0000000000395310
AUTHOR
Michael P. Searle
U-Pb monazite ages from the Pakistan Himalaya record pre-Himalayan Ordovician orogeny and Permian continental breakup
The Greater Himalayan Sequence in India and Nepal records crustal thickening processes that took place during and following the onset of India-Asia collision (ca. 54–50 Ma). These resulted in late Eocene–early Miocene kyanite- and sillimanite-grade regional metamorphism, and Oligocene–Miocene crustal anatexis, which formed migmatites and leucogranites. We present new U-Pb monazite data for kyanite- and sillimanite-grade gneisses of the Neoproterozoic to Cambrian Tanawal Formation in the Pakistan Himalaya, which have metamorphic ages of 482.4 ± 7.9 Ma and 464.5 ± 4.0 Ma, respectively. These ages, together with along-strike equivalent rocks in the Lesser Himalaya of India and Nepal, help to d…
U-Pb zircon geochronology and phase equilibria modelling of a mafi c eclogite from the Sumdo complex of south-east Tibet: insights into prograde zircon growth and the assembly of the Tibetan plateau
Abstract The Sumdo complex is a Permian–Triassic eclogitic metamorphic belt in south-east Tibet, which marks the location of a suture zone that separates the northern and southern Lhasa terranes. An integrated geochronological and petrological study of a mafic eclogite from the complex has constrained its tectonometamorphic history and provides a case study of zircon growth in eclogite as a product of prograde dissolution–precipitation. In situ U–Pb geochronology indicates that the eclogite contains a single population of zircon with a crystallisation age of 273.6 ± 2.8 Ma. The morphology and chemistry of the zircon grains are consistent with growth by dissolution–precipitation of protolith…
Phase equilibria modelling of retrograde amphibole and clinozoisite in mafic eclogite from the Tso Morari massif, northwest India: constraining the P -T -M (H2 O) conditions of exhumation
Phase equilibria modelling of post-peak metamorphic mineral assemblages in (ultra)high-P mafic eclogite from the Tso Morari massif, Ladakh Himalaya, northwest India, has provided new insights into the potential behaviour and source of metamorphic fluid during exhumation, and constrained the P–T conditions of hydration. A series of P–M(H2O) pseudosections constructed in the Na2O–CaO–K2O–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2–H2O–TiO2–O (NCKFMASHTO) system show that a number of petrographically distinct hydration episodes occurred during exhumation from peak P–T conditions (~640 °C, 27–28 kbar), resulting in the formation of abundant compositionally zoned amphibole and minor clinozoisite poikiloblasts at the exp…
Quantifying the P-T-t conditions of north-south Lhasa terrane accretion: new insight into the pre-Himalayan architecture of the Tibetan plateau
An integrated field, petrological and geochronological study of the Basong Tso region of south-eastern Tibet has constrained the timing and P–T conditions of north–south Lhasa terrane accretion and provides new insight into the tectonothermal evolution of the Tibetan plateau. Two distinct high-grade metamorphic belts are recognized in the region: a southern belt (the Basong Tso complex) that consists of sheared schist and orthogneiss; and a northern belt (the Zhala complex) that comprises paragneiss and granite. Combined pseudosection modelling and U–Pb geochronology of monazite and zircon indicates that the Basong Tso complex records peak metamorphic conditions of 9 ± 0.5 kbar and 690 ± 25…