Dimension of Greater India in the early Mesozoic: Paleomagnetic constraints from Triassic sediments in the Tethyan Himalaya

Ran, Bo; Wang, Chengshan; Zhao, Xixi; Li, Yalin; Meng, Jun; Cao, Ke; Wang, Pingkang

doi:10.1016/j.jseaes.2011.11.006

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…In addition, new palaeomagnetic results from the Tethyan Himalaya also suggest >1300 km northern dimension of Greater India since Triassic52. Thus, in our model we start with a large continental Greater India for the pre-collision configuration of India.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Because no suture zone has been identified to suggest Tethyan Himalaya was ever a terrane separate from Indian continent52, reconstructions4243 based on the same Palaeocene results from the Tethyan Himalaya used in our model have proposed a large northern extent of continental Greater India (~1500 km) since Late Cretaceous. In addition, new palaeomagnetic results from the Tethyan Himalaya also suggest >1300 km northern dimension of Greater India since Triassic52.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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India-Asia collision was at 24°N and 50 Ma: palaeomagnetic proof from southernmost Asia

Meng

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2012

Sci Rep

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138

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How and when India collided with Asia is crucial for global climate and continental dynamics. We present new palaeomagnetic data showing that the Xigaze forearc basin of southern Tibet was located at 24.2±5.9°N during 54–57 Ma, providing a direct constraint on the position of the southernmost margin of Asia at this crucial stage. Our study suggests 1) the age and locus of the initial India-Asia collision are at ~50 Ma and ~24°N, respectively; 2) Tibet resisted India's northward push during the first ~16 Ma of initial impact from the collision and experienced little latitudinal displacement; and 3) Sometime a little after 34 Ma, Greater India was consumed and thicker Indian Craton subsequently made contact with Asia, resulting in ~6° northward drift of Asia. Our model has implications for the process by which the high proto-Tibetan plateau formed and for the two slowdowns of India's convergence rate with Asia.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

India-Asia collision was at 24°N and 50 Ma: palaeomagnetic proof from southernmost Asia

Meng

Wang

Zhao

et al. 2012

Sci Rep

Self Cite

138

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“…The dimension of Greater India in Jurassic and through Late Cretaceous to Paleogene remains unsolved, and the initiation of India‐Asia collision cannot yet be constrained precisely by paleomagnetism [ Huang et al ., ]. We also note that the paleolatitudes (poles 28–33 in Figure c) of Triassic rocks within the TH [ Klootwijk and Bingham , ; Klootwijk et al ., ; Appel et al ., ; Schill et al ., ; Ran et al ., ] come from carbonate rocks. Despite the fact that the paleolatitudes that were calculated from these rocks follow the paleolatitudinal evolution of Gondwana in the Triassic [e.g., Li et al ., ], we here tentatively suggest that the reliability of these poles in the absence of the rigorous rock magnetic and electron microscopic assessment as presented in this paper requires further testing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The paleolatitudes calculated from these studies are then compared to the paleolatitudes of the Indian continent (derived from a Global Apparent Polar Wander Path) [e.g., Torsvik et al ., ] and constrain the dimension of “Greater India” (defined as the retrodeformed area between the former northern margin of the TH and the modern southernmost thrust of the Himalaya) through time (Figure c) [e.g., van Hinsbergen et al ., ; Huang et al ., ]. Most of these paleomagnetic studies targeted the widespread Tibetan Himalayan carbonate rocks (poles 16–22 and 27–33 in Figure c and Table S1 in the supporting information) [ Klootwijk and Bingham , ; Klootwijk et al ., ; Besse et al ., ; Appel et al ., , ; Patzelt et al ., ; Schill et al ., ; Crouzet et al ., ; Tong et al ., ; Yi et al ., ; Ran et al ., ; Liebke et al ., ; Huang et al ., ], except for a few poles calculated from Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sandstones and coeval lavas (poles 23–26 in Figure c) [ Klootwijk and Bingham , ; Huang et al ., ; Yang et al ., ; Ma et al ., ] and Ordovician red beds (pole 34 in Figure c) [ Torsvik et al ., ]. However, in addition to the potential shallowing of the inclination induced by compaction [ Kodama , ], carbonate rocks are notorious for suffering from pervasive remagnetization which can be at times cryptic and difficult to recognize even with rigorous paleomagnetic field tests [ McCabe et al ., ; Jackson , ; Dekkers , ; van der Voo and Torsvik , ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remagnetization of carbonate rocks in southern Tibet: Perspectives from rock magnetic and petrographic investigations

et al. 2017

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The latitudinal motion of the Tibetan Himalaya—the northernmost continental unit of the Indian plate—is a key component in testing paleogeographic reconstructions of the Indian plate before the India‐Asia collision. Paleomagnetic studies of sedimentary rocks (mostly carbonate rocks) from the Tibetan Himalaya are complicated by potentially pervasive yet cryptic remagnetization. Although traditional paleomagnetic field tests reveal some of this remagnetization, secondary remanence acquired prior to folding or tilting easily escapes detection. Here we describe comprehensive rock magnetic and petrographic investigations of Jurassic to Paleocene carbonate and volcaniclastic rocks from Tibetan Himalayan strata (Tingri and Gamba areas). These units have been the focus of several key paleomagnetic studies for Greater Indian paleogeography. Our results reveal that while the dominant magnetic carrier in both carbonate and volcaniclastic rocks is magnetite, their magnetic and petrographic characteristics are distinctly different. Carbonate rocks have “wasp‐waisted” hysteresis loops, suppressed Verwey transitions, extremely fine grain sizes (superparamagnetic), and strong frequency‐dependent magnetic susceptibility. Volcaniclastic rocks exhibit “pot‐bellied” hysteresis loops and distinct Verwey transitions. Electron microscopy reveals that magnetite grains in carbonate rocks are pseudomorphs of early diagenetic pyrite, whereas detrital magnetite is abundant and pyrite is rarely oxidized in the volcaniclastic rocks. We suggest that the volcaniclastic rocks retain a primary remanence, but oxidation of early diagenetic iron sulfide to fine‐grained magnetite has likely caused widespread chemical remagnetization of the carbonate units. We recommend that thorough rock magnetic and petrographic investigations are prerequisites for paleomagnetic studies throughout southern Tibet and everywhere in general.

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“…A substantial challenge to studying the paleomagnetism of the Tibetan Himalayan sedimentary rocks is that remagnetization is pervasive; natural remanent magnetizations (NRM) with a primary origin are rarely found in these units [ Appel et al ., ]. Only a few Triassic and Upper Cretaceous to Paleogene units with a primary remanence have been reported [ Klootwijk and Bingham , ; Klootwijk et al ., ; Besse et al ., ; Appel et al ., ; Patzelt et al ., ; Appel et al ., ; Schill et al ., ; Crouzet et al ., ; Yi et al ., ; Ran et al ., ]. Thus, the onus for any paleomagnetic study of these units is to thoroughly evaluate the origin and timing of the characteristic magnetization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleolatitudes of the Tibetan Himalaya from primary and secondary magnetizations of Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks

Huang

Hinsbergen

Dekkers

et al. 2015

Geochem Geophys Geosyst

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The Tibetan Himalaya represents the northernmost continental unit of the Indian plate that collided with Asia in the Cenozoic. Paleomagnetic studies on the Tibetan Himalaya can help constrain the dimension and paleogeography of ''Greater India,'' the Indian plate lithosphere that subducted and underthrusted below Asia after initial collision. Here we present a paleomagnetic investigation of a Jurassic (limestones) and Lower Cretaceous (volcaniclastic sandstones) section of the Tibetan Himalaya. The limestones yielded positive fold test, showing a prefolding origin of the isolated remanent magnetizations. Detailed paleomagnetic analyses, rock magnetic tests, end-member modeling of acquisition curves of isothermal remanent magnetization, and petrographic investigation reveal that the magnetic carrier of the Jurassic limestones is authigenic magnetite, whereas the dominant magnetic carrier of the Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sandstones is detrital magnetite. Our observations lead us to conclude that the Jurassic limestones record a prefolding remagnetization, whereas the Lower Cretaceous volcaniclastic sandstones retain a primary remanence. The volcaniclastic sandstones yield an Early Cretaceous paleolatitude of 55.5 S [52.5 S, 58.6 S] for the Tibetan Himalaya, suggesting it was part of the Indian continent at that time. The size of ''Greater India'' during Jurassic time cannot be estimated from these limestones. Instead, a paleolatitude of the Tibetan Himalaya of 23.8 S [21.8 S, 26.1 S] during the remagnetization process is suggested. It is likely that the remagnetization, caused by the oxidation of early diagenetic pyrite to magnetite, was induced during 103-83 or 77-67 Ma. The inferred paleolatitudes at these two time intervals imply very different tectonic consequences for the Tibetan Himalaya.

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Dimension of Greater India in the early Mesozoic: Paleomagnetic constraints from Triassic sediments in the Tethyan Himalaya

Cited by 19 publications

References 53 publications

India-Asia collision was at 24°N and 50 Ma: palaeomagnetic proof from southernmost Asia

India-Asia collision was at 24°N and 50 Ma: palaeomagnetic proof from southernmost Asia

Remagnetization of carbonate rocks in southern Tibet: Perspectives from rock magnetic and petrographic investigations

Paleolatitudes of the Tibetan Himalaya from primary and secondary magnetizations of Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous sedimentary rocks

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