1. Plio-quaternary exhumation history of the central Nepalese Himalaya: 1. Apatite and zircon fission track and apatite [U-Th]/He analyses
- Author
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Blythe, A.E., Burbank, D.W., Carter, A., Schmidt, K., and Putkonen, J.
- Subjects
Himalaya Mountains -- Environmental aspects ,Exhumation -- Evaluation ,Apatite -- Chemical properties ,Zircon -- Chemical properties ,Geochronology -- Research ,Earth sciences - Abstract
[1] New apatite and zircon fission track and (U-Th)/He analyses serve to document the bedrock cooling history of the central Nepalese Himalaya near the Annapuma Range. We have obtained 82 apatite fission track (AFT), 7 zircon fission track (ZFT), and 7 apatite (U-Th)/He (AHe) ages from samples collected along the Marsyandi drainage, including eight vertical relief profiles from ridges on either side of the river averaging more than 2 km in elevation range. In addition, three profiles were sampled along ridge crests that also lie ~2 km above the adjacent valleys, and a transect of >20 valley bottom samples spans from the Lesser Himalaya across the Greater Himalaya and into the Tethyan strata. As a consequence, these data provide one of the more comprehensive low-temperature thermochronologic studies within the Himalaya. Conversely, the youthfulness of this orogen is pushing the limits of these dating techniques. AFT ages range from >3.8 to 0 Ma, ZFT ages from 1.9 to 0.8 Ma, and AHe ages from 0.9 to 0.3 Ma. Most ridges have maximum ages of 1.3-0.8 Ma at 2 km above the valley bottom. Only one ridge crest (in the south central zone of the field area) yielded significantly older ZFT and AFT ages of ~2 Ma; we infer that a splay of the Main Central Thrust separates this ridge from the rest of the Greater Himalaya. ZFT and AFT ages from a vertical transect along this ridge indicate exhumation rates of ~1.5 km [Myr.sup.-1] ([r.sup.2] > 0.7) from ~2 to 0.6-0.8 Ma, whereas AHe ages indicate a faster exhumation rate of ~2.6 km [Myr.sup.-1] ([r.sup.2] = 0.9) over the last 0.8 Myr. Exhumation rates calculated for six of the remaining seven vertical profiles ranged from 1.5 to 12 km [Myr.sup.-1] (all with low [r.sup.2] values of
- Published
- 2007