A structural transect in the Lower Dolpo: Insights on the tectonic evolution of Western Nepal

Abstract

We present the results of a structural transect in Lower Dolpo, cross-cutting the upper part of the Lesser Himalaya (LH), the Higher Himalayan Crystallines (HHC) and the lower part of the Tibetan Sedimentary Sequence (TSS). The MCT zone affects the upper part of the LH as well as the lower part of the HHC and shows a later brittle reactivation. Mean vorticity in the MCT points to non-coaxial deformation. These data, together with available kinematic data along the belt, on the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS) and in the core of the HHC, point to increasing simple shear toward the tectonic boundaries. A top-to-the-SW high-temperature shear zone (Toijem Shear Zone) is recognized in the middle part of the HHC at the boundary between Units 1 and 2. It developed during the earlier stages of exhumation of the HHC, enhancing the decompression of the hanging wall and the emplacement of leucogranite dykes and sills. Its development could be explained by a change in the velocity profile during the extrusion of the HHC, triggered by first order changes in rock types of the tectonic unit. The STDS is marked by a wide zone of high strain and by a metamorphic jump from amphibolite facies in the carbonate rocks of the upper part of the HHC to greenschist facies marbles in the lower part of the TSS. The development of a pervasive foliation towards the bottom of the TSS indicates increasing strain, related to top down-to-the-NE tectonic transport. A Low P metamorphic event, marked by the growth of post-D1 biotite porphyroblasts at the base of the TSS, is related to the conductive heating from the underlying HHC.