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…