outer fault is nading fault while the inner fault is jisong fault the cuonadong dome is a magmatic orthogneiss and leucogranite mantled by orthogneiss and metasedimentary rocks which in turn are overlain by jurassic metasedimentary and sedimentary rocks the grades of metamorphism and structural deformation increase towards the core which is correspondence with the ridang formation low metamorphic schist tourmaline granitic biotite gneiss garnet mica gneiss and mylonitic quartz mica gneiss the cuonadong dome preserves evidences for four major deformational events firstly top to s thrust d1 early approximately n s extensional deformation d2 main approximately e w extensional deformation d3 and late collapse structural deformation d4 around the core of the cuonadong dome which are consistent to three groups lineation approximately n s trending lineation including l1 and l2 e w trending l3 and l4 with plunging towards outside of the dome respectively the formation of the cuonadong dome was probably resulted from the main e w extensional deformation which is a result of eastward flow of middle or lower crust from beneath tibet accommodated by northward oblique underthrusting of indian crust beneath tibet the establishment of the cuonadong dome enhanced the e w extension of the nhgd which is further divided into two structural dome zones according to the different extensional directions approximately n s extensional north himalayan gneiss domes ns nhgd and e w extensional north himalayan gneiss domes ew nhgd the ns nhgd developed by a dominantly n s contraction and locally extensional regime and keep a close relationship to the south tibetan detachment system whereas the ew nhgd formed by an e w extensional deformation along the north south trending rifts

40ar 39ar thermochronology of the kampa dome southern tibet implications for tectonic evolution of the north himalayan gneiss domes structural and thermochronological studies of the kampa dome provide constraints on timing and mechanisms of gneiss dome formation in southern tibet the core of kampa dome contains the kampa granite a cambrian orthogneiss that was deformed under high temperature sub solidus conditions during himalayan orogenesis the kampa granite is intruded by syn tectonic leucogranite dikes and sills of probable oligocene to miocene age overlying paleozoic to mesozoic metasedimentary rocks decrease in peak metamorphic grade from kyanite staurolite grade at the base of the sequence to unmetamorphosed at the top the kampa shear zone traverses the kampa granite metasediment contact and contains evidence for high temperature to lowtemperature ductile deformation and brittle faulting the shear zone is interpreted to represent an exhumed portion of the south tibetan detachment system biotite and muscovite 40 ar 39 ar thermochronology from the metasedimentary sequence yields disturbed spectra with 14 22 0 18 to 15 54 0 39 ma cooling ages and concordant spectra with 14 64 0 15 to 14 68 0 07 ma cooling ages petrographic investigations suggest disturbed samples are associated with excess argon intracrystalline deformation mineral and fluid inclusions and or chloritization that led to variations in argon systematics we conclude that the entire metasedimentary sequence cooled rapidly through mica closure temperatures at 14 6 ma the kampa granite yields the youngest biotite 40 ar 39 ar ages of 13 7 ma immediately below the granite metasediment contact we suggest that this age variation reflects either varying mica closure temperatures re heating of the kampa granite biotites above closure temperatures between 14 6 ma and 13 7 ma or juxtaposition of rocks with different thermal histories our data do not corroborate the inverse mica cooling gradient observed in adjacent north himalayan gneiss domes instead we infer that mica cooling occurred in response to exhumation and conduction related to top to north normal faulting in the overlying sequence top to south thrusting at depth and coeval surface denudation

the cooling history of the late pliocene eldzhurtinskiy granite caucasus russia and the thermochronological potential of grain size age relationships abstract isotopic age investigations have been carried out on samples from the late pliocene eldzhurtinskiy granite great caucasus russia in order to elucidate the cooling history of this kilometere sized plutonic body the samples were taken from a horizontal profile from the edge to the centre of the granite and from a vertical profile from the top to a depth of 4570 m the 40ar 39ar results on biotites ranging from 2 5 to 1 2 ma indicate a vertical age zoning of the granite caused by regional uplift an uplift rate of 4 mm a is calculated from the age differences together with the results of fission track dating on apatite and zircon and the present day rock temperatures the biotite ages can be used to evaluate cooling rates below 400 c the cooling rates of about 180 c ma are relatively high and spatially and temporarily fairly uniform throughout the granite a geothermal gradient of 45 c km is derived from uplift and cooling rates this is identical to the present day borehole gradient the 40ar 39ar ages of distinct biotite grain fractions from one and the same sample specimen are discordant generally they show clear age grain size correlation as expected from ar diffusion theory for cooling systems thus the biotite results support the additional detailed thermochronological information the cooling rates in the temperature range of biotite closure based on the grain size age correlations of the biotites are close to 180 c ma they provide evidence that within a certain temperature interval the time temperature path of a rock may be determined exclusively by isotopic dating of different grain size fractions of only one type of mineral

argon 39 argon 40 dating of metamorphic and plutonic events in the north and high himalaya belts southern tibet china new 39ar 40ar radiometric data are presented they concern the metasedimentary series and the orthogneiss pluton of kangmar ages as young as 13 ma are found which may be related either to the metamorphism or to the resetting of the minerals during the emplacement of the numerous intrusive bodies into the north himalaya belt inherited excess argon is found in micas from the orthogneiss previously dated at 562 ma these bodies are constituted by leucogranitic magmas the biotites and the muscovites of which the granites intrude lhagoi kangri massif same range of ages is found in the high himalaya belt for micas from leucogranites ages as young as 4 ma are found on micas from the southern part of the cross section between nyalam and zham the recent uplifts and or the movement of recent normal faults may be related to these young ages

multicyclic history of the northern india continental margin northwestern himalaya 1 the geologic evolution of northern india is best recorded in the stratigraphic succession of the zanskar range northwestern himalaya which represents the most complete transect through this ancient continental margin sedimentary history began in the late proterozoic and recorded a late pan african orogenic event around the cambrian ordovician boundary when the gondwana supercontinent was eventually assembled the following long period of epicontinental deposition in shallow seas linked to palaeo tethys lasted until the early permian when a neo tethyan rift began to open between paleo india and the cimmerian microcontinents neo tethyan history can be subdivided into two sedimentary megasequences both recording a major tectonic and magmatic event in the lower part the first one began with breakup in the late permian and lasted until the end of the jurassic the second one started in the early cretaceous with the final detachment of india from gondwana and the opening of the indian ocean and ended with the india eurasia collision in the early eocene the two megasequences can be in turn subdivided into six transgressive regressive supersequences bounded by tectonically enhanced unconformities basal sandstone units of early permian late permian norian callovian early cretaceous and paleocene age are invariably associated with oolitic ironstones or reworked glauco phosphorites and mark the transgre sive part of each supersequence next condensed nodular carbonates or shales with pelagic fauna are typically overlain by thick shallowing upward marly units capped by regressive platformal carbonates the six tectono eustatic supercycles reflect successive rifting episodes which punctuated the progressive separation of india from the rest of gondwana and document the combination of plate microplate reorganizations and eustatic climatic and oceanographic changes in the tethyan domain after the onset of collision between india and asia close to the paleocene eocene boundary obduction of the remnants of the neo tethys ocean floor onto the indian margin began and the latter underwent multiphase deformation with fold thrust shortening followed by heating and extension after the main metamorphic event ophiolitic nappes were re thrusted and finally emplaced with their sedimentary sole on top of the passive margin succession

determination of high spatial resolution argon isotope variations in metamorphic biotites the circumstances of preservation of relict metamorphic minerals and fabrics which have subsequently been involved in later metamorphic cycles remain enigmatic because the kinetic parameters are not well understood textures and chemistry cannot always give direct information on the conditions attained in the successive events we show in this study that 40ar39ar laser studies can in contrast provide thermal history determinations and successfully discriminate between geological models two samples have been examined from the seconda zona diorito kinzigitica iidk of the sesia zone italian alps a unit which preserves relict hercynian metamorphic assemblages and is now located structurally above rocks which preserve alpine eclogite and greenschist facies assemblages the circumstances of this preservation remain controversial with proposed models falling into two main categories one hypothesis advocates that the iidk was juxtaposed into its present position late in the alpine orogeny and experienced no significant heating event alternatively the iidk has been in its present position for the duration of the alpine orogenic cycle and has been exposed to high temperatures but due to sluggish reaction kinetics it failed to reequilibrate and develop alpine metamorphic minerals a high spatial resolution 40ar39ar study using the ultraviolet laser ablation microprobe uvlamp technique was undertaken with the aims of reassessing the metamorphic history of the iidk and investigating the behavior of argon within the unit during its thermal evolution 128 analyses have been obtained from ten profiles between 60 and 275 m long across biotite grains which show apparent ages ranging from 514 to 161 ma within individual crystals these apparent age variations are systematic according to location in the grain with the oldest ages at the grain edges and the youngest in the cores these apparent age variations can not be explained by chemical alteration and require diffusion of excess argon into the grains the age profiles show a remarkable fit to theoretically derived curves for volume diffusion of argon time integrated diffusion values obtained for the profiles fall between 2 10 6 cm 6 and 5 10 6 cm2 this variation is interpreted as being due to spatial and temporal fluctuations in the availability of argon from the grain boundary network diffusion and hence profile development initiated at different times within the biotites consequently producing the range of time integrated diffusion values the temperatures at which the profiles developed have been estimated using published biotite diffusion parameters to model possible thermal histories using the assumptions of either a short thermal pulse event or continuous cooling from high temperatures the models suggest that the profiles developed at temperatures less than 300 c possible geological models are proposed which document the thermal and excess argon history of the iidk from the hercynian through to the alpine orogeny the study shows the key role of detailed argon isotope studies in assessing the thermal evolution of rocks with relict metamorphic assemblages

crustal structure of the himalayan orogen at 90 east longitude from project indepth deep reflection profiles international deep profiling of tibet and the himalaya indepth deep seismic reflection profiles show that the indian lithosphere is underthrusting the central himalaya along a gently north dipping decollement that is traceable northward beneath the tethyan belt to 28 6 n and to a depth of about 45 km the decollement carries in its hanging wall a near crustal thickness slice of internally deformed indian continental basement and cover represented in outcrop by the greater himalayan belt and structurally overlying tethyan belt geometric relationships suggest that the decollement probably ramps downward beneath the northern tethyan belt to near the base of the crust and that the hanging wall crustal slice was detached from indian mantle lithosphere that presently underlies southern tibet to the north the north himalayan anticlinorium kangmar dome appears to be a large duplex ramp anticline in the hanging wall of the decollement the south tibetan detachment appears to have been imaged in two areas in the wagye la area it appears to follow the tethyan belt greater himalayan belt contact northward in the subsurface and to have been folded over the kangmar dome in the zherger la area it appears to have been active relatively recently as a 30 north dipping normal fault that cuts deeply into the greater himalayan belt allochthon palinspastic reconstruction indicates a minimum of about 326 km of shortening of the indian basement across the himalaya since the initiation of the main central thrust hence indian continental lithosphere largely stripped of its overlying crust can extend northward beneath the tibetan plateau to at least 32 n where earthquake seismological observations show that the properties of the upper mantle change markedly e g mcnamara et al 1995 taken together the seismic reflection and earthquake seismological observations lend support for the view that the indian mantle lid mechanically underplates roughly the southern half of the tibetan plateau the indepth reflection data do not show that indian crust attached to this lithosphere extends north of southernmost tibet kangmar dome nor do they negate this possibility similarly the reflection data do not yield direct evidence for or against lower crustal subduction beneath the himalaya

structural analysis of sheath folds and geochronology in the cuonadong dome southern tibet china new constraints on the timing of the south tibetan detachment system and its relationship to north himalayan gneiss domes

excess argon in melt inclusions in zero age anorthoclase feldspar from mt erebus antarctica as revealed by the method abstract historically erupted 1984 anorthoclase phenocrysts from mt erebus yield k ar and 40 ar 40 ar apparent ages as old as 700 ka indicating the presence of excess argon 40 ar 39 ar furnace step heating results from anorthoclase reveal a positive correlation between the cl k ratio and apparent age because chlorine up to 1700 ppm is present in melt inclusions but not in the anorthoclase crystal lattice this correlation suggests that the excess argon is associated with melt inclusions trapped within the anorthoclase during rapid crystal growth confirmation of the source of excess argon comes from step heating experiments on multiple anorthoclase aliquots separated from two phenocrysts and one glass aliquot prepared from the matrix of a volcanic bomb the anorthoclase phenocrysts were crushed and hf etched to yield aliquots containing 30 10 and 1 melt inclusions the step heated anorthoclase with 30 and 10 melt inclusions yielded the highest cl k ratios and apparent integrated ages of 640 30 ka and 179 16 ka respectively the anorthoclase with i melt inclusions yielded significantly lower cl k ratios and apparent integrated ages of 48 8 ka and 50 30 ka the step heated volcanic glass yielded the least variable cl k ratios and a total gas age of 101 16 ka argon released from the anorthoclase and the trapped melt inclusions can be distinguished by differences in their degassing behavior allowing geologically more reasonable ages to be obtained melt inclusions exposed on the exterior of anorthoclase grains principally degas during furnace extraction at temperatures less than 1200 c inclusions entirely within anorthoclase grains principally degas at temperatures greater than 1200 c when incongruent melting of the anorthoclase allows melt inclusion hosted excess argon to escape anorthoclase aliquots prepared with less than 1 inclusions can be fitted with a plateau for heating steps below 1200 c to yield ages as young as 8 2 ka whereas steps above 1200 c yield ages in excess of 100 ka however anorthoclase aliquots containing 10 30 melt inclusions yield ages in excess of 200 ka for heating steps below 1200 c minimizing the effects of the excess argon from melt inclusions relies on sample preparation and step heating fine crushing and treatment with hydrofluoric acid removes many of the larger melt inclusions small melt inclusions which remain within the anorthoclase degas primarily at temperatures above 1200 c temperatures below 1200 c yield the most accurate ages attempts at post analytically correcting for the chlorine correlated excess argon are hindered by the variations in 40 ar e cl within and between samples elevated 40 ar e cl ratios in bubbles within the melt inclusions as deduced from in vacuo crushing experiments are the most likely cause for some or all of a sample s total 40 ar e cl variation in addition relative solubilities of argon and chlorine within phonolitic melts may be partly responsible for variations in 40 ar e cl

north south extension in the tibetan crust triggered by granite emplacement we combine zircon sensitive high resolution ion microprobe u pb spot dating and mica 4 0 ar 3 9 ar plateau ages with field geological and geochemical constraints from the malashan area of southern tibet to show that the deformed granite core of the north himalayan metamorphic domes in this area is not indian basement but was intruded and deformed during the himalayan orogeny microstructural observations reveal that a transition from top to the south thrust related to top to the north extension related deformation occurred during granite intrusion and related metamorphism this suggests that intrusion triggered the onset of extensional tectonics in the tibetan middle to upper crust expected positive feedback mechanisms between decompression melting leading to more intrusion and more extensional deformation suggest that this mechanism may have been important on a regional scale

age and thermal history of eo and neohimalayan granitoids eastern himalaya abstract four distinct granitoid suites outcrop across a n s transect in the eastern himalaya between the main central thrust mct and the indus tsangpo suture the arunachal and tsona leucogranites outcrop respectively in the mct hanging wall and adjacent the south tibetan detachment both crystallized at about 19 ma and appear to be lateral equivalents of the high himalayan leucogranites in the central tethyan himalaya the dala granitoids form a suite of undeformed plutons emplaced into deformed tethyan himalayan sequence metasediments in the northern tethyan himalaya the yala xiangbo granitoids are part of an igneous complex in the core of the yala xiangbo dome both the dala and yala xiangbo granitoids have eocene magmatic ages 44 1 1 2 ma and 42 5 ma respectively that are notably older than the vast majority of post collisional granitoids along the main himalayan arc pelitic units from the core of the yala xiangbo dome record two episodes of amphibolite grade metamorphism and monazite growth coinciding with well documented episodes of eohimalayan and neohimalayan metamorphism the thermochronological histories of the dala and yala xiangbo units suggest that the eastern tethyan himalaya was tectonically quiescent from ca 40 ma until ca 15 ma miocene exhumation of the dala and yala xiangbo units and all north himalayan domes studied to date appears best explained by a structural control such as concurrent north directed motion on the great counter thrust we hypothesize that an extension of the ninety east ridge may have been responsible for eocene high heat flow beneath the eastern himalaya and explain the localization of magmatism there

the relationship between k ar mineral ages mica grainsizes and movement on the moine thrust zone nw highlands scotland muscovite and biotite separated from moine schists close to the moine thrust zone yield a range of k ar ages incompatible with the simple cooling regime previously proposed for the caledonides of northern scotland differences of only 1 ma between muscovite and biotite of the same grainsize contrast with differences of 12 13 ma between the 125 200 m and 250 500 m grainsize fractions this is contrary to the normally accepted dominance of mica type over grainsize effects dynamic recrystallization of the micas during early deformation associated with the moine thrust zone is thought to play a role as important as temperature in determining the k ar ages the conclusions drawn have important implications for the use of uplift and cooling rates derived from the absolute k ar closure temperatures of micas close to thrust zones although the k ar ages from micas with diameters greater than 200 m are not reproducible the data can be used to show that deformation associated with thrusting commenced between c 443 ma and c 435 ma and that the thrust zone was active until at least 422 ma ago

the himalayan passive margin from precambrian to cretaceous times abstract the himalaya passive margin should be separated into the indian himalaya and the pakistan himalaya divided by the nanga parbat haramosh basement uplift in the northwestern syntaxes the indian passive margin shows a complex history involving splitting of microcontinents off the northern gondwana margin from early paleozoic times until the jurassic in contrast the pakistan himalaya formed part of the stable indian shelf until separation from africa started in the jurassic each margin has a distinct stratigraphic history until the mid mesozoic after which they show similar histories until the tertiary the himalaya mountains in india consist of three distinct tectonic units juxtaposed during the neogene by southward thrusting of the northern indian precambrian to mesozoic passive margin the lesser himalaya on the south forms a late precambrian passive margin usually directly overlain by late cretaceous to tertiary clastics its stratigraphy is closest to that of the indian shield in contrast the high himalaya has a thin ordovician to carboniferous shelf sequence deposited after early ordovician deformation and granite intrusion above this thick permian and mesozoic shelf sequences mark the separation of continental blocks off the northern indian margin and the opening of the neotethys ocean the north himalaya formed the slope and basin of this ocean and consists of reactivated paleozoic gneiss domes overlain by thick mesozoic sediments which pass in the northeastern himalaya into an enormously thick sedimentary sequence resting on oceanic crust paleomagnetic and structural evidence indicates at least 500 km of southward thrusting along the main central thrust between the lesser and high himalaya this thrusting together with a further 250 km of erosion at the front of the nappes has removed the entire inner shelf of the himalaya passive margin and can explain the startling contrast between the high and lesser himalaya stratigraphic sequences but there are still discrepancies particularly in the eastern himalaya where precambrian basement is juxtaposed with the north himalaya mesozoic slope these discrepancies can be partly resolved by strike slip movements roughly parallel to the himalaya which have removed parts of the northern indian passive margin such faults of the requisite orientation displacement and age occur in southeast asia where their cumulative displacements can add up to several thousand kilometres similar faults of undoubted pre tertiary age occur in the pakistan himalaya here the passive margin shows a much simpler history of jurassic to miocene subsidence

evidence for early 44 ma himalayan crustal thickening tethyan himalaya southeastern tibet abstract comprehensive understanding of himalayan orogenesis is limited in part by a poor knowledge of the eohimalayan episode a phase of tectonic activity predating the better understood neohimalayan crustal thickening associated with coaxial deformation along the main central thrust the cambo ordovician to tertiary metasedimentary sequences outcropping within the tethyan himalaya are the structurally highest units of the himalayan fold and thrust belt they and are inferred to have been the first to have accreted to asia a compilation of data from transects along the length of the main himalayan arc shows that the tethyan sequences have experienced at least five deformation events although the timing of these episodes is poorly constrained emplacement of a series of undeformed granitoid bodies following the second of these events which accounts for the majority of crustal thickening in the tethyan himalayan units is constrained by u pb zircon dating to be older than 44 1 1 2 ma thus significant crustal thickening had occurred along the length of the proto himalayan arc by the mid eocene or within 10 to 20 myr of the initiation of himalayan orogenesis

kinematics and vorticity in kangmar dome southern tibet testing midcrustal channel flow models for the himalaya 1 kinematic kinematic vorticity wm and deformation temperature analyses were completed to test the hypothesis that midcrustal rocks exposed in the core of the kangmar gneiss dome southern tibet record ductile deformation patterns of a frozen segment of a southward flowing midcrustal channel microscopic and mesoscopic kinematic indicators exhibit a downward transition from a subequal mix of top north and top south shear in garnet zone rocks to dominantly top north shear in staurolite kyanite zone and deeper rocks kinematic vorticity values indicate an increase in pure shear component with depth from 48 pure shear in chloritoid zone rocks through 62 in garnet zone to staurolite kyanite zone rocks to 68 pure shear in an orthogneiss the deepest exposed rocks deformation temperatures inferred from grain scale microstructures and quartz lattice preferred orientations increase from 300 c 400 c in chloritoid zone rocks to 600 c in the deepest exposed rocks these temperatures are equivalent to temperatures derived from garnet biotite thermobarometry indicating that wm was recorded during peak metamorphism this ductile deformation zone was cut by the brittle southern tibetan detachment system stds that juxtaposed metasedimentary rocks upon the orthogneiss on the basis of these relations midcrustal rocks in the core of kangmar dome record 1 general shear vertical thinning and n s horizontal extension with a component of top north shear during peak metamorphism within a ductile shear zone corresponding to the northern and deeper portion of the stds 2 an increase in pure shear with structural depth a consequence of an increase in lithostatic load and 3 displacement of the high temperature shear zone by the brittle stds our data are compatible with the deformation patterns predicted for the top part of a southward flowing midcrustal channel

himalayan metamorphism and deformations in the north himalayan belt southern tibet china abstract the kangmar massif which has been attributed to the north himalayan belt of two mica granites in southern tibet china is shown to be an orthogneiss in the core of a dome which displays an intermediate high pressure type metamorphism himalayan in age 40 to 20 ma and above the main central sheet this metamorphism took place during high shear strain deformation and it is not recorded to the west where north himalayan plutons have developed contact metamorphism

on the role of diapirism in the segregation ascent and final emplacement of granitoid magmas only bodies of magma with a high crystal content and partially molten crustal country rocks can ascend as diapirs once such an envelope is pierced the diapiric ascent of the pluton is arrested by the high viscosity of a solid aureole deformation by shortening of the carapace of these bodies may lead to the expulsion of a magma with a relatively low crystal content which may then continue ascent via fractures and dykes the details of the mechanisms of granitoid magma segregation are still unknown but it appears that many magmas hegin their ascent through the crust as mushes with at least 50 melt and that such magmas are rheologically able to ascend through a thickness of crust this ascent mechanism explains the dearth of structures attributable to the ascent of granitoids in contrast to the abundance of structures that developed during their final emplacement when a magma becomes too crystalline melt 25 to continue its ascent via dykes it is immobilised at approximately this stage a hydrous magma may become saturated with water and release fluids into the aureole making it particularly susceptible to deformation magma that continues to arrive at this level is also immobilised and the pluton grows as a ballooning diapir these characteristically deform themselves and their aureoles by bulk shortening magmas that are able to ascend to shallow depths largely by virtue of lower water contents and higher initial temperatures tend to become finally accommodated by such brittle processes as stoping and cauldron subsidence high level intrusions lend to be tabular are also fed by dykes or conduits and assemble in tabular batholiths

extrusion vs duplexing models of himalayan mountain building 2 the south tibet detachment at the dadeldhura klippe abstract himalayan mountain building has been dominantly explained by two types of models extrusion and duplexing to elucidate possible roles of these mechanisms during emplacement of the himalayan crystalline core we investigate an area speculated to contain the southern leading edge of the crystalline core the northeastern margin of the dadeldhura klippe western nepal we found an 700 m thick primarily top to the north shear zone within the klippe we term this as the tila shear zone the shear zone occurs within a right way up metamorphic field gradient and separates footwall gneiss from hanging wall schist similarly deformation temperatures estimated from quartz and feldspar microstructures and quartz c axis fabrics indicate a right way up thermal gradient of 77 189 c km u pb zircon dating of post kinematic leucogranite dikes suggests that ductile shearing along the tila shear zone occurred prior to 17 14 ma we correlate the tila shear zone to the south tibet detachment std on the basis of consistent structural fabrics shear sense lithologies metamorphism and deformation timing this interpretation in combination with regional constraints indicates southwards increasing proximity of the std tila shear zone and the main central thrust mct these two shear zones are separated by 3 km of structural section in the northern portion of our study area and become close to within 1 km of separation in the southern portion interpolation suggests that the std tila shear zone and mct merge 15 10 km southwest of our study area the increasing to south proximity and potential merger of the two shear zones suggest that the std formed as a backthrust from the mct this interpretation contrasts with the long standing normal fault interpretation of the std because the std and mct bound the himalayan crystalline core these findings document crystalline core emplacement at depth via tectonic wedging this kinematic evolution is consistent with duplexing but not extrusion to the surface

activation of the nyainqentanghla shear zone implications for uplift of the southern tibetan plateau neogene extension of the tibetan plateau is manifested as a series of north south trending graben the most prominent of which is the yadong gulu rift the nyainqen tanghla shan a ne sw trending mountain range 100 km nw of lhasa bounds the western margin of the yangbajian graben the central segment of the yadong gulu rift the eastern edge of the nyainqentanghla massif is marked by a low angle 25 o detachment fault shear zone of amphibolite grade mylonites the noar 3 ar thermal history results from samples collected along two deeply incised valleys within the massif reveal that a rapid cooling event propagated from 8 ma in the core of the range to 4 ma within the high strain zone at the eastern boundary assuming that faulting initiated at high angle 60o thermal histories were fit to a numerical simulation of slip on a normal fault to yield estimates of both the age of fault initiation and the slip rate history the form of the isotopically derived thermal histories are similar to general form predicted by the thermal model and suggests that significant movement began at 8 1 ma in the southern valley goring la and proceeded at an average slip rate of 3 mm yr between 8 and 3 ma a more complex history is required to fit the data from the northern valley balum chun but the timing of initiation and average slip rate are similar to the goring la result numerical simulations in which the fault angle is varied indicate that the isotopically derived temperature histories are inconsistent with slip occurring at low angle 40o because the extension direction of the yangbajian graben is representative of most rifts on the southern tibetan plateau our data suggest that crustal thickness and elevation reached close to their present values by 8 1 ma a carbon isotopic shift in pedogenic carbonates from the siwalik formation at about 7 5 ma appears to reflect intensification of the asian monsoon and by inference that the plateau had attained an important threshold elevation by that time formation of a diffuse plate boundary in the indian oceanic lithosphere beginning at 7 5 8 0 ma is also consistent with this history we suggest that the plateau had attained a threshold area and elevation by 8 1 ma sufficient to trigger these three independent manifestations

excess40ar in metamorphic rocks from broken hill new south wales implications for40ar 39ar age spectra and the thermal history of the region 40ar 39ar age spectrum analyses of samples from broken hill new south wales indicate that the region has experienced a complex thermal history following high grade metamorphism 1660 ma ago the terrain cooled slowly 3 c ma 1 until about 1570 ma ago when the temperature fell below about 500 c following granitoid emplacement 1500 ma ago the region remained relatively cold until affected by a thermal pulse 520 40ma ago causing temperatures to rise to 350 c in some places during this event accumulated40ar was released from minerals causing a significant ar partial pressure to develop laboratory ar solubility data combined with the40ar 39ar age spectra gives a local estimate of this partial pressure of 10 4atm the region finally cooled below 100 c about 280 ma ago 40ar 39ar age spectrum analyses of hornblende plagioclase and clinopyroxene containing excess40ar are characterized by saddle shaped age spectra detailed analysis of plagioclase samples reveals a complex diffusion behaviour which is controlled by exsolution structures this effect in conjunction with the presumed different lattice occupancy of excess40ar with respect to radiogenic40ar appears to be responsible for the saddle shaped age spectra

tertiary structural evolution of the gangdese thrust system southeastern tibet structural and thermochronological investigations of southern tibet xizang suggest that intracontinental thrusting has been the dominant cause for formation of thickened crust in the southernmost tibetan plateau since late oligocene two thrust systems are documented in this study the north dipping gangdese system gts and the younger south dipping renbu zedong system rzt west of lhasa the gangdese thrust juxtaposes the late cretaceous forearc basin deposits of the lhasa block the xigaze group over the tethyan sedimentary rocks of the indian plate whereas east of lhasa the fault juxtaposes the late cretaceous eocene andean type arc the gangdese batholith over tethyan sedimentary rocks near zedong 150 km southeast of lhasa the gangdese thrust is marked by a 200 m thick mylonitic shear zone that consists of deformed granite and metasedimentary rocks a major south dipping backthrust in the hanging wall of the gangdese thrust puts the xigaze group over tertiary conglomerates and the gangdese plutonics north of xigaze and west of lhasa a lower age bound for the gangdese thrust of 18 3 0 5 ma is given by crosscutting relationships the timing of slip on the gangdese thrust is estimated to be 27 23 ma from 40 ar 39 ar thermochronology and a displacement of at least 46 9 km is indicated near zedong the age of the gangdese thrust gt is consistent with an upper age limit of 24 ma for the initiation of movement on the main central thrust in places the younger renbu zedong fault is thrust over the trace of the gt obscuring its exposure the rzt appears to have been active at circa 18 ma but had ceased movement by 8 1 ma the suture between india and asia has been complexly modified by development of the gts rzt and locally strike slip and normal fault systems

late triassic back arc spreading and initial opening of the neo tethyan ocean in the northern margin of gondwana evidences from late triassic babb type basalts in the tethyan himalaya southern tibet abstract the tectonic evolution of the neo tethyan oceanic plate between the indian plate and the lhasa terrane is a key issue for the evolution of gondwana and formation of the tibetan plateau in this paper we report on the geochemistry sr nd isotope compositions and zircon u pb dating of late triassic basalts from the nieru formation t3n in the kampa region southern tibet the basalts have relatively low contents of mgo tio2 and total alkalis k2o na2o and they have affinities to tholeiitic basalt they exhibit weakly fractionated rare earth element ree patterns with slight depletions in lrees and slightly negative eu anomalies on a chondrite normalized diagram on a primitive mantle normalized spider diagram they are characterized by slight enrichments in large ion lithophile elements liles and relatively flat patterns of high field strength elements hfses except for depletions in ba nb ta and ti their initial 87sr 86sr ratios vary from 0 718133 to 0 738977 and end t values are relatively depleted 4 09 5 22 similar to mid ocean ridge basalts in the yarlung zangbo ophiolite we propose the t3n basalts were derived from a shallow and depleted mantle source by relatively high degree partial melting in the spinel stability field they underwent slight crustal contamination as well as the fractional crystallization of clinopyroxene the t3n basalts are similar to typical back arc basin basalts babb such as the okinawa babb this indicates an extensional back arc basin setting along the northern margin of gondwana during the late triassic the initial opening of the neo tethyan ocean was related to the southwards subduction of the paleo tethyan oceanic plate and back arc basin spreading during the late triassic magmatic activity along the passive continental margin records key information on continental break up and incipient ocean development

ice free glacial northern asia due to dust deposition on snow during the last glacial maximum lgm 21 kyr bp no large ice sheets were present in northern asia while northern europe and north america except alaska were heavily glaciated we use a general circulation model with high regional resolution and a new parameterization of snow albedo to show that the ice free conditions in northern asia during the lgm are favoured by strong glacial dust deposition on the seasonal snow cover our climate model simulations indicate that mineral dust deposition on the snow surface leads to low snow albedo during the melt season this in turn caused enhanced snow melt and therefore favoured snow free peak summer conditions over almost the entire asian continent during the lgm whereas perennial snow cover is simulated over a large part of eastern siberia when glacial dust deposition is not taken into account

tectonics and structural zonation of southern tibet china the yarlung zangbo suture zone is composed of several thrust sheets with distinct stratigraphies states of deformation and metamorphic grades successive deformations have been produced by persistent north south shortening since obduction of the ophiolites by late cretaceous palaeocene times a possible decoupling of the crust may be associated with the intracontinental thrust system which has formed in the subducted indian plate this article emphasizes the role of shear deformations in the building of a collision belt

heterogeneous 40ar distributions in naturally deformed muscovite in situ uv laser ablation evidence for microstructurally controlled intragrain diffusion abstract micas are commonly used in 40 ar 39 ar thermochronological studies of variably deformed rocks yet the physical basis by which deformation may affect radiogenic argon retention in mica is poorly constrained this study examines the relationship between deformation and deformation induced microstructures on radiogenic argon retention in muscovite a combination of furnace step heating and high spatial resolution in situ uv laser ablation 40 ar 39 ar analyses are reported for deformed muscovites sampled from a granitic pegmatite vein within the siviez mischabel nappe western swiss alps penninic domain brianconnais unit the pegmatite forms part of the variscan 350 ma alpine basement and exhibits a prominent alpine s c fabric including numerous mica fish that developed under greenschist facies metamorphic conditions during the dominant tertiary alpine tectonic phase of nappe emplacement furnace step heating of milligram quantities of separated muscovite grains yields an 40 ar 39 ar age spectrum with two distinct staircase segments but without any statistical plateau consistent with a previous study from the same area a single 3 5 mm muscovite porphyroclast fish was investigated by in situ uv laser ablation a histogram plot of 170 individual 40 ar 39 ar uv laser ablation ages exhibit a range from 115 to 387 ma with modes at approximately 340 and 260 ma a variogram statistical treatment of the 40 ar 39 ar results reveals ages correlated with two directions a highly correlated direction at 310 and a lesser correlation at 0 relative to the sense of shearing using the highly correlated direction a statistically generated kriging method age contour map of the 40 ar 39 ar data reveals a series of elongated contours subparallel to the c surfaces which where formed during tertiary nappe emplacement similar data distributions and slightly younger apparent ages are recognized in a smaller mica fish the observed intragrain age variations are interpreted to reflect the partial loss of radiogenic argon during alpine 35 ma greenschist facies metamorphism one dimensional diffusion modelling results are consistent with the idea that the zones of youngest apparent age represent incipient shear band development within the mica porphyroclasts thus providing a network of fast diffusion pathways during alpine greenschist facies metamorphism the incipient shear bands enhanced the intragrain loss of radiogenic argon the structurally controlled intragrain age variations observed in this investigation imply that deformation has a direct control on the effective length scale for argon diffusion which is consistent with the heterogeneous nature of deformation

modelling the effect of arbitrary p t t histories on argon diffusion in minerals using the macargon program for the apple macintosh argon diffusion in mineral grains has been numerically modelled using p t t histories that may be relevant to multiply metamorphosed orogenic terranes and for rocks that have resided at high ambient temperatures in the earth s crust for long durations the macargon program1 generates argon concentration profiles in minerals assuming argon loss occurs via volume diffusion it can be run on an apple macintosh computer with arbitrary p t t histories used as input finite difference equations are used in the calculation of 40ar concentration profiles across individual diffusion domains the associated macspectrometer generates model spectra after a p t t history has been specified the form of model 40ar39ar apparent age spectra suggests that considerable caution needs to be exercised in the use of the closure temperature concept and in the interpretation of the significance of plateaux observed in many 40ar39ar apparent age spectra particularly in cases involving metamorphic rocks where complex p t t histories might apply although modelled spectra cannot be directly compared to experimentally determined 40ar39ar age spectra especially when hydrous phases are involved or in cases where loss of argon has not occurred via volume diffusion they do provide insight into theoretically expected age spectra for samples that have experienced complex p t t histories

oligocene initiation of the south tibetan detachment system constraints from syn tectonic leucogranites in the kampa dome northern himalaya abstract himalayan leucogranites provide a robust record of the thermal and tectonic processes that occurred during convergence of the eurasian and indian tectonic plates we present structural petrological mineralogical whole rock geochemical sr nd isotope and geochronological results for cenozoic leucogranites from the kampa dome northern himalaya the kampa leucogranites are typical syn tectonic granites and occur as a series of sills dikes and puddings in the kampa shear zone which is considered to be the exhumed portion of the south tibetan detachment system stds in the northern himalaya the kampa syn tectonic leucogranites provide information about the timing and nature of regional kinematics and record thermal conditions and the initiation of the stds whole rock geochemistry and sr nd isotope analyses show that the kampa leucogranites are characterized by the following 1 they are peraluminous and have high sio2 al2o3 and a cnk low tio2 mgo p2o5 and tfe2o3 and variable cao na2o k2o and total alkalis 2 they are enriched in large ion lithophile elements e g k and rb and depleted in high field strength elements e g zr and ti with negative eu anomalies and 3 they display variable initial 87sr 86sr compositions 0 7507580 826065 and their end i values range between 7 6 and 12 2 anatexis of graywackes and metapelites in the great himalayan crystalline series played an important role in the formation of the kampa leucogranites anatexis was controlled by fluid absent partial melting of muscovite mineralogical and petrological analyses show that zircons belong to an early crystallization phase whereas monazites are remnants of the final crystallization phase of the granitic melt zircon u pb dating reveals that anatexis in the deep himalayan crust occurred at ca 32 23 ma during the oligocene monazites yield homogeneous 208pb 232th ages of ca 23 5 ma and record rapid emplacement in the kampa shear zone these results indicate that movement on the stds was initiated during the early oligocene and became well developed during the late oligocene in the kampa region the oligocene was a unique period of counterbalance between continued plate convergence and intense extension in the himalayan orogen

comparison of 40ar 39ar conventional and laser dating of biotites from the north tregor batholith bulk samples and single grains of biotites from the north tregor batholite armorican massif france were analysed by the 40ar39ar method apparently pure single biotite grains analysed by the step heating procedure with the laser probe displayed plateau ages or slightly disturbed age spectra one strongly chloritized single biotite grain gave a very disturbed age spectrum with younger ages the bulk samples of biotites of the same rocks displayed disturbed age spectra characterized by younger low temperature ages and a hump at intermediate temperature steps these disturbances are explained by 39ar recoil from the biotite into the chlorite which is clearly evidenced by hrtem observations and not by excess 40ar the more concordant results obtained on single biotites are probably due to a more careful selection of the minerals in most cases we obtain good concordance of the ages 600 610 ma measured on the apparently pure single biotite grains and the high temperature ages of both the bulk samples of amphiboles and biotites from the same rocks

an 8 10 ma tectonic event on the cocos plate offshore costa rica result of cocos ridge collision 1 upper oceanic crust within the cocos plate offshore northwestern costa rica is dominated by sill intrusions of various ages recognized regionally as smooth high amplitude seismic reflections at the base of the sedimentary sequence and locally by dolerites and microgabbros recovered by drilling earlier interpretation of seafloor magnetic anomalies documented a set of spreading ridge jumps at 19 5 and 14 5 ma continuing to the present in addition to these events we present evidence for a widespread tectonic event in the period 8 10 ma displayed in reflection seismic data recorded during the ticoflux 1 and 2 experiments and dated by seismic correlation to odp site 1039 the 8 10 ma events may have been triggered by collision of the cocos ridge at this time and facilitated by widespread sill intrusion associated with the galapagos hot spot

the malashan gneiss dome in south tibet comparative study with the kangmar dome with special reference to kinematics of deformation and origin of associated granites

controls on cenozoic exhumation of the tethyan himalaya from fission track thermochronology and detrital zircon u pb geochronology in the gyirong basin area southern tibet the gyirong basin southern tibet contains the record of miocene pliocene exhumation drainage development and sedimentation along the northern flank of the himalaya the tectonic controls on basin formation and their potential link to the south tibetan detachment system stds are not well understood we use detrital zircon zft and apatite aft fission track analysis together with detrital zircon u pb dating to decipher the provenance of gyirong basin sediments and the exhumation history of the source areas results are presented for nine detrital samples of gyirong basin sediments aft zft and u pb two modern river sediment samples zft and aft and six bedrock samples zft from transect across the gyirong fault bounding the basin to the east the combination of detrital zircon u pb and fission track data demonstrates that the gyirong basin sediments were sourced locally from the tethyan sedimentary sequence this provenance pattern indicates that deposition was controlled by the gyirong fault active since 10 ma whose vertical throw was probably 5000 m rather than being controlled by normal faults associated with the stds the detrital thermochronology data contain two prominent age groups at 37 41 and 15 18 ma suggesting rapid exhumation at these times a 15 18 ma phase of rapid exhumation has been recorded widely in both southern tibet and the himalaya a possible interpretation for such a major regional exhumation event might be detachment of the subducting indian plate slab during the middle miocene inducing dynamic uplift of the indian plate overriding its own slab

himalayan gneiss dome formation in the middle crust and exhumation by normal faulting new geochronology of gianbul dome northwestern india a general lack of consensus about the origin of himalayan gneiss domes hinders accurate thermomechanical modeling of the orogen to test whether doming resulted from tectonic contraction e g thrust duplex formation antiformal bending above a thrust ramp etc channel flow or via the buoyant rise of anatectic melts this study investigates the depth and timing of doming processes for gianbul dome in the western himalaya the dome is composed of greater himalayan sequence migmatite paleozoic orthogneiss and metasedimentary rock cut by multiple generations of leucogranite dikes these rocks record a major penetrative d2 deformational event characterized by a domed foliation and associated ne sw trending stretching lineation and they are flanked by the top down to the sw normal sense khanjar shear zone and the top down to the ne normal sense zanskar shear zone the western equivalent of the south tibetan detachment system monazite u th pb geochronology records 1 paleozoic emplacement of the kade orthogneiss and associated granite dikes 2 prograde barrovian metamorphism from 37 to 33 ma 3 doming driven by upper crustal extension and positive buoyancy of decompression melts between 26 and 22 ma and 4 the injection of anatectic melts into the upper levels of the dome neutralizing the effects of melt buoyancy and potentially adding strength to the host rock by ca 22 6 ma on the southwestern flank and ca 21 ma on the northeastern flank as shown by a northeastward decrease in 40 ar 39 ar muscovite dates from 22 4 to 20 2 ma ductile normal sense displacement within the zanskar shear zone ended by ca 22 ma after which the gianbul dome was exhumed as part of a rigid footwall block below the brittle zanskar normal fault tilting an estimated 5 10 sw into its present orientation

the relation between grain size and 40ar 39ar date for alpine white mica from the siviez mischabel nappe switzerland abstract variations in alpine white mica 40 ar 39 ar dates from the cover units of the siviez mischabel nappe relate to regional variations in the thermal history of the nappe we focus on three regions within the nappe the central siviez mischabel csm the southern siviez mischabel ssm and the eastern siviez mischabel esm our approach weaves together observations of quartz and mica textures in thin section the variation of 40 ar 39 ar date with grain size considerations of the effective diffusion dimension edd of argon in white mica and a comparison of dates with diffusion model results in the csm pressure solution of quartz and dislocation glide in mica accommodated alpine deformation dates record mica growth during nappe emplacement from 40 to 36 ma and do not vary with grain size in the ssm and esm both mica and quartz show textures associated with dynamic recrystallization and dates decrease with grain size in the ssm dates also agree with the timing of nappe emplacement but in the esm dates significantly post date the timing of nappe emplacement a comparison of dates with diffusion model results supports inferences from rock fabrics that the ssm experienced higher peak temperatures than the csm even though dates from both units approximate the timing of mica growth dates obtained from the esm however do not compare well with simple models and the thermal evolution of this region of the nappe in the neighborhood of the simplon fault zone is not well understood

channel flow ductile extrusion and exhumation in continental collision zones this collection of 27 review and research papers provides an overview of the geodynamic concepts of channel flow and ductile extrusion in continental collision zones the focal point for this volume is the proposal that the middle or lower crust acts as a ductile partially molten channel flowing out from beneath areas of over thickened crust such as the tibetan plateau towards the topographic surface at plateau margins this controversial proposal explains many features related to the geodynamic evolution of the plateau and for example extrusion and exhumation of the crystalline core of the himalayan mountain chain to the south in this volume thermal mechanical models for channel flow extrusion and exhumation are presented and geological and geophysical evidence both for and against the applicability of such models to the himalayan tibetan plateau system as well as older continental collision zones such as the hellenides the appalachians and the canadian cordillera are discussed

the source and significance of argon isotopes in fluid inclusions from areas of mineralization argon isotopes in fluid inclusions in quartz veins associated with granite hosted tungsten mineralization in the southwest and north of england have been investigated in detail by the40ar 39ar technique the natural argon is present as a number of discrete components which can be identified through correlations with39ar 38ar and 37ar induced by neutron bombardment of potassium chlorine and calcium the potassium correlated component arises principally from in situ decay of potassium in solid phases in the inclusions in the case of the hemerdon tungsten deposit of southwest england the phases responsible are small 25 m captive authigenic micas which are shown to have been deposited from a fluid 268 20 ma ago shortly after the emplacement of the host granite the chlorine correlated component is present in the brines which constitute the fluid phase of the inclusions the argon in these hydrothermal fluids is made up in part of parentless or excess 40ar leached from surrounding crustal rocks and in part of dissolved ancient atmospheric argon absolute concentrations of both atmospheric and excess components in the brine can be estimated from 40arcl ratios and independent determinations of the salinity of the inclusions the absolute concentrations of the atmospheric argon are close to those found in modern meteoric water while those of the excess component can be interpreted in terms of the degree of interaction betwen the circulating fluids and country rock a calcium correlated component with a much higher ratio of excess to atmospheric argon than that in the brine was found to be a dominant phase in one sample from the hemerdon deposit indicating the presence of a solid phase probably a caso4 daughter mineral inclusions of this composition represent fluids which have had a more prolonged interaction with crustal rocks the results obtained from this study provide a systematization and a framework for future multi component argon studies of fluid inclusions together with an indication of the wide range of information which can be inferred

the himalayan leucogranites constraints on the nature of their crustal source region and geodynamic setting article i nfo late oligocene miocene leucogranites within southern tibet form part of an extensive intrusive igneous province within the himalayan orogen the main rock types are tourmaline leucogranites tg and two mica leucogranites 2 mg they have high sio2 70 56 75 32 wt al2o3 13 55 15 67 wt and 87 sr 86 sr i 0 724001 0 797297 and low mgo 0 02 0 46 wt and 143 nd 144 nd i 0 511693 0 511906 chondri te normalized rare earth element ree patterns display strong negative eu anomalies whole rock major and trace element and sr nd isotope data for the leucogranites suggest that their source region was a two component mixture between a fluid derived from the lesser himalayan lh crustal sequence and the bulk crust of the higher himalayan hh sequence trace element and sr nd isotope modeling indicate that the proportion of fluid derived from the lh sequence varied from 2 to 19 and the resulting metasomatised source experienced 7 16 melting the amount of fluid derived from the lh sequence increases from north to south northward underthrusting of the indian continent resulted in infiltration of the lh derived fluid into the overlying hh sequence subsequent decompression melting of this metasomatised crust mostly during the miocene 25 9 ma generated the leucogranites this may be linked to steepening of the subducted slab of indian lithosphere beneath the orogenic belt