trace element modelling of pelite derived granites the presence or absence of a vapour phase during incongruent melt reactions of muscovite and biotite together with the composition of the protolith determines the trace element characteristics of the resulting melt provided that equilibrium melting occurs for those phases that host the tracc elements of interest for granitic melts rb sr and ba provide critical constraints on the conditions that prevailed during melting whereas ree are primarily controlled by accessory phase behaviour mass balance constraints for eutectic granites that are formed by the incongruent melting of muscovite in pelites indicate that melting in the presence of a vapour phase will result in a large melt fraction and deplete the restite in feldspar hence the melt will be characterized by low rb sr and high sr ba ratios in contrast vapour absent melting will result in a smaller melt fraction and an increase in the restitic feldspar consequently high rb sr and low sr ba ratios are predicted vapour absent melting will also enhance the negative eu anomaly in the melt granites that result from the incongruent melting of biotite in the source will be characterized by higher rb concentrations than those that result from the incongruent melting of muscovite the himalayan leucogranites provide an example of unfractionated crustally derived eutectic melts that are enriched in rb but depleted in sr and ba relative to their metasedimentary protoliths these compositions may be generated by the incongruent melting of muscovite as a low melt fraction f 0 1 from a pelitic source under vapour absent conditions

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

orogen parallel ductile extension and extrusion of the greater himalaya in the late oligocene and miocene 1 predominant stretching structures in the greater himalayan crystalline complex ghc trend perpendicular to the belt and are linked to the southward exhumation or emplacement of the ghc between the south tibet detachment std and the main central thrust however our field investigations in southern tibet reveal the widespread presence of gently dipping shear zones with a penetrative orogen parallel stretching lineation which separates the tethyan himalayan sequence and the underlying ghc the shear zones are well preserved in the upper part of the ghc south to and structurally lower than the std field criteria microstructures and quartz fabrics indicate top to the east shearing in the yadong shear zone eastern ghc coexistence of top to the east and top to the west shearing in the nyalam shear zone central ghc but top to the west shearing in the pulan shear zone western ghc characteristic microstructures and slip systems of quartz in the high grade ghc rocks resulted from the lateral flow under upper amphibolite up to 650 700 c to greenschist facies conditions u pb ages of metamorphic zircon rims by sensitive high resolution ion microprobe shrimp and laser ablation multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry la mc icp ms analyses yield 28 26 ma for the initiation of the yadong and nyalam shear zones and 22 15 ma for the activation of the pulan shear zone in addition 40ar 39ar cooling ages of biotite and muscovite suggest cessation of ductile sharing at 13 11 ma on the yadong shear zone which is coeval with the activation of the std combined with previous studies we propose that initiation of orogen parallel extension marks the transition from burial crustal thickening to exhumation of the ghc due to lateral crustal thickness gradients in a thickened crust orogen parallel gravitational collapse occurred within the convergent himalayan orogen in the late oligocene miocene this tectonic denudation triggered and enhanced partial melting and ductile extrusion of the ghc in the miocene

petrogenesis of the ramba leucogranite in the tethyan himalaya and constraints on the channel flow model abstract the himalayan leucogranites are critical for understanding the geodynamic process of himalayan orogenesis in this article we present petrological geochronological and geochemical results of the ramba leucogranites that crop out in the center of the ramba dome within the tethyan himalaya u th pb dating of zircon monazite and xenotime revealed three episodes of leucogranitic magmatism in the ramba dome at ca 44 ma ca 28 ma and ca 8 ma respectively the ca 44 ma and ca 28 ma magmatisms are both represented by strongly deformed porphyritic two mica granite gneiss dykes that intruded into the margin of the dome these granite gneisses have high cao and sr contents relatively high na k sr y and low rb sr ratios and much lower initial 87sr 86sr ratios but higher end t and ehf t values than the ancient indian crustal material these results indicate that the granite gneisses were not derived from metasedimentary rocks of the high himalayan sequence but most likely were derived from partial melting of mafic rocks at a thickened crustal condition the ca 8 ma leucogranites consist of a two mica granite pluton in the core of the dome and garnet bearing granite dykes in the margin of the dome major and trace element compositions indicate that these miocene leucogranites are typical s type granites and were most likely derived from muscovite and or biotite dehydration melting of metapelites the relatively lower tio2 tfeo mgo and cao contents higher rb concentration and rb sr ratio and more strongly negative eu anomaly of the garnet bearing granite indicate that it was more evolved than the coeval two mica granite the non charac charge and radius controlled trace element behavior and the tetrad effect of the ree distribution of the garnet bearing granite further suggest that it is a highly fractionated granite besides our study detected some asian like materials in the ramba leucogranites such as mesozoic aged inherited zircons and the relatively depleted sr nd hf isotopic compositions of some leucogranite samples these features of leucogranites in the tethyan himalaya have been previously considered as direct geological evidence for the channel flow model however detailed geochronological and geochemical studies of the country rocks suggest that these asian like materials are most likely sourced from the country rock rather than the asian lithosphere thus they may not be used as solid evidence for the channel flow model

seismology energy radiation from the sumatra earthquake we determined the duration of high frequency energy radiation from indonesia s great sumatra andaman earthquake 26 december 2004 to be about 500 seconds this duration can be translated into a rupture length of about 1 200 km which is more than twice as long as that inferred from body wave analyses performed soon after the event our analysis was able rapidly to define the extent of rupture thereby aiding the assessment of seismic hazard in the immediate future

a model for monazite melt equilibrium and application to the generation of granitic magmas abstract in order to model the behaviour of zr hf ti p u th y and the rare earth elements ree in the continental crust the parameters which control the equilibria between accessory minerals and granitic melts must be determined this paper proposes equations for the equilibrium between monazite and ca poor felsic melts in a first step all the light ree are considered as a single component and an equation describing monazite solubility is deduced from the available experimental data in a second step the fractionation of ree by monazite is investigated on the basis of a natural example of coexisting monazite and obsidian from macusani peru the solubility of monazite can be used as a thermometer based on the total ree content of natural magmatic rocks application of ree thermometry to various peraluminous rock series suggests that it is a reliable tool for determining temperatures of magmatic processes the equation governing ree fractionation by monazite is used to discuss genetic relationships between a melt and a presumed parental rock using the composition of the monazite in the parental rocks and the ree pattern of the daughter rock this method has been applied successfully to high himalayan manaslu and tibetan slab granites it is suggested that detailed petrographical work on monazite including electron microprobe analyses and sem imaging of its internal structures combined with the model presented here can be a useful tool for deciphering the genesis and the differentiation of peraluminous granitic magmas in the continental crust

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

remotely induced warming of antarctic bottom water in the eastern weddell gyre 1 four repeat hydrographic sections across the eastern weddell gyre at 30 e reveal a warming by 0 1 c and lightening by 0 02 0 03 kg m 3 of the antarctic bottom water aabw entering the gyre from the indian sector of the southern ocean between the mid 1990s and late 2000s historical hydrographic and altimetric measurements in the region suggest that the most likely explanation for the change is increased entrainment of warmer mid depth circumpolar deep water by cascading shelf water plumes close to cape darnley where the indian sourced aabw entering the weddell gyre from the east is ventilated this change in entrainment is associated with a concurrent southward shift of the antarctic circumpolar current s acc southern boundary in the region this mechanism of aabw warming may affect wherever the acc flows close to antarctica

water fluxed melting of the continental crust a review abstract water fluxed melting also known as fluid or water present melting is a fundamental process in the differentiation of continents but its importance has been underestimated in the past 20 years during which research efforts focused mostly on dehydration melting reactions involving hydrate phases in the absence of a separate aqueous phase the presence of a free aqueous phase in anatectic terranes influences all major physical and chemical aspects of the melting process from melt volumes viscosity and ability to segregate from rock pores to melt chemical and isotopic composition a review of the literature shows that melting due to the fluxing of aqueous fluids is a widespread process that can take place in diverse tectonic environments active tectono magmatic processes create conditions for the release of aqueous fluids and deformation driven transient high permeability channels capable of fluxing high temperature regions of the crust where they trigger voluminous melting water fluxed melting can be either congruent in regions at the water saturated solidus or incongruent at suprasolidus p t conditions incongruent melting reactions can give rise to peritectic hornblende or to nominally anhydrous minerals such as garnet sillimanite or orthopyroxene in this case the presence of an aqueous phase is indicated by a mismatch between the large melt fraction generated and the much smaller fractions predicted in its absence the relatively small volumes of aqueous fluids compared to that of rocks imply that melting reactions are generally rock buffered fluids tend to move upwards and down temperature however there are cases in which pressure gradients drive fluids up temperature potentially fluxing suprasolidus terranes crustal regions at conditions equivalent to the water saturated solidus represent a natural impediment to the up temperature migration of aqueous fluids because they are consumed in melting reactions in this case continued migration into supra solidus terranes take place through the migration of water rich melts thus melts become the transport agent of water into supra solidus terranes and responsible for water fluxed melting other processes such as the relatively rapid fluid migration through fractures also allow regional aqueous fluids to by pass the water saturated solidus fluid trap and trigger melting above solidus conditions when aqueous fluids or hydrous melts flux rocks at supra solidus conditions they equilibrate with the surroundings through further melting decreasing water activity and giving rise to undersaturated melts it is in these conditions that hornblende or anhydrous peritectic phases are stabilized unlike dehydration melting the melt fraction generated in this case is not limited by the water contained in hydrous minerals but by the volume of water added to the system unlike melting at the water saturated solidus these melts are capable of rising without freezing and do give rise to upper crustal granitic bodies

geochemical constraints on the bimodal origin of high himalayan leucogranites major and trace element and rb sr isotope systematics of the manaslu leucogranite central nepal have been examined to constrain the role of mineral fractionation and fluids in peraluminous granite petrogenesis biotite and tourmaline are for the most part mutually exclusive with a predominance of two mica leucogranites over tourmaline leucogranites the 87sr86sr initial isotopic ratios sri indicate that leucogranitic melts were derived from two different sources the two mica leucogranites having a metagreywacke origin with sri 0 752 nd 15 such a bimodal nature of the source zone does not directly influence the magmatic evolution except that probably the higher initial boron content in the metapelitic rocks may increase the na2ok2o ratio in contrast the amount of water present during melting principally controls in part anatectic processes and element behaviour water saturated conditions probably occured during melting of metagreywackeous rocks and favoured crystallization of two mica leucogranites whereas water absent conditions prevailed during melting of metapelitic layers and favoured biotite plagioclase and monazite fractionation in the source zone and tourmaline crystallization in the leucogranite

accessory phase controls on the geochemistry of crustal melts and restites produced during water undersaturated partial melting the profound geochemical conseqences of accessory phase behaviour during partial melting of highgrade metapelites are demonstrated with reference to two geochemically distinct crustal melts produced by biotite dehydration melting reactions under granulite facies kbar 860 cc conditions these two leucogneiss suites from the brattstrand bluffs coastline eastern antarctica have similar field relations transport distances 10 100 s of metres and major element chemistry type 1 leucogneisses have low zr th and lree positive eu anomalies and zr zr and lreet lreet values less than 1 0 i e less than required to saturate the melt mass balance constraints suggest that these melts have been extracted before equilibration with host melanosomes the dry peraluminous nature of vapour undersaturated melts inhibits monazite and zircon solubility and results in concentration of these phases in the residue melts are consequently depleted in lree and hree melanosomes show complementary enrichment in lree while hree patterns are dominated by residual garnet type 2 leucogneisses in contrast have strongly enriched zr th and lree abundances negative eu anomalies and zr zr and lreet lreet 1 resulting from accessory phase entrainment vapour absent partial melting under moderate 6 8 kbar pressure granulite facies conditions of a pelitic source containing monazite is likely to give disequilibrium melts depleted in lree and hree as monazite and garnet are concentrated in the residue if temperatures are high enough 850 870 c to permit relatively large degrees of partial melting then the feldspar component of the source will be removed almost completely giving melts with large positive eu anomalies melts formed under vapour present conditions are unlikely to show such extreme lree and hree depletion or positive eu anomalies even at high degrees of partial melting disequilibrium melting coupled with source entrainment could fortuitously produce ree and trace element signatures similar to those typical of s type granites and usually ascribed to equilibrium melting conditions

oligocene crustal anatexis in the tethyan himalaya southern tibet abstract recent studies in the xiaru and malashan gneiss dome of the tethyan himalaya southern tibet identify that xiaru and paiku tourmaline bearing leucogranite dike formed at 28 29 ma together with 28 ma kuday garnet bearing leucogranites it is demonstrated that the himalayan orogenic belt experienced a major episode of crustal melting in the mid oligocene geochemical data indicate that three suites of leucogranite are characterized by large variations in the major and trace element compositions as well as sr nd isotope systematics which could be explained by combined fractional crystallization and relative contributions of micas and accessory phases dissolved into a crustal melt during decompressional melting of metapelitic rocks documentation of oligocene partial melting of crustal rocks could indicate that the exhumation of deep crustal rocks in the himalayan orogenic belt could have started as early as oligocene

inclusion host relations involving accessory minerals in high grade metamorphic and anatectic rocks in general accessory minerals are expected to participate in partial fusion of their host rocks to a degree determined simply by their solubilities in the melt the possibility must be recognized however that a given accessory grain may be physically isolated from the melt by inclusion within a residual major mineral because of the importance of accessory minerals to crustal rock trace element and isotope geochemistry and because of their common existence as inclusions in major phases we undertook an evaluation of the factors that affect inclusion formation during ultrametamorphism three approaches are taken 1 a review of interfacial energy considerations is used to show that the free energy of the system is lowered by location of accessory minerals at major phase grain perimeters and that the magnitude of this effect is proportional to the square of the accessory grain radius 2 annealing and partial melting experiments 1000 c 10 and 15 kbar on rock analogs are described and the results are shown to confirm the predicted tendency of accessory minerals to occupy grain boundaries and 3 the results of a study of accessory phase rutile and zircon distribution in a migmatite from the tibetan slab are reported again in confirmation of the prediction that accessories tend to be situated at majorphase grain perimeters the latter two aspects of the study reveal that although included accessory grains are common their generally small size results in only a minor contribution to the bulk rock budget of accessory mineral components most of the mass of these components is contained within populations of generally larger accessory grains located at major phase grain boundaries accordingly the assumption that accessory minerals are involved in crustal melting is generally valid

geochemistry of granitic melts produced during the incongruent melting of muscovite implications for the extraction of himalayan leucogranite magmas granites formed from the incongruent melting of muscovite preserve evidence of chemical disequilibrium both between restite and melt and within individual phases during crystallization miocene leucogranites from the himalayas exemplify melt formation from a pelitic source through muscovite breakdown trace elements rb sr and ba reside almost entirely in micas and feldspars in the protolith and therefore are appropriate for quantitative modeling equilibrium between melt and restite was established for sr under fluid phase absent conditions but some disequilibrium is suggested by rb abundances consistent with known diffusion rates for these elements abundances of zr and ce in the granites which provide essential structural constituents of the accessory phases zircon and monazite indicate that the himalayan granite melts were saturated in these elements if formed at temperatures of 670 700 c but slightly undersaturated if formed at somewhat higher temperatures ion microprobe traverses of y and heavy rare earth element abundances across single garnets from himalayan leucogranites provide evidence for disequilibrium between melt and phenocryst during garnet growth thus constraining the evolution of magmatic compositions during melt formation and crystallization in some cases progressive melting of the protolith and crystallization of garnet from the melt appear to have been concomitant indicating that minimum solidus temperatures were maintained throughout the melting event this suggests that thermal buffering rather than melt extraction provided the rate determining step in magma evolution

tectonics of the northern himalaya since the india asia collision abstract the india asia collision resulted in the construction of the vast himalayan orogen the northern himalayan domain began to experience extensional tectonics since eocene oligocene transition eot when the himalayan orogeny was still in progress major structures generated by the extension in the northern himalaya include the south tibet detachment system stds the north himalayan gneiss domes nhgd and the north south trending rifts nstr the earliest emplacement of syn deformational leucogranite at 36 32 ma along the stds marks the initial transformation from thickening to thinning in the northern himalayan domain at eot the thickening before eot caused crustal partial melting which formed the weak root of the thickened orogen or the so called channel flow this channel flow triggered the collapse of the orogen extrusion of the greater himalayan crystalline complex ghc and the onset of extensional tectonics of the stds the similarities in tectono thermal history and geochemistry of rocks between the stds and nhgd suggest that the formation of the nhgd has a direct relationship to the activity of the stds the extension of stds and the resultant thinning caused further partial melting of the crust leading to the larger scale emplacement of leucogranite during miocene 27 13 ma diapirism of these plutons shaped the domes in nhgd exposing the ghc and the shear zones of the stds in the northern himalaya in gyirong another tectonic transform from extension to shortening occurred after 18 7 ma in dinggye region the stds was offset by the nstr culminating the deformation at 13 ma when the nstr began to be active this indicates another tectonic transform in the northern himalaya at 13 ma when the n s extension of the stds ceased and gave way to e w extension of the nstr marking the end of the peak granitic magmatism in northern himalaya multiple episodes of deformation in the major structures such as the stds mct and nstr and superposition of different structures indicate a multiphase orogenic process in the himalayas in which mountain building and collapse occurred alternately with the formation of nstr and conjugate shear zones in tibet this tectonic scenario was possibly controlled by the india asia convergent rate we propose that the extension was an integral part of the orogenic process rather than a simple marker of the culmination of the orogeny

accessory minerals and the geochemical evolution of crustal magmatic systems a summary and prospectus of experimental approaches it has recently been recognized that accessory minerals in continental rocks may contain a substantial fraction of the whole rock complement of trace elements and geochemically important isotopes this observation is in itself interesting but its importance is magnified many fold when one considers the possible consequences to the geochemical rearrangement that accompanies crustal melting if for example an accessory phase is insoluble in early formed partial melts it may effectively retain in the residue many incompatible elements e g ree and daughter isotopes e g radiogenic pb that would otherwise be partitioned into the melt in addition should an unmelted accessory mineral e g zircon be entrained in a departing melt fraction it may carry with it radiogenic components pb nd143 hf176 characteristic of the source region the effectiveness of phases such as zircon apatite sphene allanite epidote and monazite in the roles noted above can only be gauged from knowledge of the three fundamental accessory phase parameters i e 1 the solubilities of the accessory minerals in crustal melts 2 the equilibrium mineral liquid partition coefficients for the trace element and isotopes of interest and 3 the diffusivities that govern the rates at which equilibrium will be approached in general these parameters can only be measured in laboratory experiments and relatively few data have been accumulated to date it does seem clear however that apatite generally is residual insoluble during crustal melting and zircon can be depending on melting conditions and abundance of zircon in the source petrographic and geochemical studies indicate that monazite allanite and epidote may also be highly insoluble in some cases but the specific circumstances that promote insolubility remain unknown the few experimentally determined partition coefficients now available for apatite and zircon agree qualitatively with natural rock data on mineral separates however preliminary diffusion measurements and inferences from natural systems suggest that trace element and isotopic equilibrium between undissolved accessories and crustal melts is in fact rarely approached ironically it is this very disequilibrium in the form of preserved diffusion profiles that may afford the most information on time temperature histories of melting events continued experimental interest in the fundamental accessory phase parameters will eventually provide the tools that will enable rigorous assessment not only of the timing and duration of crustal melting episodes but also of the extent of melting and re distribution of trace elements and radiogenic isotopes

fluid enhanced melting during prograde metamorphism anatexis is a commonly recognized feature of high grade metamorphism but segregated melts are generally ascribed to anatexis during peak metamorphic conditions and little is known about melting along the prograde path a suite of small volume deformed two mica leucogranites has been recognized within the high himalayan crystalline series of the garhwal himalaya these granites are consistently more siliceous than minimum melt granite compositions and are characterized by low rb sr ratios high ba low abundances of hfs elements and positive eu anomalies such trace element characteristics contrast strongly with the geochemistry of the well studied early miocene leucogranites of the high himalaya derived from fluid absent melting sm nd garnet dating of one deformed granite indicates a crystallization age of 39 3 ma c 15 ma before the emplacement of the more voluminous high himalayan leucogranites whilst some entrainment of restitic phases cannot be excluded trace element signatures suggest a low temperature 2 o activity positive eu anomalies and unusually low rb sr ratios are indicative of rapid disequilibrium melting fluid enhanced melting may be a common feature of prograde upper amphibolite facies metamorphism of orogenic belts predating peak metamorphism by at least 15 ma these melts will only crystallize within this period if they segregate from their protoliths subsequent dating of long lived melts would indicate erroneously young ages for the prograde melting events however melts formed in this way may be recognized by their distinctive trace element chemistry the persistence of early formed melts within an orogen provides insights into the prograde heating path and may be critical in controlling the rheology of the middle crust and hence its deformational history

ree fractionation and nd isotope disequilibrium during crustal anatexis constraints from himalayan leucogranites abstract the processes controlling rare earth element ree behaviour during crustal anatexis have profound implications not only for ree abundances of crustally derived granites but also for their model nd ages for typical protoliths of anatectic granites such as are exposed in metapelites from the high himalayan crystalline series hhcs a high proportion 90 of bulk rock lree and mree are sited in the accessory phases apatite and monazite and of hree in garnet and apatite mass balance constraints indicate that observed ree abundances of himalayan leucogranites cannot be generated from ree deficient reactant phases in their metasedimentary protoliths muscovite biotite plagioclase and quartz but must result from the dissolution of accessory phases ree and th abundances in anatectic melts are modelled by combining empirical expressions for monazite apatite and zircon solubilities as a function of temperature melt composition and melt water content with analysed accessory phase ree abundances this approach which allows the contribution to the melt from each accessory phase to be identified successfully predicts himalayan leucogranite trace element abundances the lree and th concentrations of a metapelite derived melt are buffered by monazite stability although apatite dissolution contributes up to 10 of lree to the melt together with 50 of the mree and 90 of the hree zircon contributes a negligible proportion of ree to the melt during anatexis dissolution of monazite and apatite in the melt results in 1 increasing ree abundances and lree hree ratios with increasing temperature of melting 2 a negative eu anomaly in the melt 3 high sm nd ratios in the melt relative to its metasedimentary protolith and 4 nd isotope disequilibrium between the melt and its protolith all of these features are observed in the ree geochemistry of himalayan leucogranites the combined effects of sm nd fractionation and nd isotope disequilibrium during anatexis imply that model nd ages calculated for anatectic granites derived from apatite and monazite bearing protoliths should be treated with considerable caution

isotopic study of the manaslu granite himalaya nepal inferences on the age and source of himalayan leucogranites a detailed isotopic study of the manaslu leucogranite was carried out a u pb age of 25 ma and a whole rock rb sr age isochron of 18 ma were obtained suggesting that the magmatic activity lasted at least 7 ma initial sr isotopic ratios are very high 0 740 to 0 760 and initial nd isotopic ratios are low nd in 13 to 16 and they show the existence of large isotopic variations even at the metre scale these are not the result of perturbations by fluids but rather they reflect the initial isotopic heterogeneity of the source material which has not been obliterated by magmatic processes e g fusion mixing by convection these results also support the crustal origin of this leucogranite the tibetan slab paragneisses whose sr and nd isotopic ratios are very similar to those of the granite at an age of 20 ma are the most probable parental material nd model ages for both the leucogranite and the gneisses are in the range 1 5 2 ga a model of formation of the manaslu granite by coalescence of different batches of magma is in agreement with the present data

mid eocene high sr y granites in the northern himalayan gneiss domes melting thickened lower continental crust abstract within the himalayan collisional belt granotoids occur along two sub parallel belts the northern himalayan gneiss domes nhgd and the high himalayan crystalline series hhcs in the yardoi area of nhgd two mica granite a new type granite occurs in the core of the yardoi gneiss dome ygd dala and quedang from north to south and extends at least 50 km long these granites have similar mineral composition elemental and radiogenic isotope geochemistry and age of formation shrimp zircon u pb dating indicates that the yardoi and the quedang two mica granites formed at 42 6 1 1 ma and 42 8 0 6 ma respectively similar to the dala pluton these two mica granites have 1 high sio2 68 wt al2o3 15 wt and a cnk 1 0 2 relatively high sr and lree but low y 40 and up to 250 and la yb 30 4 very weak or no eu anomalies and 5 as compared with those in the himalayan leucogranites low initial sr 87sr 86sr i

geochemical investigations of the origin of the manaslu leucogranite himalaya nepal the himalayan orogeny is characterized by an intraplate subduction zone the thrusting of the tibetan slab over the foreland is probably responsible for the origin of the manaslu type leucogranites this geochemical study tries to examine the crustal origin of the granite to verify whether the paragneisses of the tibetan slab are the most probable parent material and to determine the subsequent petrogenetic processes the rb sr systematics suggest that 1 1 the scatter of data points in the 87sr86srvs 87rb86sr diagram may be due to the heterogeneity of the initial 87sr86sr ratios 2 2 the initial isotopic ratios are very high 0 730 0 760 and are in agreement with those of the gneisses of the tibetan slab at the time of the melting pb isotopic ratios are homogeneous they are also consistent with a crustal prehistory the ree and th contents are unexpectedly low in comparison with the much higher contents of the parent material monazite left in the residue of melting or more probably extracted in an early stage of the magmatic history may explain the observed ree and th abundances alternatively field observations show that the emplacement of the granite has been accompanied by a very strong hydrothermal activity in consequence the low ree and th contents of the granite could also be due to the loss by solution during prolonged fluid circulation throughout the granitic melt and the sr and pb isotope distribution to the effect of late to post magmatic fluids the isotopic character of which was determined by the underlying tibetan slab

high pressure melting of metapelite and the formation of ca rich granitic melts in the namche barwa massif southern tibet abstract a detailed geochemical and geochronological study of anatectic migmatites from the namche barwa massif nbm southern tibet has been carried out to place important constraints on the thermal and tectonic evolution of the eastern himalayan syntaxis shrimp zircon u pb dating indicates that the granulite facies metapelite underwent metamorphism at 21 8 0 7 ma and 24 5 0 7 ma respectively the latter is similar to the timing of partial melting and the formation of ca rich leucosomes at 24 25 ma these leucosomes are characterized by 1 high cao na 2 o and na k ratios 2 radiogenic sr 87 sr 86 sr t 0 7407 0 7904 but unradiogenic nd e nd t 7 0 to 21 2 isotope compositions 3 depleted hfse and 3 variable but depleted hree relative to their host pelites some of the leucosomes show large degrees of nd isotopic disequilibrium up to 10 epsilon units with respect to their hosts these high cao and na 2 o leucosomes were derived from fluxing melting of metapelite at high pressures a similar process could have operated during the formation of the himalayan leucogranites and contributes to the heterogeneities in such granites

the role of melt in the uplift and exhumation of orogenic belts abstract in some orogenic belts rapid pulses of uplift occur when melt is present detailed work on the relation of melt to structural and metamorphic features in several localities shows that hot metamorphic rocks and especially anatectic migmatite can be physically transported from the lower to middle crust on decollements the decollements form in the lower crust because even though the lower crust is structurally weak throughout due to thermally activated crystal plastic deformation mechanisms the crust is substantially weakened where melt forms or is intruded melt in the lower crust is present long enough to accomodate strain whereas in the upper crust it crystallizes too fast to be a factor in strain localization following crustal loading due to thrusting exhumation results in the formation of additional melt in the migmatites due to decompression melting support of this sequence of events includes 1 evidence for near isothermal decompression of high temperature metamorphic rocks with early high pressure minerals having formed pre or synchronous with penetrative deformation and with lower pressure minerals having formed after the deformation 2 the occurrence of magma sheets that occur along decollements between high temperature metamorphic rocks and lower temperature metamorphic rocks in either thrust or normal configurations 3 nearly concordant k ar cooling dates for biotite and hornblende suggesting rapid cooling rates and 4 post tectonic intrusions of leucogranite or leucotonalite that may represent the products of decompression melting the crystalline slabs of the high himalaya the compressional surges of the coast orogen of british columbia and alaska the cordillera of southern british columbia and the southern belt of the hercynian chain are examples where melt assisted rapid pulses of uplift appear to have occurred during the terminal phases of uplift and following uplift these orogenic belts were exhumed during extension while melt was still present