The closing of Tethys and the tectonics of the Himalaya

Research Article| June 01, 1987 The closing of Tethys and the tectonics of the Himalaya M. P. SEARLE; M. P. SEARLE 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar B. F. WINDLEY; B. F. WINDLEY 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar M. P. COWARD; M. P. COWARD 2Department of Geology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar D.J.W. COOPER; D.J.W. COOPER 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar A. J. REX; A. J. REX 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar D. REX; D. REX 4Department of Earth Sciences, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar LI TINGDONG; LI TINGDONG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar XIAO XUCHANG; XIAO XUCHANG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar M. Q. JAN; M. Q. JAN 6Department of Geology and National Centre of Excellence, Peshawar University, Peshawar, Pakistan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar V. C. THAKUR; V. C. THAKUR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar S. KUMAR S. KUMAR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information M. P. SEARLE 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom B. F. WINDLEY 1Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom M. P. COWARD 2Department of Geology, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, United Kingdom D.J.W. COOPER 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom A. J. REX 3Department of Geology, The University, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom D. REX 4Department of Earth Sciences, Leeds University, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom LI TINGDONG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China XIAO XUCHANG 5Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Baiwanzhong, Beijing, China M. Q. JAN 6Department of Geology and National Centre of Excellence, Peshawar University, Peshawar, Pakistan V. C. THAKUR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India S. KUMAR 7Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehra Dun, 248001, India Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1987) 98 (6): 678–701. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1987)982.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation M. P. SEARLE, B. F. WINDLEY, M. P. COWARD, D.J.W. COOPER, A. J. REX, D. REX, LI TINGDONG, XIAO XUCHANG, M. Q. JAN, V. C. THAKUR, S. KUMAR; The closing of Tethys and the tectonics of the Himalaya. GSA Bulletin 1987;; 98 (6): 678–701. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1987)982.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Recent geological and geophysical data from southern Tibet allow refinement of models for the closing of southern (Neo-) Tethys and formation of the Himalaya. Shelf sediments of the Indian passive continental margin which pass northward into deep-sea Tethyan sediments of the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone were deposited in the Late Cretaceous. An Andean-type margin with a 2,500-km-long Trans-Himalayan (Kohistan-Ladakh-Gangdese) granitoid batholith formed parallel to the southern margin of the Lhasa block, together with extensive andesites, rhyolites, and ignimbrites (Lingzizong Formation). The southern part of the Lhasa block was uplifted, deformed, and eroded between the Cenomanian and the Eocene. In the western Himalaya, the Kohistan island arc became accreted to the northern plate at this time. The northern part of the Lhasa block was affected by Jurassic metamorphism and plutonism associated with the mid-Jurassic closure of the Bangong-Nujiang suture zone to the north.The timing of collision between the two continental plates (ca. 50-40 Ma) marking the closing of Tethys is shown by (1) the change from marine (flysch-like) to continental (molasse-like) sedimentation in the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone, (2) the end of Gangdese I-type granitoid injection, (3) Eocene S-type anatectic granites and migmatites in the Lhasa block, and (4) the start of compressional tectonics in the Tibetan-Tethys and Indus-Tsangpo suture zone (south-facing folds, south-directed thrusts).After the Eocene closure of Tethys, deformation spread southward across the Tibetan-Tethys zone to the High Himalaya. Deep crustal thrusting, Barrovian metamorphism, migmatization, and generation of Oligocene-Miocene leucogranites were accompanied by south-verging recumbent nappes inverting metamorphic isograds and by south-directed intracontinental shear zones associated with the Main Central thrust. Continued convergence in the late Tertiary resulted in large-scale north-directed backthrusting along the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone. More than 500 km shortening is recorded in the foreland thrust zones of the Indian plate, south of the suture, and > 150 km shortening is recorded across the Indian shelf (Zanskar Range) and the Indus suture in Ladakh. There was also large-scale shortening of the Karakoram and Tibetan microplates north of the suture; as much as 1,000 km shortening occurred in Tibet. The more recent deformation, however, involved the spreading of this thickened crust and the lateral motion of the Tibetan block along major approximately east-west–trending strike-slip fault zones. 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