Hostname: page-component-5b777bbd6c-ks5gx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-06-25T00:13:30.788Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Regional framework and geodynamic evolution of the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone in the Ladakh Himalayas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2011

V. C. Thakur
V. C. Thakur
Affiliation:
Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, 15, Municipal Road, Dehra Dun 248001, India.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Indus-Tsangpo suture and its adjoining tectonic zones are well displayed in the Ladakh Himalayas where four tectonic zones have been distinguished, viz. the Zanskar, Indus suture, Shyok suture and Karakoram zones. The Zanskar zone is made up of Precambrian basement of the Zanskar crystalline complex and overlying Phanerozic sediments including Upper Palaeozoic volcanic rocks of the Zanskar Supergroup; they form the northern margin of the Indian plate. The Indus suture zone consists of a remnant of tectonised oceanic lithosphere represented by the Shergol melange and the Nidar complex with a former volcanic arc indicated by the volcanogenic Dras and Khardung formations and the Ladakh plutonic complex. The Shyok suture zone does not represent a tectonic repetition of the Indus suture; it is interpreted as a relic of a back-arc basin. The Karakoram plutonic complex appears to be genetically related to the Ladakh plutonic complex; both were generated from the subducting Indian oceanic plate. It is proposed that the boundary between the Indian and Eurasian plates does not lie along the Indus and Shyok sutures, but is located further N at the junction of Central Pamir (Alpine-Himalayan) and North Pamir (Hercynian).

Keywords

back-arcmagmatic arcmelangemolasseophioliteriftsubductionsuture.
Type
Research Article
Information
Earth and Environmental Science Transactions of The Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 72 , Issue 2 , 1981 , pp. 89 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1981

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Allègre, C. J. & Othman, D. B. 1980. Nd-Sr isotopic relationship in granitoid rocks and continental crust development: a chemical approach to orogenesis. NATURE 286, 335–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Azmi, R. J., Virdi, N. S., Rai, H. & Gergen, J. T. 1980. Permian fusulinids from the Shyok valley, Ladakh, India. ABSTR HIMALAYAN GEOL SEMIN 11, 5–6.Google Scholar
Bassoulet, J. P., Boulin, J., Colchen, M., Marcoax, J., Mascle, G. & Montenant, C. 1980. L'evolution des domaines tethysiens du partour du Bouclier indien du Carbonifere au Cretace. REP 26TH INT GEOL CONGR MEM BUR RECH GEOL MINIERES 115, 180–98.Google Scholar
Berthelsen, A. 1953. On the geology of the Rupshu district, N. W. Himalaya. MEDD DANSK GEOL FOREN 12, 350–414.Google Scholar
Bhanot, V. B., Singh, V. P., Kansal, A. K. & Thakur, V. C. 1976. Early Proterozoic Rb-Sr whole-rock age for Central Crystalline Gneiss of Higher Himalaya. J GEOL SOC INDIA 18, 90–1.Google Scholar
Cheng-Fa, Chang, Xi-Lan, Zheng & Yu-Sheng, Pan. 1977. The geological history, tectonic zonation and origin of uplifting of the Himalayas, 1–15. Peking: Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.Google Scholar
Compilation Group of the Geological Map of China, 1976. An outline of the geology of China, 1–22. Peking: Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.Google Scholar
Crawford, A. R. 1974. The Indus Suture line, the Himalaya, Tibet and Gondwanaland. GEOL MAG 111, 369–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dainelli, G. 1934. La esplorazione delta regione fra l'Himalaya occidentale e il Caracorum. La serie dei Terreni, I & II. Spedizione Italiana de Fillipi nell' Himalaya, Caracorum e Turchestan Cinese (1913–1914), II (i), 430. Bologna: Zanichell.Google Scholar
Desio, A. 1979. Geologic evolution of Karakoram. In Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A. (eds) Geodynamics of Pakistan, 111–24. Queta: Geological Survey of Pakistan.Google Scholar
De Terra, H. 1934. Geological studies in the North-West Himalaya between the Kashmir and Indus valleys. MEM CONNECTICUT ACAD ARTS SCI 8, 18–76.Google Scholar
Dixit, P. C., Kachroo, R. K., Rai, H. & Sharma, N. L. 1971. Discovery of vertebrate fossils from the Kargil basin, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. CURRENT SCI 40, 633–4.Google Scholar
Frank, W., Gansser, A. & Trommsdorff, V. 1977. Geological observations in the Ladakh area (Himalayas), a preliminary report. SCHWEIZ MINERAL PETROGR MITT 57, 89–113.Google Scholar
Fuchs, G. 1979. On the geology of Western Ladakh. JAHRB GEOL BUNDESANST 112, 513–40.Google Scholar
Gansser, A. 1977. The great suture zone between Himalaya and Tibet, a preliminary account. SCI TERRE: HIMALAYA, CNRS (ED) 268, 181–92.Google Scholar
Gansser, A. 1980a. The Peri-Indian Suture zone. REP 26TH INT GEOL CONGR MEM BUR RECH GEOL MINIERES 115, 140–8.Google Scholar
Gansser, A. 1980b. The division between Himalaya and Karakojam. GEOL BULL UNIV PESHAWAR 13, 1–22.Google Scholar
Gergan, J. T. 1978. Stratigraphy and tectonic studies on the Indus Suture belt between Dras and Kargil. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Jammu University.Google Scholar
Gupta, V. J. & Kumar, S. 1975. Geology of Ladakh, Lahaul and Spiti regions of Himalaya with special reference to the strati-graphic position of flysch deposits. GEOL RUNDSCH 64, 540–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heim, A. & Gansser, A. 1939. Central Himalaya, Geological observations of the Swiss Expedition 1936. MEM SOC HELV SCI NAT 73, 1–245.Google Scholar
Chi-Chang, Huang, 1977. An outline of the tectonic characteristics of China, 1–24. Peking: Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences.Google Scholar
Klootwijk, C., Sharma, M. L., Gergen, J., Tirkey, B., Shah, S. K. & Agarwal, V. 1979. The extent of greater India, II. Palaeo-magnetic data from the Ladakh intrusives at Kargil, NW Himalayas. EARTH PLANET SCI LETT 44, 47–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kravchenko, K. N. 1979. Tectonic evolution of the Tien Shan, Pamir and Karakoram. In Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A. (eds) Geodynamics of Pakistan, 25–40. Queta: Geological Survey of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Le Fort, P. 1975. Himalayas: the collided range. Present knowledge of the continental arc. AM J SCI 275, 1–44.Google Scholar
Lydekker, R. 1883. The geology of the Kashmir and Chamba territories and the British district of Khagan. MEM GEOL SURV INDIA 22, 1–344.Google Scholar
Mehta, P. K. 1977. Rb-Sr geochronology of the Kulu-Mandi belt: Its implication for the Himalayan tectonogenesis. GEOL RUNDSCH 66, 156–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Molnar, P. & Tapponnier, P. 1975. Cenozoic tectonics of Asia: effects of a continental collision. SCIENCE 189, 419–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nanda, M. M. & Singh, M. P. 1977. Stratigraphy and sedimentation of the Zanskar area, Ladakh and adjoining parts of Lahaul region of Himachal Pradesh. HIMALAYAN GEOL 6, 365–88.Google Scholar
Norin, E. 1946. Geological explorations in western Tibet. Report Sino-Swedish expedition, 29, 1–24. Stockholm: Aktiebolaget Thule.Google Scholar
Pal, D., Mathur, N. S. & Srivastava, R. A. K. 1978. Tectonic framework of the miogeosynclinal sedimentation in Ladakh Himalaya: a critical analysis. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 500–23.Google Scholar
Powell, C. McA. 1979. A speculative tectonic history of Pakistan and surroundings: some constraints from the Indian Ocean. In Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A. (eds) Geodynamics of Pakistan, 5–24. Queta: Geological Survey of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Rai, H. 1978. Petrological and geochemical studies of Kargil Igneous Complex, Ladakh, lammu and Kashmir, India. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, Panjab University.Google Scholar
Sahni, M. R. & Bhatnagar, N. C. 1958. Freshwater molluscan and plant remains from the Tertiaries of Kargil. REC GEOL SURV INDIA 87, 467–76.Google Scholar
Shah, S. K. & Sharma, M. L. 1977. A preliminary report on the fauna in radiolarites of ophiolite-melange zone around Mulbekh, Ladakh. CURRENT SCI 46, 817.Google Scholar
Shah, S. K., Sharma, M. L., Gergen, J. T. & Tara, C. S. 1976. Stratigraphy and structure of the western part of the Indus Suture belt, Ladakh, Northwest Himalaya. HIMALAYAN GEOL 6, 534–56.Google Scholar
Shankar, R., Pandhi, N., Prakash, G., Thussu, J. L. & Wangdus, C. 1976. Recent geological studies in upper Indus valley and the plate tectonics. MISC PUBL GEOL SURV INDIA 34, 41–56.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. K. & Gupta, K. R. 1978. some observations on the geology of the Indus and Shyok valleys between Leh and Panamik, district Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India. RECENT RES GEOL 7, 133–43.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. K., Gupta, K. R. & Sah, S. C. D. 1980. Discovery of upper Gondwana plants, north of Indus Suture zone, Ladakh, India. CURRENT SCI 49, 470–2.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. K. & Kumar, S. 1978. Contributions to the geology of Ladakh. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 252–87.Google Scholar
Sharma, K. K., Sinha, A. K., Bagdasarian, G. P. & Ch. Gukasian, R. C. 1978. Potassium-Argon dating of Dras volcanics, Shyok volcanics and Ladakh granite, Ladakh NW Himalaya. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 288–95.Google Scholar
Shvolman, V. A. 1978. Relics of the Meso-Tethys in the Pamirs. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 369–78.Google Scholar
Srikantia, S. V., Ganeshan, T. M., Rao, P. M., Sinha, P. K. & Tirkey, B. 1978. Geology of the Zanskar area. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 1009–33.Google Scholar
Srikantia, S. V. & Razan, M. L. 1980. Geology of part of Central Ladakh Himalaya with particular reference to Indus tectonic zone. J GEOL SOC INDIA 21, 523–45.Google Scholar
Srimal, N., Bhandari, A. K. & Chakravorty, S. K. 1979. Report on traverse in Karakoram region, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir. ABSTR HIMALAYAN GEOL SEMIN 10, 54.Google Scholar
Stocklin, J. 1980. Geology of Nepal and its regional framework. J GEOL SOC LONDON 137, 1–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tahirkheli, R. A. K., Mattauer, M., Proust, F. & Tapponnier, P. 1979. The India-Eurasia suture zone in Northern Pakistan, synthesis and interpretation of recent data at plate scale. In Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A. (eds) Geodynamic of Pakistan, 125–30. Queta: Geological Survey of Pakistan.Google Scholar
Tewari, A. P. 1964. On the Upper Tertiary deposits of Ladakh Himalaya and correlation of various geotectonic units of Ladakh with those of the Kumaon-Tibet region. REP 22ND INT GEOL CONGR 11, 37–58.Google Scholar
Tewari, B. S. & Pande, I. C. 1970. Permian fossiliferous limestone from Lamayuru, Ladakh. CONTRIB CENTRE ADV STUDY GEOL CHANDIGARH 7, 185–90.Google Scholar
Thakur, V. C. 1980. Tectonics of the Central Crystallines of Western Himalaya. TECTONOPHYSICS 62, 141–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thakur, V. C. 1981. An overview of thrusts and nappes of western Himalaya. In McClay, K. R. & Price, N. J. (eds) Thrust and Nappe Tectonics, 381–92. SPEC PUBL GEOL SOC LONDON 9.Google Scholar
Thakur, V. C. & Virdi, N. S. 1979. Lithostratigraphy, structural framework, deformation and metamorphism of the SE region of Ladakh, Kashmir Himalaya, India. HIMALAYAN GEOL 9, 63–78.Google Scholar
Thakur, V. C., Virdi, N. S., Rai, H. & Gupta, K. R. 1981. A note on the geology of Nubra-Shyok region of Ladakh, Kashmir Himalaya. J GEOL SOC INDIA 22, 46–50.Google Scholar
Virdi, N. S., Thakur, V. C. & Azmi, R. J. 1978. Discovery and significance of Permian microfossils in the Tso Morari Crystallines of Ladakh. J. & K., India. HIMALAYAN GEOL 8, 993–1000.Google Scholar
Virdi, N. S., Thakur, V. C. & Kumar, S. 1977. Blue schist facies metamorphism from the Indus suture zone of Ladakh and its significance. HIMALAYAN GEOL 7, 479–82.Google Scholar
Wadia, D. N. 1928. The geology of Poonch state (Kashmir) and adjacent portions of the Punjab. MEM GEOL SURV INDIA 51, 185–70.Google Scholar
Wadia, D. N. 1937. The Cretaceous volcanic series of Astor-Deosai Kashmir, and its intrusions. REC GEOL SURV INDIA 72, 151–61.Google Scholar
Wyss, R. 1940. Geologie. In Visser, C. & Visser-Hooft, J. (eds) Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Niederlandischen Expedition in den Karakoram 1922, 1925, 1929/30 und 1935, usw; Bd III, 2 Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar