Abstract Whether thrusts are ramp-dominated and form imbricate fans or run out onto the syn-orogenic surface, forming ‘thrust-allochthons’, is governed by the activity of secondary ‘upper’ detachments along the syn-orogenic surface, activations of which are inhibited by syn-kinematic sedimentation at the thrust front. In the northern Apennines, where thrust systems are ramp-dominated and form an emergent imbricate fan, syn-kinematic sedimentation was abundant and accumulated ahead and above each thrust. In the southern Apennines, the far-travelled Lagronegro allochthon achieved its high displacements (>65 km) while the foredeep basin received little sediment. The imbricate fan at the front of the main Himalayan arc developed within a foredeep that experienced high rates of syn-kinematic sedimentation. In contrast, further west, the Salt Range Thrust emerged into a distal, weakly developed foredeep with significantly reduced rates of sediment accumulation. Displacements were strongly localized onto this thrust (c. 25 km displacement) which activated an upper detachment along the syn-orogenic surface. It is an arrested thrust-allochthon. Lateral variations into the adjacent, ramp-dominated but still salt-detached, Jhelum fold-belt are marked by increases in syn-kinematic sedimentation. As sedimentation styles can vary in space and time, individual thrusts and thrust systems can evolve from being allochthon prone to imbricate dominated.

Abstract Reconstructing the stratigraphic architecture of deposits prior to Cenozoic Himalayan uplift is critical for unravelling the structural, metamorphic, depositional and erosional history of the orogen. The nature and distribution of Proterozoic and lower Paleozoic strata have helped elucidate the relationship between lithotectonic zones, as well as the geometries of major bounding faults. Stratigraphic and geochronological work has revealed a uniform and widespread pattern of Paleoproterozoic strata >1.6 Ga that are unconformably overlain by <1.1 Ga rocks. The overlying Neoproterozoic strata record marine sedimentation, including a Cryogenian diamictite, a well-developed carbonate platform succession and condensed fossiliferous Precambrian–Cambrian boundary strata. Palaeontological study of Cambrian units permits correlation from the Indian craton through three Himalayan lithotectonic zones to a precision of within a few million years. Detailed sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis shows the differentiation of a proximal realm of relatively condensed, nearshore, evaporite-rich units to the south and a distal realm of thick, deltaic deposits to the north. Thus, Neoproterozoic and Cambrian strata blanketed the northern Indian craton with an extensive, northward-deepening, succession. Today, these rocks are absent from parts of the inner Lesser Himalaya, and the uplift and erosion of these proximal facies explains a marked change in global seawater isotopic chemistry at 16 Ma.

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: Establishing a Permian brachiopod biochronological scheme for global correlation is difficult because of strong provincialism during the Permian. In this paper, a brief overview of brachiopod successions in five major palaeobiogeographical realms/zones is provided. For Gondwanaland and peri-Gondwanan regions including Cimmerian blocks, Bandoproductus and Punctocyrtella (or Cyrtella ) are characteristic of the lower Cisuralian, as is Cimmeriella for the middle Cisuralian. As the Cimmerian blocks continued drifting north during the late Kungurian, accompanied by climate amelioration, contemporaneous brachiopods inhabiting these blocks showed a distinct shift from cold-water to mixed or warm-water affinities. However, coeval brachiopods in the Northern Transitional Zone (NTZ) are characterized by warm-water faunas and are associated with fusulinids in the lower Cisuralian. The Guadalupian brachiopods of the NTZ were clearly mixed between the Boreal and palaeoequatorial affinities. The end-Guadalupian is marked by the disappearance of a few characteristic genera, such as Vediproductus , Neoplicatifera and Urushtenoidea , in the Palaeotethyan region. The onset of the end-Permian mass extinction in the latest Changhsingian is clearly exhibited by the occurrence of the dwarfed and thin-shelled brachiopods commonly containing Paracrurithyris .