Abstract Joining geological mapping, structural analysis, petrology and geochronology allowed the internal architecture of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) to be unraveled. Several top-to-the-south/SW tectonic–metamorphic discontinuities developed at the regional scale, dividing it into three main units exhumed progressively from the upper to the lower one, starting from c. 40 Ma and lasting for several million years. The activity of shear zones has been constrained and linked to the pressure–temperature–time–deformation ( P – T – t – D ) evolution of the deformed rocks by the use of petrochronology. Hanging wall and footwall rocks of the shear zones recorded maximum P – T conditions at different times. Above the Main Central Thrust, a cryptic tectonometamorphic discontinuity (the High Himalayan Discontinuity (HHD)) has been recognized in Central-Eastern Himalaya. The older shear zone, that was active at c. 41–28 Ma, triggered the earlier exhumation of the uppermost GHS and allowed the migration of melt, which was produced at peak metamorphic conditions and subsequently produced in abundance at the time of the activation of the HHD. Production of melt continued at low pressure, with nearly isobaric heating leading to the genesis and emplacement of andalusite- and cordierite-bearing granites. The timing of the activation of the shear zones from deeper to upper structural levels fits with an in-sequence shearing tectonic model for the exhumation of the GHS, further affected by out-of-sequence thrusts.

Abstract The channel flow model aims to explain features common to metamorphic hinterlands of some collisional orogens, notably along the Himalaya–Tibet system. Channel flow describes a protracted flow of a weak, viscous crustal layer between relatively rigid yet deformable bounding crustal slabs. Once a critical low viscosity is attained (due to partial melting), the weak layer flows laterally due to a horizontal gradient in lithostatic pressure. In the Himalaya–Tibet system, this lithostatic pressure gradient is created by the high crustal thicknesses beneath the Tibetan Plateau and ‘normal’ crustal thickness in the foreland. Focused denudation can result in exhumation of the channel material within a narrow, nearly symmetric zone. If channel flow is operating at the same time as focused denudation, this can result in extrusion of the mid-crust between an upper normal-sense boundary and a lower thrust-sense boundary. The bounding shear zones of the extruding channel may have opposite shear sense; the sole shear zone is always a thrust, while the roof shear zone may display normal or thrust sense, depending on the relative velocity between the upper crust and the underlying extruding material. This introductory chapter addresses the historical, theoretical, geological and modelling aspects of channel flow, emphasizing its applicability to the Himalaya–Tibet orogen. Critical tests for channel flow in the Himalaya, and possible applications to other orogenic belts, are also presented.

Abstract Out-of-sequence deformation in the Himalaya has been caused mainly by thrusting. Out-of-sequence thrusts, usually north- to NE-dipping foreshear planes, occur inside the Sub-Himalaya (SH), Lesser Himalaya (LH) and Greater Himalayan Crystalline (GHC) sequences. Where absolute dates are available, the youngest slip within the SH occurred near the Janauri Anticline (India) at c. AD 1400–1460. The Munsiari Thrust (India) activated within the LH at c. 1–2 Ma and the Main Central Thrust zone in the Marsyandi valley (Nepal) in the GHC was formed during the Holocene ( c. 0.3 ka). Except for the Riasi Thrust (Kashmir, India), the Paonta Thrust (Himachal Pradesh, India) in the Siwalik and the Tons Thrust (Garhwal region, India) within the Main Central Thrust zone, crustal shortening related to out-of-sequence thrusting in the Himalaya has been insignificant. The major litho-/stratigraphic contacts within the SH and the GHC at some places acted as out-of-sequence thrusts. Out-of-sequence thrusts in the SH have been detected mainly based on geomorphological observations. However, more quantitative geochronological studies have detected out-of-sequence thrusting from c. 22 Ma up to Holocene age in the GHC based on age jumps, especially within the Main Central Thrust zone. Crustal channel flow (specifically for the GHC) and/or the critical taper model with or without erosion can be used to explain the Himalayan out-of-sequence thrusts.

Abstract The Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) is one of the major tectonic units of the Himalaya running for more than 2400 km along-strike. It has been considered as a coherent tectonic unit bound by the South Tibetan Detachment (STD) and the Main Central Thrust (MCT). However, thrusts within it have been recognized in several places and have been mainly interpreted as out-of-sequence thrusts being active after the main phase of exhumation of the crystalline unit after the MCT activated. Recent integrated studies allow the recognition of several ductile shear zones in the core of the GHS, with top-to-the-SW-sense of shear (Higher Himalayan Discontinuity (HHD)). U–Th–Pb in situ monazite ages provide ages older than the MCT. Data on pressure and temperature evolution testify that these shear zones affected the tectonometamorphic evolution of the belt and different pressure and temperature conditions were recorded in the hanging wall and footwall of the HHD. The correlation of the WNW–ESE-trending HHD with other discontinuities recognized in the GHS led to the proposal that it is a tectonic feature running for several hundred kilometres, documented at the regional scale dividing the GHS in two different portions.

Abstract This review presents an objective account of metamorphic, microstructural and geochronological studies in the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) and adjacent units in Nepal in the light of recent research. The importance of integrated, multidisciplinary studies is highlighted. A personal view is presented of strategies for determining pressure–temperature evolution, and of petrological processes at the micro scale, particularly in relation to departures from equilibrium and the behaviour of partially-melted rock systems. Evidence has accumulated for the existence within the GHS of a High Himalayan Discontinuity, marked by differences in timing of peak metamorphism in the hanging wall and footwall, and changes in P–T gradients and paths. Whether or not this is a single continuous horizon, it forms at each location the lower boundary to a migmatitic zone capable of ductile flow, and separates the GHS into an upper division in which channel flow may have operated in the interval 25–18 Ma, and a lower division characterized by an inverted metamorphic gradient, and by metamorphic ages that decrease downsection and are best explained by sequential accretion of footwall slices between 20 and 6 Ma. An overall model for extrusion of the GHS is still not resolved.

Abstract Anatectic melt inclusions (nanogranites and nanotonalites) have been found in garnet of kyanite-gneiss at the bottom of the Greater Himalayan Sequence (GHS) along the Kali Gandaki valley, central Nepal, c. 1 km structurally above the Main Central Thrust (MCT). In situ U–Th–Pb dating of monazite included in garnets, in the same structural positions as melt inclusions, allowed us to constrain partial melting starting at c. 41–36 Ma. Eocene partial melting occurred during prograde metamorphism in the kyanite stability field (Eo-Himalayan event). Sillimanite-bearing mylonitic foliation wraps around garnets showing a top-to-the-SW sense of shear linked to the MCT ductile activity and to the exhumation of the GHS. These findings highlight the occurrence of an older melting event in the GHS during prograde metamorphism in the kyanite stability field before the more diffuse Miocene melting event. The growth of prograde garnet and kyanite at 41–6 Ma in the MCT zone, affecting the bottom of the GHS, suggests that inverted metamorphism in the MCT zone and folded isograds in the GHS should be carefully proved with the aid of geochronology, because not all Barrovian minerals grew during the same time span and they grew in different tectonic settings.