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Detecting the Elevated Crust to Mantle Section in the Kohistan-Ladakh Arc, Himalaya, from GOCE Observations

  • Conference paper
Gravity, Geoid and Height Systems

Part of the book series: International Association of Geodesy Symposia ((IAG SYMPOSIA,volume 141))

Abstract

The Kohistan Ladakh area in northeastern Pakistan is an exposed top to bottom crustal section, implying that high density rocks of the lower crust are at the surface. The new GOCE satellite observations improve the gravity field in this remote area, giving a new dataset for geophysical interpretation. We use the new data to determine the crustal thickness variations and to define the geometry of the overturned crustal columns constituting the base of the former island arc. For the first time the entire extension of the arc is traced with the help of the gravity field observed by GOCE. The entire arc generates a positive gravity signal up to 180 mGal, limited by two geological boundaries, the Main Karakorum Thrust at north, and the Main Mantle Thrust at south. The Main Karakorum thrust marks the transition from the Indian to the Eurasian plate. The crustal thickness varies here between 40 and 70 km. The three geologic units that define the Kohistan arc, the South Plutonic Complex, the Chilas and Gilgit Complexes, occupy the upper crust, with depths increasing northwards between 14 and 44 km. There are not enough constraints to model the eastern part of the arc, the Ladakh, but the similarity of the gravity signal suggests that the thickness of the upper dense crustal units is similar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Geosciences, University of Trieste, Via Weiss 1, 34127, Trieste, Italy

    Daniele Tenze, Carla Braitenberg & Patrizia Mariani

  2. Laboratory for Multiphase Processes, University of Nova Gorica, Vipavska 11c, SI-5270, Ajdovščina, Slovenia

    Eva Sincich

Authors
  1. Daniele Tenze
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  2. Carla Braitenberg
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  3. Eva Sincich
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  4. Patrizia Mariani
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniele Tenze .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geodesy Department, Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Wabern, Switzerland

    Urs Marti

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Tenze, D., Braitenberg, C., Sincich, E., Mariani, P. (2014). Detecting the Elevated Crust to Mantle Section in the Kohistan-Ladakh Arc, Himalaya, from GOCE Observations. In: Marti, U. (eds) Gravity, Geoid and Height Systems. International Association of Geodesy Symposia, vol 141. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10837-7_38

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