Spatiotemporal variation in exhumation of the Crystallines in the NW-Himalaya, India: Constraints from fission track dating analysis

Abstract

During Himalayan orogeny, coeval thrusting along the Main Central/Munsiari Thrust (MCT/MT) and extension along the South Tibetan-Detachment System (STDS) are widely responsible for rapid exhumation of the Higher Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) zone. Apatite and zircon fission-track data along the Kaliganga and Darma valleys in the Kumaon Himalaya serve to document the shallow bedrock exhumation history of the HHC. Taking into account sample location within the HHC with respect to the MCT/MT, the apatite fission track (AFT) data-sets along the Darma (1.0 ± 0.1 to 2.8 ± 0.3 Ma) and Kaliganga (1.4 ± 0.2 to 2.4 ± 0.3 Ma) which are sharing same structural setting and rock types and being separated by 40 km, show very similar patterns of exhumation histories since Plio-Quaternary in the Kumaon Himalaya. Data sets along Darma and Kaliganga are very similar to data set of adjacent traverse (50 km away) along the Goriganga valley studied by Patel and Carter (2009). Whole data sets within the HHC in Kumaon Himalaya provide clear evidence for Plio-Quaternary tectonic activity along the Vaikrita Thrust (VT). Precipitation in this region exerts a strong influence on erosional surface processes. Fluvial erosional unloading along the Himalaya is focused on the high mountainous region of the HHC, where the orographic barrier forces out the maximum percentage of annual rainfall. FT cooling ages reveal coincidence between rapid erosion and exhumation that is focused in a ~ 25–30 km wide sector of the HHC, rather than covering the entire orogen. Similarity of AFT age pattern and exhumation rates along all three major traverses (Goriganga, Darma and Kaliganga) indicates that the region has been experiencing constant rate of crustal uplift and erosion since long time. Comparison of fission track ages from the Kumaon Himalaya with other segments of the NW-Himalaya shows spatiotemporal variation in exhumation. It is described due to the development of local structures such as dome/window in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Himalayas and Quaternary active thrusting along the VT and MCT/MT in the Garhwal-Kumaon Himalaya.