Heat generation associated with collision of two plates: the Himalayan geothermal belt

Abstract An analysis of heat discharged by thermal fluids along the c. 3000-km-long Himalayan geothermal belt (HGB) shows that heat transfer is concentrated along 30- to 50-km-wide `heat bands' which are associated with at least 600 geothermal systems. The bands have been interpreted as segments of major, concentric slip lines caused by plastic deformation of the ductile crust within the Asian plate resulting from plate collision. Assuming that this crust behaves like an ideal plastic medium, the heat transfer within and along a slip line can be estimated. It amounts to c. 55 mW/m2 for a 40-km-wide band. Estimates of present-day heat discharges point to 20–35 mW/m2 for convective, and 10–30…