Crustal structure beneath the Sub-Himalayan fold-thrust belt, Kangra recess, northwest India, from seismic reflection profiling: Implications for Late Paleoproterozoic orogenesis and modern earthquake hazard

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Volumn 308, Issue 1-2, 2011, Pages 218-228

  Rajendra Prasad, B ^a   Klemperer, Simon L ^b   Vijaya Rao, V ^a   Tewari, H C ^a   Khare, Prakash ^a  

^a NATIONAL GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE   (India)

^b STANFORD UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Deep seismic reflection profiling; Kangra recess; Main Himalayan Thrust; Sub Himalaya; Ulleri Wangtu gneiss; Vindhyan Supergroup

Indexed keywords

DEEP SEISMIC REFLECTIONS; KANGRA RECESS; MAIN HIMALAYAN THRUSTS; SUB-HIMALAYA; ULLERI-WANGTU GNEISS; VINDHYAN SUPERGROUP;

EARTHQUAKES; GEOCHRONOLOGY; REFLECTION; SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; SEDIMENTOLOGY; STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY;

SEISMIC WAVES;

COMPRESSION; CRUSTAL STRUCTURE; DECOLLEMENT; DEEP SEISMIC SOUNDING; DEFORMATION MECHANISM; EARTHQUAKE MECHANISM; FOLD AND THRUST BELT; OROGENY; PROFILER; PROTEROZOIC; SEISMIC HAZARD; SEISMIC REFLECTION; SEISMICITY; VINDHYAN SUPERGROUP;

HIMACHAL PRADESH; HIMALAYAS; INDIA; KANGRA;

EID: 79960019622     PISSN: 0012821X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.epsl.2011.05.052     Document Type: Article

References (78)

1. Alsdorf D., Brown L., Nelson D. Possible upper mantle reflection fabric on seismic profiles from the Tethyan Himalaya: identification and tectonic interpretation. J. Geophys. Res. 1996, 101:25,305-25,320. 10.1029/96JB02120.
2. Ambraseys N., Jackson D. A note on early earthquakes in northern India and southern Tibet. Curr. Sci. 2003, 84:570-582.
3. Banerjee P., Bürgmann R. Convergence across the northwest Himalaya from GPS measurements. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2002, 29(13). 10.1029/2002GL015184.
4. Beaumont C., Fullsack P., Hamilton J. Styles of crustal deformation in compressional orogens caused by subduction of the underlying lithosphere. Tectonophys. 1994, 232:119-132. 10.1016/0040-1951(94)90079-5.
5. Bilham R. Slow tilt reversal of the Lesser Himalaya between 1862 and 1992 at 78°E, and bounds to the southeast rupture of the 1905 Kangra earthquake. Geophys. J. Int. 2001, 144:1-23. 10.1046/j.1365-246x.2001.01365.x.
6. Brown L.D., Zhao W.J., Nelson K.D., Hauck M., Alsdorf D., Ross A., Cogan M., Clark M., Liu X.W., Che J.K. Bright spots, structure and magmatism in southern Tibet from INDEPTH seismic reflection profiling. Science 1996, 274:1688-1690. 10.1126/science.274.5293.1688.
7. Cawood P.A., Johnson M.R.W., Nemchin A.A. Early Palaeozoic orogenesis along the Indian margin of Gondwana: tectonic response to Gondwana assembly. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2007, 255:70-84. 10.1016/j.epsl.2006.12.006.
8. Célérier J., Harrison T.M., Webb A.A.G., Yin A. The Kumaun and Garwhal Lesser Himalaya, India: part 1. Structure and stratigraphy. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 2009, 121:1262-1280. 10.1130/B26344.1.
9. Clift P.D., Blusztajn J. Reorganization of the western Himalayan river system after five million years ago. Nature 2005, 438:1001-1003. 10.1038/nature04379.
10. DeCelles P.G., Gehrels G.E., Quade J., LaReau B., Spurlin M. Tectonic implications of U-Pb zircon ages of the Himalayan orogenic belt in Nepal. Science 2000, 288:497-499. 10.1126/science.288.5465.497.
11. DeCelles P.G., Robinson D.M., Quade J., Ojha T.P., Garzione C.N., Copeland P., Upreti B.N. Stratigraphy, structure, and tectonic evolution of the Himalayan fold-thrust belt in western Nepal. Tectonics 2001, 20:487-509. 10.1029/2000TC001226.
12. DiPietro J.A., Pogue K.R. Tectonostratigraphic subdivisions of the Himalaya: a view from the west. Tectonics 2004, 23:TC5001. 10.1029/2003TC001554.
13. Dubey A.K., Bhakuni S.S., Selokar A.D. Structural evolution of the Kangra recess, Himachal Himalaya: a model based on magnetic and petrofabric strain. J. Asian Earth Sci. 2004, 24:245-258. 10.1016/j.jseaes.2003.11.002.
14. Durrheim R.J., Mooney W.D. Evolution of the Precambrian lithosphere: seismological and geochemical constraints. J. Geophys. Res. 1994, 99:15,359-15,374. 10.1029/94JB00138.
15. Gehrels G.E., DeCelles P.G., Martin A., Ojha T.P., Pinhassi G., Upreti B.N. Initiation of the Himalayan orogen as an early Paleozoic thin-skinned thrust belt. GSA Today 2003, 13(9):4-9.
16. Goscombe B., Gray D., Hand M. Crustal architecture of the Himalayan metamorphic front in eastern Nepal. Gondwana Res. 2006, 10:232-255. 10.1016/j.gr.2006.05.003.
17. Green A.G., Milkereit B., Davidson A., Spencer C., Hutchinson D.R., Cannon W.F., Lee M.W., Agena W.F., Behrendt J.C., Hinze W.J. Crustal structure of the Grenville Front and adjacent terranes. Geology 1988, 16:788-792.
18. Hou G., Santosh M., Qian X., Lister G.S., Li J. Configuration of the Late Paleoproterozoic supercontinent Columbia: insights from radiating mafic dyke swarms. Gondwana Res. 2008, 14:395-409. 10.1016/j.gr.2008.01.010.
19. Hough S.E., Bilham R., Ambraseys N., Feldl N. Revisiting the 1897 Shillong and 1905 Kangra earthquakes in northern India: site response, Moho reflections, and a triggered earthquake. Curr. Sci. 2005, 88:1632-1638.
20. Jagadeesh S., Rai S.S. Thickness, composition, and evolution of the Indian Precambrian crust inferred from broadband seismological measurements. Precambrian Res. 2008, 162:4-15. 10.1016/j.precamres.2007.07.009.
21. Jain, A.K., Singh, S. Manickavasagam, R.M., Joshi, M. Verma, P.K., 2003. Himprobe programme: Integrated studies on geology, petrology, geochronology and geophysics of the Trans-Himalaya and Karakoram. In: T.M.Mahadevan, B.R.Arora, K.R.Gupta (Eds.), The Indian Continental Lithosphere: Emerging Research Trends. Geol. Soc. India, Memoir 53, 1-56.
22. Jiang G., Christie-Blick N., Kaufman A.J., Banerjee D.M., Rai V. Carbonate platform growth and cyclicity at a terminal Proterozoic passive margin, Infra Krol Formation and Krol Group, Lesser Himalaya, India. Sedimentology 2003, 50:921-952. 10.1046/j.1365-3091.2003.00589.x.
23. Johnson M.R.W. Culminations and domal uplifts in the Himalaya. Tectonophys 1994, 239:139-147. 10.1016/0040-1951(94)90111-2.
24. Kaila K.L., Tripathi K.M., Dixit M.M. Crustal structure along Wular Lake-Gulmarg-Naoshera profile across Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas from deep seismic soundings. J. Geol. Soc. India 1984, 25:706-719.
25. Karlstrom K.E., Humphreys E.D. Persistent influence of Proterozoic accretionary boundaries in the tectonic evolution of southwestern North America; interaction of cratonic grain and mantle modification events. Rocky Mt Geol. 1998, 33:161-179.
26. Karunakaran C., Ranga Rao A. Status of exploration for hydrocarbons in the Himalayan region - contributions to stratigraphy and structure, in "Himalayan Geology Seminar New Delhi 1976, Section III, Oil and Natural Gas resources". Geol. Surv. India Misc. Publ. 1979, 41:1-66. part 5.
27. Kayal J.R. Precursor seismicity, foreshocks and aftershocks of the Uttarkashi earthquake of October 20, 1991 at Garhwal Himalaya. Tectonophysics 1996, 263:339-345. 10.1016/S0040-1951(97)81488-6.
28. Klemperer S.L., Miller E.L., Grantz A., Scholl D.W. Crustal structure of the Bering and Chukchi Shelves: deep seismic reflection profiles across the North American continent between Alaska and Russia. Geol. Soc. Am. Spec. Pap. 2002, 360:1-24. Bering-Chukchi Working Group. 10.1130/0-8137-2360-4.1.
29. Kohn M.J., Paul S.K., Corrie S.L. The lower Lesser Himalayan Sequence: a Paleoproterozoic arc on the northern margin of the Indian Plate. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 2010, 122:323-335. 10.1130/B26587.1.
30. Kumar N., Sharma J., Arora B.R., Mukhopadhyay S. Seismotectonic model of the Kangra-Chamba sector of Northwest Himalaya: constraints from joint hypocenter determination and focal mechanism. Bull. Seismolog. Soc. Am. 2009, 99:95-109. 10.1785/0120080220.
31. Leech M.L., Singh S., Jain A.K., Klemperer S.L., Manickavasagam R.M. The onset of India-Asia continental collision: early, steep subduction required by the timing of UHP metamorphism in the western Himalaya. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2005, 234:83-97. 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.02.038.
32. Macedo J., Marshak S. Controls on the geometry of fold-thrust belt salients. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 1999, 111:1808-1822.
33. Magnani M.B., Miller K.C., Levander A., Karlstrom K. The Yavapai-Mazatzal boundary; a long-lived tectonic element in the lithosphere of southwestern North America. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 2004, 116:1137-1142. 10.1130/B25414.1.
34. Marshak S. Salients, recesses, arcs, oroclines, and syntaxes; a review of ideas concerning the formation of map-view curves in fold-thrust belts. Am. Ass. Petrol. Geol. Mem. 2004, 82:131-156. K.R. McClay (Ed.).
35. Mazumder R., Bose P.K., Sarkar S. A commentary on the tectono-sedimentary record of the pre-2.0Ga continental growth of India vis-a-vis a possible pre-Gondwana Afro-Indian supercontinent. J. African Earth Sci. 2000, 30:201-217. 10.1016/S0899-5362(00)00016-6.
36. Meert J.G., Pandit M.K., Pradhan V.R., Banks J., Sirianni R., Stroud M., Newstead B., Gifford J. Precambrian crustal evolution of Peninsular India: a 3.0billionyear odyssey. J. Asian Earth Sci. 2010, 39:483-515. 10.1016/j.jseaes.2010.04.026.
37. Meigs A.J., Burbank D.W., Beck R.A. Middle-late Miocene (10Ma) formation of the Main Boundary thrust in the western Himalaya. Geology 1995, 23:423-426.
38. Miller C., Klötzli U., Frank W., Thöni M., Grasemann B. Proterozoic crustal evolution in the NW Himalaya (India) as recorded by circa 1.80Ga mafic and 1.84Ga granitic magmatism. Precambrian Res. 2000, 103:191-206. 10.1016/S0301-9268(00)00091-7.
39. Molnar P. The distribution of intensity associated with the 1905 Kangra earthquake and bounds on the extent of the rupture zone. J. Geol. Soc. India 1987, 29:221-229.
40. Monsalve G., Sheehan A., Schulte-Pelkum V., Rajaure S., Pandey M.R., Wu F. Seismicity and one-dimensional velocity structure of the Himalayan collision zone: earthquakes in the crust and upper mantle. J. Geophys. Res. 2006, 111:B10301. 10.1029/2005JB004062.
41. Monsalve G., McGovern P., Sheehan A. Mantle fault zones beneath the Himalayan collision: flexure of the continental lithosphere. Tectonophys 2009, 477:66-76. 10.1016/j.tecto.2008.12.014.
42. Mukhopadhyay D.K., Mishra P. A balanced cross section across the Himalayan foreland belt, the Punjab and Himachal foothills: a reinterpretation of structural styles and evolution. Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. (Earth and Planetary Sci.) 1999, 108:189-205.
43. Mukhopadhyay S., Sharma J. Crustal scale detachment in the Himalayas: a reappraisal. Geophys. J. Int. 2010, 183:850-860. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2010.04755.x.
44. Nábelek J., Hetényi G., Vergne J., Sapkota S., Kafle B., Jiang M., Su H., Chen C., Huang B.S., Team Hi-CLIMB Underplating in the Himalaya-Tibet collision zone revealed by the Hi-CLIMB experiment. Science 2009, 325:1371-1374. 10.1126/science.1167719.
45. Najman Y., Johnson K., White N., Oliver G. Evolution of the Himalayan foreland basin, NW India. Basin Res. 2004, 16:1-24. 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2003.00223.x.
46. Nelson K.D. A unified view of craton evolution motivated by recent deep seismic reflection and refraction results. Geophys. J. Roy. Astr. Soc. 1991, 105:25-35. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1991.tb03441.x.
47. Oreshin S., Kiselev S., Vinnik L., Prakasam K.S., Rai S.S., Makeyeva L., Savvin Y. Crust and mantle beneath western Himalaya, Ladakh and western Tibet from integrated seismic data. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2008, 271:75-87. 10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.04.
48. Powers, P. M., 1996. Structure and shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun reentrants, Sub-Himalaya, India. Master's thesis, Corvallis, Oregon State University, pp. 66.
49. Powers P.M., Lillie R.J., Yeats R.S. Structure and shortening of the Kangra and Dehra Dun reentrants, Sub-Himalaya. India. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull. 1998, 110:1010-1027.
50. Priestley K., Jackson J., McKenzie D. Lithospheric structure and deep earthquakes beneath India, the Himalaya and southern Tibet. Geophys. J. Int. 2007, 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03636.x, pp. 18.
51. Rai S.S., Priestley K., Gaur V.K., Mitra S., Singh M.P., Searle M. Configuration of the Indian Moho beneath the NW Himalaya and Ladakh. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2006, 33:L15308. 10.1029/2006GL026076, pp. 5.
52. Raiverman V. Foreland sedimentation in Himalayan tectonic regime: a relook at the orogenic process 2002, Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehra Dun, India, pp. 378.
53. Raiverman V., Kunte S.V., Mukherjea A. Basin geometry, Cenozoic sedimentation and hydrocarbon prospects in North Western Himalaya and Indo-Gangetic plains. Pet. Asia J. 1983, 6:67-92. Nov. 1983.
54. Raiverman V., Srivastava A.K., Prasad D.N. Structural style in northwestern Himalayan foothills. Him. Geol. 1994, 15:263-280.
55. Rajendra Prasad B., Vijaya Rao V. Deep seismic reflection study over the Vindhyans of Rajasthan: implications for geophysical setting of the basin. J. Earth Syst. Sci. 2006, 115:135-147.
56. Rajendra Prasad B., Tewari H.C., Vijaya Rao V., Dixit M.M., Reddy P.R. Structure and tectonics of the Proterozoic Aravalli-Delhi fold belt in NW India from deep seismic reflection studies. Tectonophys 1998, 288:31-41. 10.1016/S0040-1951(97)00281-3.
57. Rao M.B.R. The subsurface geology of the Indi-Gangetic plains. J. Geol. Soc. India 1973, 14:217-242.
58. Rao V.V., Prasad B.R., Reddy P.R., Tewari H.C. Evolution of Proterozoic Aravalli Delhi Fold Belt in the northwestern Indian Shield from seismic studies. Tectonophys 2000, 327:109-130. 10.1016/S0040-1951(00)00156-6.
59. Richards A., Argles T., Harris N., Parrish R., Ahmad T., Darbyshire F., Draganits E. Himalayan architecture constrained by isotopic tracers from clastic sediments. Earth Planet. Sci. Letts 2005, 236:773-796. 10.1016/j.epsl.2005.05.034.
60. Sastri V.V. An overview of petroleum geotectonics of the region to the north and south of the Himalaya, In "Himalayan Geology Seminar New Delhi 1976, Section III, Oil and Natural Gas resources". Geol. Surv. India Misc. Publ. 1979, 41:247-274. part 5.
61. Seeber L., Armbruster J.G. Great detachment earthquakes along the Himalayan arc and long-term forecasting. Maurice Ewing Ser. 1981, 4:259-277. AGU, Washington, D.C. D.W. Simpson, P.G. Richards (Eds.).
62. Sengupta S.N. The Vindhyan under the North Indian Plains. Mem. Geol. Soc. India 1996, 26:257-265.
63. Sharma K.K., Rashid S.A. Geochemical evolution of peraluminous paleoproterozoic Bandal orthogneiss NW, Himalaya, Himachal Pradesh, India: implications for the ancient crustal growth in the Himalaya. J. Asian Earth Sci. 2001, 19:413-428. 10.1016/S1367-9120(00)00052-3.
64. Singh S., Jain A.K. Himalayan Granitoids. Journal of the Virtual Explorer 2003, 11. paper 01, ISSN 1441-8142. Electronic ed. S. Singh (Ed.).
65. Singh S., Jain A.K., Barley M.E. SHRIMP U-Pb c. 1860Ma anorogenic magmatic signatures from the NW Himalaya: implications for Palaeoproterozoic assembly of the Columbia Supercontinent. Geol. Soc. London Spec. Pub. 2009, 323:283-300. 10.1144/ SP323.14.
66. Srinivasan S., Khar B.M. Status of hydrocarbon exploration in NW Himalaya and foredeep - contributions to stratigraphy and structure, In "Symposium on recent advances in geological studies of Northwest Himalaya and the foredeep". Geol. Surv. India Spec. Publ. 1996, 21, v. 1:295-405.
67. Srivastava B.N., Rana M.S., Verma N.K. Geology and hydrocarbon prospects of the Vindhyan Basin. Pet. Asia J. 1983, 6:179-189. (Nov. 1983).
68. Stovba S.M., Stephenson R.A. The Donbas Foldbelt; its relationships with the uninverted Donets segment of the Dniepr-Donets Basin, Ukraine. Tectonophys 1999, 313:59-83. 10.1016/S0040-1951(99)00190-0.
69. Thakur V.C., Sriram V., Mundepi A.K. Seismotectonics of the great 1905 Kangra earthquake meizoseismal region in Kangra-Chamba, NW Himalaya. Tectonophysics 2000, 326:289-298. 10.1016/S0040-1951(00)00126-8.
70. Valdiya K.S. Himalayan transverse faults and folds and their parallelism with subsurface structures of north Indian plains. Tectonophysics 1976, 32:353-386. 10.1016/0040-1951(76)90069-X.
71. Valdiya K.S. Proterozoic sedimentation and Pan-African geodynamic development in the Himalaya. Precambrian Res. 1995, 74:35-55. 10.1016/0301-9268(95)00004-O.
72. Vannay J.C., Grasemann B., Rahn M., Frank W., Carter A., Baudraz V., Cosca M. Miocene to Holocene exhumation of crustal wedges in the NW Himalaya: evidence for tectonic extrusion coupled to fluvial erosion. Tectonics 2004, 23:TC1014. 10.1029/2002TC001429.
73. Verma R.K., Roonwal G.S., Kamble V.P., Dutta U., Kumar N., Gupta Y., Sood S. Seismicity of northwestern part of the Himalayan arc, Delhi-Hardwar ridge and Garhwal-Kumaon Himalaya region: a synthesis of existing data. Mem. Geol. Soc. India 1995, 30:83-100.
74. Vinnik L., Singh A., Kiselev S., Ravi Kumar M. Upper mantle beneath foothills of the western Himalaya: subducted lithospheric slab or a keel of the Indian shield?. Geophys. J. Int. 2007, 171:1162-1171. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.2007.03577.x.
75. Wallace K., Bilham R., Blume F., Gaur V.K., Gahalaut V. Surface deformation in the region of the 1905 Kangra Mw=7.8 earthquake in the period 1846-2001. Geophys. Res. Lett. 2005, 32:L15307. 10.1029/2005GL022906.
76. Warner M. Migration - why doesn't it work for deep continental data?. Geophys. J. Roy. Astronom. Soc. 1987, 89:21-26. 10.1111/j.1365-246X.1987.tb04382.x.
77. Wyss M. Human losses expected in Himalayan earthquakes. Nat. Hazard. 2005, 34:305-314.
78. Zhao W., Nelson K.D. Deep seismic reflection evidence for continental underthrusting beneath southern Tibet. Nature 1993, 366:557-559. Project INDEPTH Team. 10.1038/366557a0.