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Intra-channel detachment in a collisional orogen: The Jhala Normal Fault in the Bhagirathi river section, Garhwal Higher Himalaya, India

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Abstract

In the Bhagirathi River Transect of the Garhwal Himalaya, India, the existence of the Jhala Normal Fault (JNF) and its movement sense are disputed. The JNF has been considered either as part of the South Tibetan Detachment System (STDS) or as a distinct, more southerly discontinuity within the Higher Himalayan Crystalline Sequence (HHCS). Field studies reveal that the JNF lies entirely within the HHCS, with both the JNF footwall and hanging-wall preserving thrust-related shear markers within amphibolite facies HHCS rocks. Rare extensional shear markers are, however, observed at the base of the JNF hanging-wall. New U–Pb zircon rim and monazite SHRIMP ages of 33.8 ± 0.8 Ma and 30.7 ± 0.5 Ma obtained in this study represent the timing of metamorphism in the JNF hanging-wall and footwall, respectively. Together, the field and geochronological evidence suggest that during Eocene–Oligocene channel flow in the HHCS, the slow-moving marginal part of the channel representing the JNF hanging-wall was trailing its more rapidly extruding footwall, resulting in apparent normal-sense movement across the JNF. The intrusion of 21.4 ± 2.3 Ma (monazite U–Pb age) tourmaline-bearing leucogranites within the JNF hanging-wall testifies to its ongoing uplift as part of the exhuming Miocene HHCS channel. The absence of any metamorphic break or distinct extensional shear zone at the JNF indicates that it originated as an intra-channel discontinuity rather than a major lithotectonic boundary.

Highlights

  • The normal/reverse sense of movement at Jhala Normal Fault (JNF) is controversial

  • Melt proportion and shear intensity sharply decrease in JNF hanging-wall

  • No extensional shear zone or break in metamorphic grade observed at JNF

  • Pulsed channel in footwall causes apparent normal movement along JNF

  • Normal movements along JNF and STDS are coeval with ~21 Ma leucogranite intrusion

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Acknowledgements

The research was supported in part by Grant No. 18K03788 to TI from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This research was also supported by the Korea Basic Science Institute under the R&D program (Project No. D38700) to KY from the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea. NB thanks for the support extended by the Department of Geology and Geophysics, IIT Kharagpur, India. The authors thank Shinae Lee for helping during the SHRIMP analyses. The manuscript has greatly improved by the comments received from Sayandeep Banerjee and another anonymous reviewer and the Handling Editor, Dilip Saha.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 721 302, India

    Narayan Bose & Saibal Gupta

  2. Frontier Institute of Science and Technology, Okayama University of Science, Okayama, 7000005, Japan

    Takeshi Imayama & Ryoichi Kawabata

  3. Geochronology Team, Korea Basic Science Institute, 28119, Ochang, Republic of Korea

    Keewook Yi

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  1. Narayan Bose
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Contributions

Conceptualisation and methodology, investigation, data curation, visualisation, supervision, NB and TI; software and validation, TI and RK; formal analysis, TI, NB, SG, RK and KY; resources, TI and KY; writing – original draft preparation, NB; writing – review and editing, NB, SG and TI; project administration, TI; funding acquisition, TI and KY.

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Correspondence to Narayan Bose.

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Communicated by Dilip Saha

Supplementary material pertaining to this article is available on the Journal of Earth System Science website (http://www.ias.ac.in/Journals/Journal_of_Earth_System_Science).

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Bose, N., Imayama, T., Kawabata, R. et al. Intra-channel detachment in a collisional orogen: The Jhala Normal Fault in the Bhagirathi river section, Garhwal Higher Himalaya, India. J Earth Syst Sci 132, 6 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12040-022-02019-4

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