Crustal channel flows: 2. Numerical models with implications for metamorphism in the Himalayan‐Tibetan orogen

Abstract

Results from a thermal‐mechanical model (HT1) that includes midcrustal channel flow are compatible with many features of the Himalayan‐Tibetan system. Radioactive self‐heating and rheological weakening of thickened model orogenic crust lead to the formation of a hot, low‐viscosity midcrustal channel and a broad plateau. Channel material, corresponding to the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS), flows outward from beneath the plateau in response to topographically induced differential pressure. At the plateau flank it is exhumed by focused surface denudation and juxtaposed with cooler, newly accreted material corresponding to the Lesser Himalayan Sequence (LHS). The model channel is bounded by coeval thrust and normal sense ductile shear zones, interpreted to represent the Main Central Thrust (MCT) zone and South Tibetan Detachment system, respectively. Inverted metamorphism associated with the model MCT zone results from distributed ductile shear along the MCT and extrusion of the hot channel. A variety of model P‐T‐t path styles, resembling those observed in the GHS and LHS, are produced for points traveling through contrasting tectonic regimes that coexist in different parts of the model. Predicted times of peak metamorphism, cooling, and erosion of metamorphic facies are generally compatible with observations, although model GHS cooling ages are too young. The times of M1 and M2 metamorphic “events” observed in the GHS correspond to model times of maximum burial and maximum heating, respectively. The results highlight the need to integrate tectonics and metamorphism in continental collision models and demonstrate the importance of lateral transport of both heat and material in large hot orogens.