From Neo-Tethyan convergence to India-Asia collision: radiolarian biostratigraphy of the Cretaceous to Paleocene deep-water Tethys Himalaya
- 2 January 2023
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Schweizerbart in Newsletters on Stratigraphy
- Vol. 56 (1), 33-52
- https://doi.org/10.1127/nos/2022/0707
Abstract
Deep-water strata preserved in the distal northern Indian margin record the evolution of the Neotethys Ocean before and during the India-Asia initial collision. These strata are however difficult to date precisely as radiolarian are the only fossils present. We here revise the Cretaceous to Paleocene stratigraphy of deep-water sediments deposited in the distal part of the Indian passive margin, located just south of the Yarlung-Tsangpo suture zone near Saga. Four radiolarian assemblages are illustrated and correlated to the Cecrops septemporatus zone to Aurisaturnalis carinatus zone (late Valanginian to Barremian), the Turbocapsula costata zone (Aptian), the Spoletoensis zone (Albian), and the RP6a subzone (lower Selandian). Four units deposited from the Early Cretaceous to the Paleocene are thus identified (bottom to top): Rilang, Duobeng, Chuangde, and Sangdanlin formations. Such a revised stratigraphic scheme allows correlation with the sedimentary successions exposed in the Gyangze and Zhongba areas. Stratigraphic correlation proves that Indian-derived sandstones below the India to Asia provenance reversal (IAPR) were deposited on the Indian passive margin rather than on Neotethys oceanic crust. Sand injection complex preserved in the lower part of the deep-water sediments is related to extensional tectonics associated with Lower Cretaceous volcanism documented all along the northern margin of India. This study provides a much improved framework to interpret the geological evolution of the deep-water edge of the northern Indian margin during progressive closure of the Neotethys Ocean culminated with the onset of the India-Asia collision.Keywords
This publication has 40 references indexed in Scilit:
- Physical characteristics of sand injectitesEarth-Science Reviews, 2011
- Provenance of the Upper Cretaceous–Eocene Deep-Water Sandstones in Sangdanlin, Southern Tibet: Constraints on the Timing of Initial India-Asia CollisionThe Journal of Geology, 2011
- The age of the Chuangde Formation in Kangmar, southern Tibet of China: Implications for the origin of Cretaceous oceanic red beds (CORBs) in the northern Tethyan HimalayaSedimentary Geology, 2011
- Regionally extensive emplacement of sandstone intrusions: a brief reviewBasin Research, 2010
- Provenance of Lower Cretaceous Wölong Volcaniclastics in the Tibetan Tethyan Himalaya: Implications for the final breakup of Eastern GondwanaSedimentary Geology, 2010
- Gondwana to Asia: Plate tectonics, paleogeography and the biological connectivity of the Indian sub-continent from the Middle Jurassic through latest Eocene (166–35 Ma)Earth-Science Reviews, 2008
- Paleocene–Eocene record of ophiolite obduction and initial India‐Asia collision, south central TibetTectonics, 2005
- Stratigraphy of deep-water Cretaceous deposits in Gyangze, southern Tibet, ChinaCretaceous Research, 2005
- Tibetan tectonic evolution inferred from spatial and temporal variations in post-collisional magmatismEarth-Science Reviews, 2005
- Tithonian ammonoid biostratigraphy in eastern Himalayan TibetGeobios, 2004