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Was Himalayan normal faulting triggered by initiation of the Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust and development of the Lesser Himalayan duplex?

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Abstract

The Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust is a major orogen-scale fault that extends for more than 1,500 km along strike in the Himalayan fold-thrust belt. The fault can be traced along the Himalayan arc from Himachal Pradesh, India, in the west to eastern Bhutan. The fault is located within the Lesser Himalayan tectonostratigraphic zone, and it translated Paleoproterozoic Lesser Himalayan rocks more than 100 km toward the foreland. The Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust is always located in the proximal footwall of the Main Central thrust. Northern exposures (toward the hinterland) of the thrust sheet occur in the footwall of the Main Central thrust at the base of the high Himalaya, and southern exposures (toward the foreland) occur between the Main Boundary thrust and Greater Himalayan klippen. Although the metamorphic grade of rocks within the Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust sheet is not significantly different from that of Greater Himalayan rock in the hanging wall of the overlying Main Central thrust sheet, the tectonostratigraphic origin of the two different thrust sheets is markedly different. The Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust became active in early Miocene time and acted as the roof thrust for a duplex system within Lesser Himalayan rocks. The process of slip transfer from the Main Central thrust to the Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust in early Miocene time and subsequent development of the Lesser Himalayan duplex may have played a role in triggering normal faulting along the South Tibetan Detachment system.

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Acknowledgments

D. Robinson acknowledges support from the National Science Foundation (NSF EAR 0809405) to continue her research along the Himalayan arc and support from the Cooperative Institute for Research and Science (CIRES) at the University of Colorado at Boulder while visiting as a Faculty Fellow in 2011–2012. We thank the Topic Editors Ramus Thiede and Soumyajit Mukherjee as well as two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, which greatly improved this manuscript.

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  1. Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Alabama, Box 870338, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487–0338, USA

    Delores M. Robinson

  2. U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, MS 939 Box 25046, Denver, CO, 80225, USA

    Ofori N. Pearson

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  1. Delores M. Robinson
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Correspondence to Delores M. Robinson.

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Robinson, D.M., Pearson, O.N. Was Himalayan normal faulting triggered by initiation of the Ramgarh–Munsiari thrust and development of the Lesser Himalayan duplex?. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 1773–1790 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-013-0895-3

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