Abstract We present an analysis of the tectonic evolution of the southwestern portions of the Nanga Parbat massif, Pakistan Himalaya, based upon detailed mapping and structural analyses from the Bunar, Biji, Diamir, Airl, Niat and SW Rupal valleys. Mainly metasedimentary cover rocks of the Indian plate are divided into upper and lower cover. There is a marked structural thinning of the cover in the main Bunar valley from south to north, and this is attributed to a major frontal ramp in the original Main Mantle Thrust (MMT). A hitherto unmapped shear zone, the Diamir Shear Zone, is identified, that is associated with a syn-kinematically intruded belt of granitic rocks, the Jalhari Granite. The shear zone is a several kilometre thick, generally W-vergent, ductile to brittle shear zone that is associated with local overturning of the entire MMT section, typified by the Gashit Fold. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling ages from across the area indicate a steep cooling age gradient across the Diamir Shear Zone from > 40 to < 5 Ma. The Diamir Shear Zone is mechanically linked to part of the Raikhot Fault System and, together, they are seen to be a crustal-scale reverse fault that has allowed relative uplift and overthrusting of the core of Nanga Parbat.

The gneisses of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif (NPHM), Pakistan, experienced peak metamorphic temperatures in the interval from 25 to 30 Ma, as revealed by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar cooling ages of hornblende and the ages of the youngest intrusions of the Kohistan batholith located immediately adjacent to the NPHM. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and fission-track mineral ages indicate that the postmetamorphic cooling history of the NPHM has been controlled over the past 5 to 10 m.y. by active tectonism associated with the Raikhot Fault, although passive uplift and erosion in response to overthrusting of the NPHM by the Kohistan Arc has been underway as well. Net cooling rates for NPHM gneisses exposed today along the Indus River at low elevations have accelerated, from 20°C/m.y. at ∼ 20 Ma to 300°C/m.y. at 0 to 0.4 Ma. Following emplacement of aplite dikes at about 30 to 35 Ma, portions of the Kohistan Batholith adjacent to the NPHM experienced cooling rates similar to the NPHM of about 20°C/m.y. over the period 25 to 10 Ma, but the net cooling rates for the batholith of ∼30°C/m.y. over the past 10 m.y. have been much lower than those experienced within the NPHM. Ion microprobe and conventional U/Pb analyses of zircon show that the protoliths for the Iskere Gneiss and the structurally lower Shengus Gneiss of the NPHM are, respectively, ∼1850 Ma and 400 to 500 Ma in age. Zircons from the Iskere Gneiss have thin, relatively high U rims that yield ages from 2.3 to 11 Ma. These rims indicate that metamorphism of the NPHM gneisses is Tertiary, not Precambrian, in age. The ages and Concordia systematics of analyses of Shengus Gneiss zircons suggest that this gneiss may be a metamorphosed equivalent of the Mansehra Granite and other Paleozoic S-type granites found throughout the Himalaya.

The Nanga Parbat–Haramosh (NPHM) massif is a unique structural and topographic high in the northwestern corner of the Himalayan convergence zone. Previously, the NPHM was thought to be bounded by the Main Mantle Thrust (MMT), a fault along which the Kohistan-Ladakh island arc was obducted onto the northern margin of India. This study presents field evidence that the recently active dextral reverse Raikot fault truncates the MMT and forms the western boundary of the NPHM. The Raikot fault separates medium-grade, Mesozoic to middle Cenozoic mafic metasedimentary and intrusive rocks of the Kohistan island arc (Kohistan Sequence) from high-grade Proterozoic metasedimentary rocks (Nanga Parbat Group) and orthogneisses of the Indian craton. The Kohistan Sequence rocks have experienced one tight to isoclinal folding event, probably associated with obduction of the island arc, and a second folding event associated with movement on the Raikot fault. The Nanga Parbat Group rocks were transposed by an early (possibly Proterozoic) isoclinal folding event and have subsequently been folded around east-trending axes in the early Cenozoic by the obduction of Kohistan, then around north-trending axes in late Cenozoic time in association with the uplift of the NPHM and initiation of the Raikot fault. The Raikot fault consists of both mylonite zones and numerous major and minor faults. Slickensides and mylonitic lineations both indicate dextral reverse slip. The Raikot fault and associated folds appear to have accommodated as much as 15 to 25 km of uplift during late Cenozoic time. The localization of the uplift and the involvement of the Moho suggest that the Raikot fault follows a major crustal structure, possibly a pre-collision Indian plate boundary. If this is the case, rotational underthrusting of greater India along the MMT would require dextral slip along the Raikot fault. It is proposed that the Raikot fault is a terminal tear fault on the MCT.

A 1.3-km-thick section of basin-fill sediments within the Skardu intermontane basin of the Karakoram Himalaya, termed the Bunthang sequence, is predominantly reversely magnetized. Glacial deposits and landforms are closely associated with the Bunthang sequence. This implies that basin filling took place between glacial advances and prior to the present Brunhes normal chron, i.e., between 3.2 and 0.73 Ma. Four major facies interfinger within the Bunthang sequence: glacial facies; lacustrine facies, indicative of periods during which the Indus River was ponded within the basin; aggradational fluvial facies that represent periods during which the gradient of the Indus River was controlled by rising base level downstream; and alluvial fanglomerates that prograde transversely from the basin margin into the basin at different stratigraphic levels. The last facies represents periods of decreased sedimentation by the Indus River relative to alluvial sedimentation from the basin margin. Downstream from the Skardu Basin, the Indus River crosses the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh syntaxis; this is an area of rapid late Cenozoic uplift (as much as 1 cm/yr). Differential uplift of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh syntaxis relative to its surrounding terrain led to local variations in Indus River gradient. Temporary ponding of the Indus River is inferred to have occurred when the uplift rate of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh syntaxis exceeded the rate of downcutting by the Indus River. Temporary blockage of the Indus River Gorge through the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh syntaxis by glaciers or by major landslides may also have led to variations in base level. Temporal variations in the gradient and base level of the Indus River downstream from the Skardu Basin, are reflected in the different facies that interfinger within the Bunthang sequence at Skardu.

Pressure-temperature (P-T) paths observed in pelitic schists on either side of the Main Mantle Thrust in northern Pakistan record the dynamics of the collision between the Kohistan Island-Arc and Indian plate. Geothermometry studies, mineral reaction textures, and thermodynamic modeling of zoned garnets suggest that the rocks in the Kohistan Arc and the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif experienced different pressure-temperature histories as a result of imbrication of these two terranes during thrusting. Rocks in the Kohistan Arc followed decreasing pressure-temperature paths, with early garnet growth occurring at high pressures (9.5 kbar) and later garnet growth at lower pressures (8.5 kbar). Conversely, rocks in the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif record an increasing P-T path history. The early P-T history within the massif was at low pressures (4.0 kbar) and low temperatures (450°C). Later, both pressure and temperature increased to a maximum of 7.5 kbar and 580°C. The contrasting P-T paths observed within these two terranes provide evidence for overthrusting of the Kohistan Arc over the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif along the Main Mantle Thrust.

Thick deposits preserved in deep valleys in the Indus, Gilgit, and Hunza River Basins, and a variety of dates, allow new definition of Quaternary events in the Karakoram and Nanga Parbat Himalaya. An unusually long record for an actively eroding high mountain area is recognized in three major episodes of glaciation during Pleistocene time. An early glaciation is represented by the indurated lower Jalipur tillites and heterogeneous upper Jalipur valley-fill sedimentary rock younger than 1 to 2 Ma, which are folded, overturned, or overridden by rapid movement on the dextral-reverse Raikot fault. This is associated with high overall uplift rates of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh massif during late Cenozoic time. The middle glaciation is represented by two tills intercalated within variable sediments, including thick lacustrine units dipping as much as 43° along the fault. The Indus-Shatial till of the early middle glaciation records the farthest advance of Pleistocene glaciers down the Indus River valley. The last glaciation apparently occurred after about 140,000 yr ago and consists of three to four or more separate advances, as recorded by morainic topography. The most prominent of these is the Dianyor moraine near Gilgit, which was produced by a major longitudinal glacier. Near Haramosh and downstream at Nanga Parbat, Shatial, and elsewhere, transverse glaciers blocked the Indus River to produce lake deposits now dipping as much as 6° near the fault. Catastrophic floods from failure of the ice dams, and possibly landslide dams as well, emplaced some Punjab erratics and sediments that may have been reworked into loesses and other sediments at the mountain front.

Abstract Current tectonic understanding of the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh massif (NPHM) is reviewed, developing new models for the structure and deformation of the Indian continental crust, its thermorheological evolution, and its relationship to surface processes. Comparisons are drawn with the Namche Barwa–Gyala Peri massif (NBGPM) that cores an equivalent syntaxis at the NE termination of the Himalayan arc. Both massifs show exceptionally rapid active denudation and riverine downcutting, identified from very young cooling ages measured from various thermochronometers. They also record relicts of high-pressure metamorphic conditions that chart early tectonic burial. Initial exhumation was probably exclusively by tectonic processes but the young, and continuing emergence of these massifs reflects combined tectonic and surface processes. The feedback mechanisms implicit in aneurysm models may have been overemphasized, especially the role of synkinematic granites as agents of rheological softening and strain localization. Patterns of distributed ductile deformation exhumed within the NPHM are consistent with models of orogen-wide gravitation flow, with the syntaxes forming the lateral edges to the flow beneath the Himalayan arc.

Abstract Field characteristics of crustal extrusion zones include: high-grade metamorphism flanked by lower-grade rocks; broadly coeval flanking shear zones with opposing senses of shear; early ductile fabrics successively overprinted by semi-brittle and brittle structures; and localization of strain to give a more extensive deformation history within the extrasion zone relative to the flanking regions. Crustal extrusion, involving a combination of pure and simple shear, is a regular consequence of bulk orogenic thickening and contraction during continental collision. Extrusion can occur in response to different tectonic settings, and need not necessarily imply a driving force linked to mid-crustal channel flow. In most situations, field criteria alone are unlikely to be sufficient to determine the driving causes of extrusion. This is illustrated with examples from the Nanga Parbat–Haramosh Massif in the Pakistan Himalaya, and the Wing Pond Shear Zone in Newfoundland.

Abstract A ‘blank on the map’ only 60 years ago, the Karakoram Range has been explored and surveyed with greater difficulty than the Himalaya and Tibet due to its rugged terrain and extensive glaciation. In the past ten years we have succeeded in doubling the number of gravity stations. A substantial improvement in coverage and overall quality was obtained by concentrating on previously unsurveyed areas and by validating older data with more accurate measurements. Our data were merged with earlier data, converted to full Bouguer anomalies and gridded. The resulting Bouguer anomaly map defines very precisely the gravimetric low associated with the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh syntaxis, and the huge negative anomalies between the Karakoram Fault and the Main Karakoram Thrust. Large negative values are now visible also in the Ghujerab-Khunjerab areas. Correlation of the topography and Bouguer anomaly shows that a plate of flexural rigidity with D = 2 × 10 24 Nm fits the coherence data in the Karakoram at all but two distinct frequency ranges centred at wavelengths of 80 and 300 km. In a rheologically layered lithosphere developing a buckling instability under horizontal compression, the observed spectral features of the topography and Bouguer gravity anomalies constrain the depth of the competent layers to be in the range 13–20 km and 50–75 km respectively.

Abstract Neogene events in the Nanga Parbat-Haramosh massif have obscured much of its earlier evolution. However, structural mapping of the eastern margin reveals a ductile contact zone preserving many features of the original Main Mantle Thrust that emplaced the Ladakh island arc over the Indian margin in the late Cretaceous. The sequence of ductile deformation was controlled both by the contrasting rheologies of the Ladakh island arc and the Main Mantle Thrust footwall, and the changing thermal regime during subduction, collision and burial. Preliminary P–T estimates indicate conditions during southward thrusting on the Main Mantle Thrust of c. 650 °C and 9.5 kbar, with later deformation (post-dating garnet growth) in some units at c. 500 °C and 7.4 kbar. The concordant fabrics and lithological boundaries on either side of the contact are only disrupted by a NW-vergent, brittle thrust south of the village of Subsar (Indus gorge) which cross-cuts the steepened Main Mantle Thrust Zone. This thrust is related to the neotectonic Liachar Thrust on the western margin of the massif, and is an expression of the regional tectonics at the western termination of the Himalayan arc. This late thrusting followed formation of the syntaxial antiform in Neogene times.