Abstract
Fission-track dating of individual detrital zircon grains can be used to characterize both ancient and modern sedimentary provenance. Ages of zircons in the modern Indus River drainage system of northern Pakistan are controlled dominantly by uplift rates of the source rocks in the Himalaya. Young detrital zircons come from rapidly rising terrain, whereas old zircon ages imply slow or negligible uplift. Modern Indus River sands contain a distinctive population of young, 1 to 5 Ma, zircons that are derived from the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh Massif, an area of rapid uplift (5 m/103 yr). Sandstones of the Siwalik Group deposited by the ancestral Indus River over the past 18 million years contain zircons that are only 1 to 5 million years older than the depositional age of the sandstones. Therefore, young zircons have been a consistent component of Himalayan surface rocks for the past 18 million years. These ages imply that a series of uplifted blocks or “massifs,” analogous to the contemporary Nanga Parbat area, have been continually present in the Himalaya since 18 Ma, and that over that time the elevation and relief of the Himalaya, on a broad scale, have been essentially constant.
Keywords
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
ALLEN, J.R.L. (1965) Review of the origin and characteristics of recent alluvial sediments. Sedimentology 5:89–191.
BALDWIN, S.L., HARRISON, T.M., and BURKE, K. (1986) Fission track evidence for the source of accreted sandstones, Barbados. Tectonics 5:457–468.
BRIGGS, N.D., NAESER, C.W., and MCCULLOH, T.H. (1981) Thermal history of sedimentary basins by fission-track dating (Abstract). Nuclear Tracks 5:235–237.
CARPENTER, B.S. and REIMER, G.M. (1974) Standard Reference Materials: Calibrated Glass Standards for Fission Track Use. National Bureau Standards Special Publication 260–49, 16 p.
CERVENY, P.F. (1986) Uplift and erosion of the Himalaya over the past 18 million years: Evidence from fission track dating of detrital zircons and heavy mineral analysis. Unpublished M.S. thesis, Hanover, New Hampshire: Dartmouth College, 198 p.
CERVENY, P.F., JOHNSON, N.M., TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K., and BONIS, N.R. (in press) Tectonic and geomorphic implications of Siwalik Group heavy minerals, Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. In: Malinconico, L. and Lillie, R. (eds) Tectonics and Geophysics of the Western Himalaya. Geological Society America Special Paper.
DODSON, M.H. (1979) Theory of cooling ages. In: Jäger, Ε. and Hunziker, J.C. (eds) Lectures in Isotope Geology. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 194–202.
FATMAI, A.N. (1974) Lithostratigraphic Units of Kohat Potwar Province, Indus Basin, Pakistan. Geological Survey Pakistan Memoir 10, 80 p.
FLEISCHER, R.L., PRICE, P.B., and WALKER, R.M. (1965) Effects of temperature, pressure, and ionization on the formation and stability of fission tracks in minerals and glasses. Journal Geophysical Research 70:1497–1502.
FLEISCHER, R.L., PRICE, P.B., and WALKER, R.M. (1975) Nuclear Tracks in Solids — Principles and Applications. Berkeley: University California Press, 605 p.
GLEADOW, A.J.W. and DUDDY, I.R. (1984) Fission track dating and thermal history analysis of apatites from wells in the north-west Canning Basin. In: Purcell P.G. (ed) The Canning Basin. Perth: Geological Society Australia and Petroleum Exploration Society Australia, pp. 377–387.
GLEADOW, A.J.W., DUDDY, I.R., and LOVERING, J.F. (1983) Fission-track analysis: A new tool for the evaluation of thermal histories and hydrocarbon potential. Australian Petroleum Exploration Association Journal 23:93–102.
GLEADOW, A.J.W., HURFORD, A.J., and QUAIFE, R.D. (1976) Fission track dating of zircon: Improved etching techniques. Earth Planetary Science Letters 33:273–276.
GREEN, P.F., DUDDY, I.R., GLEADOW, A.J.W., and LOVERING, J.F. (in press) Apatite fission-track analysis as a paleotemperature indicator for hydrocarbon exploration. In: Naeser, N.D. and McCulloh, T.H. (eds) Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins — Methods and Case Histories. New York: Springer-Verlag.
HURFORD, A.J. and GREEN, P.F. (1982) A user’s guide to fission-track dating. Earth Planetary Science Letters 59:343–354.
HURFORD, A.J., FITCH, F.J., and CLARKE, A. (1984) Resolution of the age structure of the detrital zircon populations of two Lower Cretaceous sandstones from the Weald of England by fission track dating. Geological Magazine 121:269–277.
JOHNSON, N.M., OPDYKE, N.D, JOHNSON, G.D., LINDSAY, E.H., and TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K. (1982) Magnetic polarity stratigraphy and ages of Siwalik Group rocks of the Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 37:17–42.
JOHNSON, N.M., STIX, J., TAUXE, L., CERVENY, P.F., and TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K. (1985) Paleomagnetic chronology, fluvial processes, and tectonic implications of the Siwalik deposits near Chinji Village, Pakistan. Journal Geology 93:27–40.
JOHNSON, S.Y. (1984) Stratigraphy, age, and paleogeography of the Eocene Chuckanut Formation, northwest Washington. Canadian Journal Earth Sciences 21:92–106.
KOWALLIS, B.J., HEATON, J.S., and BRINGHURST, K. (1986) Fission-track dating of volcanically derived sedimentary rocks. Geology 14:19–22.
MCGEE, V.E., JOHNSON, N.M., and NAESER, C.W. (1985) Simulated fissioning of uranium and testing of the fission track dating method. Nuclear Tracks 10:365–379.
NAESER, C.W. (1976) Fission Track Dating. United States Geological Survey Open-File Report 76–190, 65 p.
NAESER, C.W. (1979) Fission-track dating and geologic annealing of fission tracks. In: Jäger, E. and Hunziker, J.C. (eds) Lectures in Isotope Geology. New York: Springer-Verlag, pp. 154–169.
NAESER, C.W., HURFORD, A.J., and GLEADOW, A.J.W. (1977) Fission-track dating of pumice from the KBS Tuff, East Rudolf, Kenya. Nature 267:649.
NAESER, N.D. and NAESER, C.W. (1984) Fission-track dating. In: Mahaney, W.C. (ed) Quaternary Dating Methods. Amsterdam: Elsevier, pp. 87–100.
NAESER, N.D., NAESER, C.W., and MCCULLOH, T.H. (in press a) The application of fission-track dating to the depositional and thermal history of rocks in sedimentary basins. In: Naeser, N.D. and McCulloh, T.H. (eds) Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins — Methods and Case Histories. New York: Springer-Verlag.
NAESER, N.D., ZEITLER, P.K., NAESER, C.W., and CERVENY, R.F. (in press b) Provenance studies by fission track dating — Etching and counting procedures. Nuclear Tracks.
OPDYKE, N.D., LINDSAY, E., JOHNSON, G.D., JOHNSON, N.M., TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K., and MIZRA, M.A. (1979) Magnetic polarity stratigraphy and vertebrate palaeontology of the Upper Siwalik Subgroup of northern Pakistan. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 27:1–34.
PARRISH, R.R. (1982) Cenozoic thermal and tectonic history of the Coast Mountains of British Columbia as revealed by fission-track and geological data and quantitative thermal models. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Vancouver: University of British Columbia, 166 p.
ROBERTS, J.Α., GOLD, R., and ARMANI, R.J. (1968) Spontaneous-fission decay constant of 238U. Physical Review 174:1482–1484.
WAGNER, G.Α., REIMER, G.M., and JäGER, E. (1977) Cooling Ages Derived by Apatite Fission-track, Mica Rb-Sr and K-Ar Dating: The Uplift and Cooling History of the Central Alps. Memorie degli Istituti Geologia Mineralogia Universita Padova 30, 28p.
YIM, W.W.-S., GLEADOW, A.J.W., and VAN MOORT, J.C. (1985) Fission track dating of alluvial zircons and heavy mineral provenance in northeast Tasmania. Journal Geological Society London 142:351–356.
ZEITLER, P.K. (1985) Cooling history of the NW Himalaya, Pakistan. Tectonics 4:127–151.
ZEITLER, P.K., JOHNSON, N.M., BRIGGS, N.D., and NAESER, C.W. (1982a) Uplift history of the NW Himalaya as recorded by fission-track ages on detrital Siwalik zircons (Abstract). Program, Symposium Mesozoic and Cenozoic Geology (60th Anniversary Meeting, Geological Society China), Bedaike, China, p. 109.
ZEITLER, P.K., JOHNSON, N.M., NAESER, C.W., and TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K. (1982b) Fission track evidence for Quaternary uplift of the Nanga Parbat region, Pakistan. Nature 298:255–257.
ZEITLER, P.K., TAHIRKHELI, R.A.K., NAESER, C.W., and JOHNSON, N.M. (1982c) Unroofing history of a suture zone in the Himalaya of Pakistan by means of fission track annealing ages. Earth Planetary Science Letters 57:227–240.
ZIMMERMANN, R.A., REIMER, G.M., FOLAND, Κ.Α., and FAUL, H. (1975) Cretaceous fission-track dates of apatites from northern New England. Earth Planetary Science Letters 28:181–188.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1988 Springer-Verlag New York Inc.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cerveny, P.F., Naeser, N.D., Zeitler, P.K., Naeser, C.W., Johnson, N.M. (1988). History of Uplift and Relief of the Himalaya During the Past 18 Million Years: Evidence from Fission-Track Ages of Detrital Zircons from Sandstones of the Siwalik Group. In: Kleinspehn, K.L., Paola, C. (eds) New Perspectives in Basin Analysis. Frontiers in Sedimentary Geology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3788-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3788-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-8351-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-3788-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive