Abstract

Biostratigraphic studies indicate that the Tethyan Cretaceous sediments of the NW Himalaya were deposited in different sedimentary domains of the Indian and Eurasian plates. Those of the Indian plate are represented in the Lesser Himalaya by the Bansi Formation, and in the South Zanksar belt by, in ascending order, the Spiti Shales, Giumal Sandstone, Chikkim Limestone, Kangi La Flysch and Spanboth Limestone. Similar litho-units occur in the North Zanskar belt with the Lamayuru Unit on the northern margin of the Indian plate. The Bansi Formation was deposited in a shallow basin trending east-west which existed from the Cretaceous onwards. The sediments of South Zanskar and North Zanskar are continental shelf platform deposits, while the Lamayuru Unit in the latter was deposited on a continental slope. The sediments of the Eurasian plate mainly comprise (i) the Nindam Formation, deposited in a palaeosubduction zone, (ii) the Indus Formation, deposited in an arc-trench gap basin of the Indus Suture Zone, and (iii) the Shyok Group, deposited in a marginal (back arc) basin of the Shyok Suture Zone. The faunal and facies variations in the different parts of the NW Himalaya are discussed together with the palaeobiogeography of the NW Himalayan Tethys during the Cretaceous.

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