Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nd isotopic compositions of the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence in southeastern Tibet

  • Published:
Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Himalayan orogen consists of three major lithologic units that are separated by two major north-dipping faults: the Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS) below the Main Central Thrust (MCT), the Greater Himalayan Crystalline Complex (GHC) above the MCT, and the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence (THS) juxtaposed by the South Tibet Detachment fault (STD) over the GHC. Due to widespread metamorphism and intense deformation, differentiating the above three lithologic units is often difficult. This problem has been overcome by the use of Sm-Nd isotopic analysis. The previous studies suggested that the LHS can be clearly distinguished from the GHC and THS by their Nd isotope compositions. However, the lack of detailed and systematic Sm-Nd isotopic studies of the THS across the Himalaya in general has made differentiation of this unit from the nearby GHC impossible, as the two appear to share overlapping Nd compositions and model ages. To address this problem, we systematically sampled and analyzed Nd isotopes of the THS in southeastern Tibet directly north of Bhutan. Our study identifies two distinctive fields in a ɛ Nd-T DM plot. The first is defined by the ɛ Nd(210 Ma) values of −3.45 to −7.34 and T DM values of 1.15 to 1.29 Ga from a Late Triassic turbidite sequence, which are broadly similar to those obtained from the Lhasa block. The second field is derived from the Early Cretaceous meta-sedimentary rocks with ɛ Nd(130 Ma) values from −15.24 to −16.61 and T DM values from 1.63 to 2.00 Ga; these values are similar to those obtained from the Greater Himalayan Crystalline Complex in Bhutan directly south of our sampling traverse, which has ɛ Nd(130 Ma) values of −10.89 to −16.32 and Nd model ages (T DM) of 1.73 to 2.20 Ga. From the above observations, we suggest that the Late Triassic strata of the southeast Tibetan THS were derived from the Lhasa block in the north, while the Early Cretaceous strata of the THS were derived from a source similar to the High Himalayan Crystalline Complex or Indian craton in the south. Our interpretation is consistent with the existing palaeocurrent data and provenance analysis of the Late Triassic strata in southeastern Tibet, which indicate the sediments derived from a northern source. Thus, we suggest that the Lhasa terrane and the Indian craton were close to one another in the Late Triassic and were separated by a rift valley across which a large submarine fan was transported southward and deposited on the future northern margin of the Indian continent.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gansser A. The Geology of the Himalayas. New York: Wiley Interscience, 1964. 1–289

    Google Scholar 

  2. Burchfiel B C, Chen Z, Hodges K V, et al. The South Tibet Detachment System, Himalayan orogen: Extension contemporaneous with and parallel to shortening in a collisional mountain belt. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 1992, 269: 1–41

    Google Scholar 

  3. LeFort P. Evolution of the Himalaya. In: Yin A, Harrison T M, eds. The Tectonics of Asia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. 95–106

    Google Scholar 

  4. Yin A. Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Himalayan orogen as constrained by along-strike variation of structural geometry, exhumation history, and foreland sedimentation. Earth-Sci Rev, 2006, 76(1–2): 1–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. LeFort P. Himalayas-collided range-present knowledge of continental arc. Am J Sci A, 1975, 275: 1–44

    Google Scholar 

  6. Brookfield M E. The Himalayan passive margin from Precambrian to Cretaceous. Sediment Geol, 1993, 84: 1–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Gehrels G E, DeCelles P G, Martin A, et al. Initiation of the Himalayan Orogen as an early Paleozoic thin-skinned thrust belt. GSA Today, 2003, 13(9): 4–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Richards A, Parrish R, Harris N, et al. Correlation of lithotectonic units across the eastern Himalaya, Bhutan. Geology, 2006, 34(5): 341–344

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Argles T W, Prince C I, Foster G L, et al. New Garnets for Old? Cautionary Tales from Young Mountain Belts. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 1999, 172: 301–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Gehrels G E, DeCelles P G, Ojha T P, et al. Geologic and U-Pb geochronologic evidence for early Paleozoic tectonism in the Dadeldhura thrust sheet, far-west Nepal Himalaya. J Asian Earth Sci, 2006, 28(4–6): 385–408

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Parrish R R, Hodges K V. Isotopic constraints on the age and provenance of the Lesser and Greater Himalayan Sequences, Nepalese Himalaya. Geol Soc Am Bull, 1996, 108: 904–911

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. DeCelles P G, Gehrels G E, Quade J, et al. Tectonic implications of U-PL zircon ages of the Himalayan orogenic belt in Nepal. Science, 2000, 288: 497–499

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Myrow P M, Hughes N C, Paulsen T S, et al. Integrated tectonostratigraphic analysis of the Himalaya and implications for its tectonic reconstruction. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2003, 212: 433–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Garzanti E. Stratigraphy and sedimentary history of the Nepal Tethys Himalaya passive margin. J Asian Earth Sci, 1999, 17: 805–827

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Liu G, Einsele G. Sedimentary history of the Tethyan basin in the Tibetan Himalayas. Geologische Rundschau, 1994, 82: 32–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu G, Einsele G. Jurassic sedimentary facies and paleogeography of the former Indian passive margin in southern Tibet. In: Macfarlane A, Sorkhabi R B, Quade J, eds. Himalaya and Tibet: Mountain Roots to Mountain Tops. Geological Society of America Special Papers, 1999, 328: 75–108

  17. Allègre C J, Courtilot V, Tapponnier P. Structure and evolution of the Himalayan-Tibet orogenic belt. Nature, 1984, 307: 17–22

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Yin A, Harrison T M. Geologic evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. Ann Rev Earth Planet Sci, 2000, 28: 211–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Arita K. Origin of the inverted metamorphism of the Lower Himalayas Central Nepal. Tectonophysics, 1983, 95: 43–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Godin L, Parrish R R, Brown R L, et al. Crustal thickening leading to exhumation of the Himalayan Metamorphic core of central Nepal: Insight from U-Pb geochronology and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology. Tectonics, 2001, 20: 729–747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Searle M P, Godin L. The South Tibetan Detachment system and the Manaslu leucogranite: A structural re-interpretation and restoration of the Annapurna-Manaslu Himalaya, Nepal. J Geol, 2003, 111: 505–523

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Martin A J, DeCelles P G, Gehrels G E, et al. Isotopic and structural constraints on the location of Main Central thrust in the Annapurna Range, central Nepal Himalaya. Geol Soc Am Bull, 2005, 117: 926–944

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. France-Lanord C, Derry L, Michard A. Evolution of the Himalaya since Miocene time: Isotopic and sedimentological evidence from the Bengal fan. In: Treloar P J, Searle P M, eds. Himalayan Tectonics. The Geological Society Special Publication, 1993, 74: 603–621

  24. Najman Y, Garzanti E. Reconstructing early Himalayan tectonic evolution and paleogeography from Tertiary foreland basin sedimentary rocks, northern India. Geol Soc Am Bull, 2000, 112: 435–449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Ahmad T, Harris N, Bickle M, et al. Isotopic constraints on the structural relationships between the Lesser Himalayan Series and the High Himalayan Crystalline Series, Garhwal Himalaya. Geol Soc Am Bull, 2000, 112: 467–477

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Robinson D M, DeCelles P G., Patchett P J, et al. The kinematic evolution of the Nepalese Himalaya interpreted from Nd isotopes. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2001, 192: 507–521

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Miller C, Thöni M, Frank W, et al. The early Palaeozoic magmatic event in the Northwest Himalaya, India: Source, tectonic setting and age of emplacement. Geol Mag, 2001, 138(3): 237–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Richards A, Argles T, Harris N, et al. Himalayan architecture constrained by isotopic tracers from clastic sediments. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2005, 236(3–4): 773–796

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Zhu D C, Pan G T, Mo X X, et al. Petrogenesis of volcanic rocks in the Sangxiu Formation, central segment of Tethyan Himalaya: A probable example of plume-lithosphere interaction. J Asian Earth Sci, 2007, 29(2–3): 320–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Deniel C, Vidal P, Fernandez A, et al. Isotopic study of the Manaslu granite (Himalaya, Nepal): Inferences on the age and source of the Himalayan leucogranites. Contrib Mineral Petrol, 1987, 96: 78–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Inger S, Harris N. Geochemical constraints on leucogranite magmatism in the Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalaya. J Petrol, 1993, 34: 345–368

    Google Scholar 

  32. Whittington A, Foster G, Harris N, et al. Lithostratigrphic correlations in the western Himalaya—An isotopic approach. Geology, 1999, 27(7): 585–588

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Walker R T, Nissen E, Molor E, et al. Reinterpretation of the active faulting in central Mongolia. Geology 2007, 35: 759–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Zhang K J, Zhang Y X, Li B, et al. Nd isotopes of siliciclastic rocks from Tibet, Western China: Constrains on provenance and pre-Cenozoic tectonic evolution. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2007, 256(3–4): 604–616

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Edwards M A, Kidd W S F, Li J X, et al. Multi-stage development of the southern Tibet detachment system near Khula Kangri. New data from Gonto La. Tectonophysics, 1996, 260: 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Grujic D, Casey M, Davidson C, et al. Ductile extrusion of the Higher Himalayan Crystalline in Bhutan: Evidence from quartz microfabrics. Tectonophysics, 1996, 260: 21–43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Grujic D, Hollister L S, Parrish R R. Himalayan metamorphic sequence as an orogenic channel: Insight from Bhutan. Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2002, 198: 177–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Grujic D, Coutand I B, Bookhagen S, et al. Climatic forcing of erosion, landscape, and tectonics in the Bhutan Himalayas. Geology, 2006, 34(10): 801–804

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Gansser A. Geology of the Bhutan Himalaya. Boston: Birkhäuser Verlag, 1983. 1–180

    Google Scholar 

  40. Bhargava O N. The Bhutan Himalaya: A geological account. Geological Survey of India Special Publication, 1995, 39: 1–245

    Google Scholar 

  41. Daniel C G, Hollister L S, Parrish R R, et al. Exhumation of the Main Central Thrust from lower crustal depths, Eastern Bhutan Himalaya. J Metamorph Geol, 2003, 21: 317–334

    Google Scholar 

  42. Stüwe K, Foster D. 40Ar/39Ar, pressure, temperature and fission-track constraints on the age and nature of metamorphism around the Main Central Thrust in the eastern Bhutan Himalaya. J Asian Earth Sci, 2001, 19: 85–95

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Ding L, Zhong D L, Yin A, et al. Cenozoic structural and metamorphic evolution of the eastern Himalayan syntaxis (Namche Barwa). Earth Planet Sci Lett, 2001, 192: 423–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Booth A L, Zeitler P K, Kidd W S F, et al. U-Pb zircon constraints on the tectonic evolution of southeastern Tibet, Namche Barwa area. Am J Sci, 2004, 304(10): 889–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Zeitler P K, Meltzer A S, Koons P O, et al. Crustal reworking at Nanga Parbat, Pakistan: metamorphic consequences of thermal-mechanical coupling facilitated by erosion. Tectonics, 2001, 20: 712–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Yin A, Harrison T M, Ryerson F J, et al. Tertiary structural evolution of the Gangdese thrust system, southeastern Tibet. J Geophys Res, 1994, 99: 18175–18201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Yin A, Harrison T M, Murphy M A, et al. Tertiary deformation history of southeastern and southwestern Tibet during the Indo-Asian collision. Geol Soc Am Bull, 1999, 111: 1644–1664

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Ratschbacher L, Frisch W, Liu G, et al. Distributed deformation in southern and western Tibet during and after the India-Asia collision. J Geophys Res, 1994, 99: 19817–19945

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Harrison T M, Yin A, Grove M, et al. The Zedong window: A record of superposed tertiary convergence in southeastern Tibet. J Geophys Res, 2000, 105: 19211–19230

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Pan G T, Ding J, Yao D, et al. Geological Map of Qinghai-Xiang (Tibet) Plateau and Adjacent Areas (1: 1500000). Chengdu: Chengdu Cartographic Publishing House, 2004

    Google Scholar 

  51. Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources of Xizang Region. Regional Geology of Xizang (Tibet). Beijing: Geological Publish House, 1993

    Google Scholar 

  52. Xia J, Zhong H M, Tong J S, et al. Discovery of the ammonoid biota from the Lhakang Formation in southern Tibet and eastward extension of the northern Himalayan stratigraphic subprovince. J Stratigr (in Chinese), 2005, 29(Supp): 579–581

    Google Scholar 

  53. Zhong H M, Xia J, Tong J S, et al. New results and major progress in regional geological survey of the Lhozag County Sheet. Geol Bull Chin (in Chinese), 2004, 23(5–6): 451–457

    Google Scholar 

  54. Li X H, Zeng Q G, Wang C S. Palaeocurrent data: Evidence for the source of the Langjiexue Group in Southern Tibet. Geol Rev (in Chinese), 2003, 49(2): 132–137

    Google Scholar 

  55. Li X H, Zeng Q G, Wang C S. Sedimentary characteristics of the upper Triassic Langjiexue Group in Southern Qingjie, Tibet. Geoscience (in Chinese), 2003, 17(1): 52–58

    Google Scholar 

  56. Li X H, Zeng Q G, Wang C S. Provenance analysis of the upper Triassic Langjiexue Group in the Southern Tibet, China. Acta Sediment Sin (in Chinese), 2004, 22(4): 553–559

    Google Scholar 

  57. Hegner E, Walter H J, Satir M. Pb-Sr-Nd isopotic compositions and trace element geochemistry of megacrysts and melilitites from the Tertiary Urach volcanic field: Source compostion of small volume melts under SW Germany. Contrib Mineral Petrol, 1995, 122: 322–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Chen F, Hegner E, Todt W. Zircon ages and Nd isotopic and chemical compositions of orthogneisses from the Black Forest, Germany: Evidence for a Cambrian magmatic arc. Int J Earth Sci, 2000, 88: 791–802

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Chen F, Siebel W, Satir M, et al. Geochronology of the Karadere basement ( NW Turkey) and implications for the geological evolution of the Istanbul zone. Int J Earth Sci, 2002, 91: 469–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. DePaolo D J. Neodymium isotopes in the Colorado Front Range and crust-mantle evolution in the Proterozoic. Nature, 1981, 291: 193–196

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Liu Z Q. Geologic Map of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and its Neighboring Regions (scale at 1:1500000). Chengdu Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources. Beijing: Geologic Publishing House, 1988

    Google Scholar 

  62. Baski A K, Barman T R, Paul D K, et al. Widespread early Cretaceous flood-basalt volcanism in eastern India-Geochemical data from the Rajmahal Bengal Sylhet traps. Chem Geol, 1987, 63: 133–141

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. LeFort P, RaÏ S M. Pre-Tertiary felsic magmatism of the Nepal Himalaya: recycling of continental crust. J Asian Earth Sci, 1999, 17: 607–628

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Harris N B W, Xu R, Lewis C L, et al. Isotope geochemistry of the 1985 Tibet Geotraverse, Lhasa to Golmud. Philos Trans R Soc London, Ser A, 1988, 327: 263–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

  65. King J, Harris N, Argles T, et al. First field evidence of southward ductile flow of Asian crust beneath southern Tibet. Geology, 2007, 35: 727–730

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Pan G T, Mo X X, Hou Z Q, et al. Saptial-temporal framework of the Gangdese Orogenic Belt and its evolution. Acta Petrol Sin, 2006, 22(3): 521–533

    Google Scholar 

  67. Zhu D C, Mo X X, Pan G T, et al. Petrogenesis of the earliest Early Cretaceous mafic rocks from the Cona area of the eastern Tethyan Himalaya in south Tibet: Interaction between the incubating Kerguelen plume and the eastern Greater India lithosphere? Litho, 2008, 100: 147–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, Research Center for Tibetan Plateau Geology and School of Geosciences, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, China

    JinGen Dai, An Yin, WenCan Liu & ChengShan Wang

  2. Department of Earth and Space Sciences and Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1567, USA

    An Yin

Authors
  1. JinGen Dai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. An Yin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. WenCan Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. ChengShan Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to An Yin.

Additional information

Supported by China University of Geosciences (Beijing) and a Changjiang Fellowship from the Chinese Ministry of Education awarded to Yin An

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dai, J., Yin, A., Liu, W. et al. Nd isotopic compositions of the Tethyan Himalayan Sequence in southeastern Tibet. Sci. China Ser. D-Earth Sci. 51, 1306–1316 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0103-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-008-0103-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation