Relict majorite, recognized petrographically and confirmed by in situ laser-ablation microprobe analyses, is reported from eclogites of the Tso Morari Complex, India, and represents the first record of relict majorite in the Himalaya. Previous studies have established that the Tso Morari Complex eclogites represent continental metamorphosed basic rocks within the sequence of paragneisses and metapelites interbedded with granitic augen gneisses. Our study provides evidence for subduction of the Indian continental crust to majorite-forming depths (∼200 km), and even more significant, its exhumation from such depth without being completely overprinted. This estimated depth is almost double the previous depth approximations and hence has important implications on the estimation of the angle of subduction and average rates of exhumation of the Indian plate in the Himalayan collisional zone.

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