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Higher Himalaya in the Bhagirathi section (NW Himalaya, India): its structures, backthrusts and extrusion mechanism by both channel flow and critical taper mechanisms

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Abstract

The Higher Himalayan Crystalline (HHC) in the Bhagirathi river section (India) on fieldwork reveals two extensional ductile top-to-N/NE shear sub-zones—the ‘South Tibetan Detachment System’ and the ‘Basal Detachment’—besides a preceding top-to-S/SW ductile shear. A top-to-N/NE brittle shear was identified as backthrusts from the HHC (except its northern portion) that occur repeatedly adjacent to numerous top-to-S/SW brittle shears as fore-thrusts. The northern portion of the HHC—the Gangotri Granite—exhibits infrequent total six extensional and compressional brittle shear senses. The backthrusts could be due to a low friction between the lower boundary of the HHC (i.e. the Main Central Thrust-Zone) and the partially molten hot rock materials of the HHC. Subduction of the Eurasian plate towards S/SW below the Indian plate more extensively in the Garhwal sector could be the second possible reason. Presence of two ductile extensional shear sub-zones may indicate channel flow (or several exhumation mechanisms) of the HHC in a shifting mode (similar to Mukherjee et al. in Int J Earth Sci 101:253–272, 2012). The top-to-S/SW extensional brittle shear exclusively within the upper (northern portion) of the HHC and a top-to-S/SW brittle shear within the remainder of it is a possible indicator of critical taper deformation mechanism. Thus, this work provides the field evidences of possibly both channel flow and critical taper conditions from a Higher Himalayan section, besides that by Larson et al. (Geol Soc Am Bull 122:1116–1134, 2010).

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Department of Science and Technology’s (New Delhi) grant: SR/FTP/ES-117/2009. Arpan Bandyopadhyay (IIT Bombay) identified backthrusts. Arpita Roy assisted in the laboratory. Unconventional questions on Himalayan geology raised by Rajkumar Ghosh (IIT Bombay) led me think critically. Sidhartha Bhattacharyya (Alabama University) supplied papers. Payel Mukherjee took care of household activities and gave free time. Positive critical exhaustive reviews in two rounds by Rodolfo Carosi (University of Torino) and an anonymous researcher significantly improved this paper. The anonymous reviewer owes additional thanks for suggesting the term ‘basal detachment’. The author thanks the Chief Editor: Wolf-Christian Dullo (IFM-Geomar) and the Managing Editor: his wife Monika Dullo. IIT Bombay funded SM to present this work in the Session TS4.5 on Himalayan tectonics in EGU 2012, Vienna (Mukherjee and Mukherjee 2012). This work is encapsulated in Mukherjee and Bandyopadhyay (2011).

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  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, Maharashtra, India

    Soumyajit Mukherjee

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Mukherjee, S. Higher Himalaya in the Bhagirathi section (NW Himalaya, India): its structures, backthrusts and extrusion mechanism by both channel flow and critical taper mechanisms. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 102, 1851–1870 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-012-0861-5

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