Late Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic stratigraphic succession, Western Himalaya, North Pakistan: Detrital zircon provenance and tectonic implications

Abstract

This paper presents the first ever detrital zircon U–Pb–Hf isotopic study for the Late Neoproterozoic–Early Palaeozoic stratigraphic succession exposed in the Hazara Basin, Western Himalaya, North Pakistan. This time span represents the break‐up of the supercontinent Rodinia and final assembly of Gondwana. The detrital record of the Late Neoproterozoic succession indicates well‐mixed detritus shed from within the Indian Craton, especially the Central Indian provenance (including the Delhi Fold Belt, Aravalli Orogen, and Bundlekhand Craton). The εHf(t) values are mostly negative, and Hf TDMC ages are clustered at 2.0–2.4 Ga, which indicates the derivation from an ancient reworked crustal source. In addition, the presence of a few positive εHf(t) values in the Late Neoproterozoic sequence indicates addition of the juvenile crust that corresponds to the period of the Rodinia break‐up. However, dissimilarities with detrital signatures from the Australian continent may indicate break‐up of the Rodinia supercontinent and detachment of Australia from India prior to ~754 Ma, which is the depositional age of the Hazara Formation. In addition, the angular unconformity at the base of the Abbottabad Formation represents the compressional tectonics that might be associated with the Pan‐African (Indo‐Antarctic Craton collision with the East African Orogen during 800–700 Ma) orogeny. The presence of the metamorphism and deformation in the rocks below the unconformity supports such an event prior to deposition of the Early Palaeozoic Abbottabad Formation. Similarly, the appearance of the Pan‐African detritus in the Early Palaeozoic Abbottabad Formation could be due to closure of the ocean basin between Eastern and Western Gondwana along the Mozambique Suture. This provenance change may indicate the final assembly of supercontinent Gondwana.

Integrated provenance and tectonic implications of the Cretaceous–Palaeocene clastic sequence, Changla Gali, Lesser Himalaya, Pakistan

“…This mixed provenance indicates the contribution from the Indian Plate provenance and some contribution from the mafic sources, which may likely be Panjal mafic volcanic rocks exposed in the vicinity of the study area. In addition to the Permian Panjal mafic rock, the Permian dolerite dykes are widely intruded in the Palaeozoic sequence (Qasim et al, 2018b; Sajid, Andersen, Rocholl, & Wiedenbeck, 2018). This also supports the derivation from the Indian Plate, as the Panjal mafic volcanics and dolerite dykes are exposed on the Indian Plate.…”

From Breakup of Nuna to Assembly of Rodinia: A Link Between the Chinese Central Tianshan Block and Fennoscandia

“…Crustal incubation time is defined as the difference between the Hf crustal model age and zircon U‐Pb age (T DM C –Age) and commonly used in revealing the crustal evolution (Honarmad et al, ; Li et al, ; Qasim et al, ; Wang et al, , ). Addition of juvenile crust and the reworking of ancient crustal materials would lead to low and high crustal incubation times, respectively (Honarmad et al, ; Li et al, ; Qasim et al, ). It is assumed that a short crustal incubation time (<300 Ma) generally reflects a juvenile material addition (Wang et al, ; Li et al, ; Honarmad et al, ; Qasim et al, ).…”

“…Addition of juvenile crust and the reworking of ancient crustal materials would lead to low and high crustal incubation times, respectively (Honarmad et al, ; Li et al, ; Qasim et al, ). It is assumed that a short crustal incubation time (<300 Ma) generally reflects a juvenile material addition (Wang et al, ; Li et al, ; Honarmad et al, ; Qasim et al, ). According to this criteria and few results of crustal incubation time (<300 Ma) in the gap between 1.8 and 1.7 Ga, the crustal evolution of the CTB can be divided into three stages, which are 2.0–1.8, 1.7–1.3, and 1.3–0.9 Ga. For the first two stages, ca.…”

Detrital zircon record of Cambrian (meta‐)sedimentary strata in the western part of the Baoshan Block: Constraints on its eastern boundary and Early Palaeozoic palaeoposition

“…Previous published detrital zircon U-Pb ages for different peri-Gandwana blocks from Tibetan Plateau are according to , Li et al, 2015, Zhang et al (2018), and Zhu et al (2011). Detrital NW India (Hofmann et al, 2011;Long et al, 2011;Malone et al, 2008;Mckenzie, Hughes, Myrow, Xiao, & Sharma, 2011;McQuarrie et al, 2013;Myrow et al, 2016;Qasim et al, 2017;Turner, Meert, Pandit, & Kamenov, 2014) and SW Australia (Zhu et al, 2011) were also compiled for comparison [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com] ~0.55 Ga. The ε Hf (t) values exhibit a wide range from negative to positive for each of the three major age groups, suggesting diverse magma sources.…”

“…Previous published detrital zircon U–Pb ages for different peri‐Gandwana blocks from Tibetan Plateau are according to Li et al (, Li et al, , Li et al, ), Zhang et al (), and Zhu et al (). Detrital NW India (Hofmann et al, ; Long et al, ; Malone et al, ; Mckenzie, Hughes, Myrow, Xiao, & Sharma, ; McQuarrie et al, ; Myrow et al, ; Qasim et al, ; Turner, Meert, Pandit, & Kamenov, ) and SW Australia (Zhu et al, ) were also compiled for comparison [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”