Earth and Planetary Science Letters 200 (2002) 91^106 www.elsevier.

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Nd and Pb isotope variability in the Indus River System: implications for sediment provenance and crustal heterogeneity in the Western Himalaya
Peter D. Clift a ; , Jae Il Lee a ; 1 , Peter Hildebrand b , Nobumichi Shimizu a , Graham D. Layne a , Jerzy Blusztajn a , Joel D. Blum c , Eduardo Garzanti d , Athar Ali Khan e
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA b Department of Geology, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland c Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, 425 East University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA ' di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 4, 20126 Milano, Italy Dipartimento Scienze Geologiche e Geotecnologie, Universita e National Institute for Oceanography, ST-47-Block 1, Clifton, Karachi 75600, Pakistan Received 29 October 2001; received in revised form 8 March 2002; accepted 19 March 2002
a

Abstract The Indus River system is the only major drainage system in the western Himalaya, and erodes not only the High Himalaya, but also topographically high regions within and north of the Indus Suture Zone, most notably the Karakoram. Ion microprobe analysis of Pb isotopes in detrital K-feldspar grains taken from the tributaries of the Indus, together with bulk Nd isotope analysis of those same sediments, is here used to identify distinct sediment source regions. These span the very radiogenic Nanga Parbat and associated Lesser Himalaya, the relatively radiogenic-intermediate High Himalaya, the unradiogenic Ladakh and Kohistan Batholiths and intermediate values in the Hindu Kush, Karakoram and Lhasa Block. The range of compositions reflects differing degrees of recycling of older continental crust during petrogenesis. K-feldspars from the Ladakh and Kohistan Batholiths are less radiogenic than the laterally equivalent Gangdese granite of Tibet, interpreted to reflect the preferential recycling of accreted oceanic arc units within the western Transhimalaya prior to India^Asia collision. Similarly the Zanskar High Himalaya are less radiogenic than their equivalents in Nepal. Isotope values from Pleistocene Indus Fan sediment are compatible with a dominant source in the Karakoram, with additional important contributions from the arc batholiths and High Himalaya, reflecting both the area and modern rates of tectonic uplift within the drainage basin. In contrast, radiogenic grains are common in the lower reaches of the modern Indus River, possibly as a result of the damming of the main river channel where it reaches the foreland. 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-508-289-3437; Fax: +1-508-457-2187. E-mail address: pclift@whoi.edu (P.D. Clift). Present address: Polar Sciences Laboratory, Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute, Ansan P.O. Box 29, Seoul 425600, Korea. 0012-821X / 02 / $ ^ see front matter 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 0 1 2 - 8 2 1 X ( 0 2 ) 0 0 6 2 0 - 9
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Keywords: Himalayas; provenance; ion probe; isotope ratios

1. Introduction The western Himalaya dier from their equivalents further east in being drained by only one large river system, the Indus. Understanding the nature of the sedimentary record that the Indus leaves in the foreland, or oshore in the Indus Fan, is important if these deposits are to be used to reconstruct the growth of topography following India^Asia collision. Throughout the Himalaya erosion has largely removed the thermal record of Paleogene cooling from the crystalline orogenic core due to rapid Neogene exhumation (e.g. [1^7]), although Paleogene cooling ages are known from parts of the High Himalaya in Pakistan [8]. Consequently patterns and rates of early exhumation can only be reconstructed from the erosional record. An understanding of the modern bedload of the river is also important to attempts at quantifying the linkage between erosion and climatic varibility in south Asia. In particular, the relationships between tectonic evolution of the mountains, erosion and monsoonal strength have been debated (e.g. [9,10,11]), but remain dicult to correlate in detail. Burbank et al. [12] suggested that decreasing rates of erosion since 8 Ma, immediately following the commonly accepted age of monsoonal strengthening [13,14] reected a stabilizing of slopes due to increased vegetation and the retreat of mountain glaciers. However, measured erosion rates in the modern Himalaya are faster in regions where the monsoon is heavier [15]. In addition, during the last glacial stage erosion rates in the Himalaya, inferred from sedimentation rates in the Ganges delta, were higher when the monsoon was stronger [16]. It suces to say that the relationship between monsoonal strength and orogenic erosion is presently poorly understood. A rst stage to clarifying this situation is a good understanding of modern erosion and sediment transport in a region where the monsoon is well understood. For this purpose we choose the Indus River system (Fig. 1). In this study we have examined the provenance

of sediments in the Indus River system in order to determine which parts of the mountain source regions are providing the bulk of the sediments to the clastic record of the Arabian Sea, because this is the most complete repository of eroded material in the western Himalaya. Understanding what controls the nature of sediment reaching this basin is essential if we are to reconstruct the long-term erosion history of the mountains. We have opted to use the Pb isotopic system as applied to K-feldspars because this has an established track record as a provenance tool (e.g. [17]), and moreover has been used to discriminate evolving provenance within the Indus Suture Zone [18], as well as to demonstrate the derivation of suture zone, as opposed to Indian Plate, material into the Arabian Sea during the Middle Eocene [19].

2. Sampling strategy We have examined how the Pb isotopic character of detrital K-feldspar grains in the bedload of the Indus River changes downstream, and how this relates to the composition of the terrains that the river is incising. In addition, we have documented the changes in bulk sediment Nd isotope composition for the same samples. In order to derive erosion patterns from a marine or delta sediment comprising grains derived from a number of dierent sources the range of compositions of those sources must rst be determined prior to mixing. Therefore, as well as studying sediments from dierent locations along the course of the main Indus River (Figs. 1 and 2), we also collected samples from a number of major tributaries in order to characterize the composition of the major sediment sources, in particular, the Nanga Parbat^Harramosh Massif (NPHM; sample S15), the Karakoram Batholith (sample LA-75), the Southern Karakoram Metamorphic Belt (sample W23), and the Ladakh Batholith (sample LA-94). Samples taken from rivers that originate within a single tectonic block can be used to characterize

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Fig. 1. Digital topographic map of the Indus drainage basin showing sample locations.

the chemical and isotopic variability within that block over the entire drainage area of that river, providing a more accurate regional estimate than is possible through simple analysis of the bedrock itself. A number of other samples are known to drain only two major sources, which can then be distinguished given the data from the single source rivers and/or basement measurements. The Kabul River (sample W33) for example is known to drain the Hindu Kush and the Kohistan Arc terrane (Figs. 2 and 3). The Gilgit River (sample W2) drains the Southern Karakoram Metamorphic Belt (SKMB) and the Kohistan Arc (Fig.

4). The Ravi (sample S1476), Chenab (S1450) and Sutlej (S1467) rivers drain the High and Lesser Himalaya, although the Sutlej also drains a small part of the Indus Suture Zone as well. The samples taken were ne or medium grained sands and are from a series of locations shown on Figs. 1 and 2. A limited amount of direct basement sampling was performed in the Hindu Kush, because this area was the only major basement unit for which no existing analyses are published. Cross-checking the detrital Pb isotopic ratios against known values from the basement helps to provide a high level of condence in the provenance results.

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Fig. 2. Regional geological map of the Indus drainage basin.

Analyses of K-feldspar grains have been made from the other major tectonic units that form sediment sources within the Indus drainage basin. Distinct isotopic characters of the High Himalaya, Transhimalaya, Kohistan/Dras Arc, Karakoram and Lhasa Block sources have already been established, albeit mostly further east in central Tibet [21^25]. Determining whether these same units were isotopically homogenous along strike into the Indus drainage basin was a key goal of the study. Four grains from a stream draining the Ladakh Batholith at Hunder (Fig. 1) were published by Clift et al. [18] and are augmented here with further analyses from the same river system. For reference we also consider the composition of the ocean mantle using modern values for the Pacic and Indian Ocean mid ocean ridge basalt as a proxy for Tethyan mantle [26,27].

3. Nd isotopes Some limitations on the source of the mixed Indus sediments and the composition of the source terrains can be gained through examining the Nd isotopic composition of bulk sediment samples, from which the single grain Pb isotope measurements are also made. Because weathering and the sediment transport process are not expected to result in isotopic fractionation, the measured isotopic signature of the sediment should reect the bulk composition of the source. Ten grams of sediment were powdered from each sample to ensure a good average composition. Each sample was then dissolved and the Nd separated using standard column extraction techniques. Nd isotopic compositions were determined on VG354 mass spectrometer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). 143 Nd/144 Nd values are nor-

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Fig. 3. Geological map of the Kabul River region. TMF = Tirich Mir Fault; RF = Reshun Fault; CF = Chaman Fault; KF = Kunar Fault; MMT = Main Mantle Thrust; SSZ = Shyok Suture Zone.

malized to 146 Nd/144 Nd = 0.7219 and are relative to 0.511 847 for the La Jolla standard. The results are shown in Table 1 in the Background Data Set2 . We calculate the parameter ONd [28] using a 143 Nd/144 Nd value of 0.512638 for the Chondritic Uniform Reservoir [29]. Fig. 5 shows the range and frequency of ONd values noted in the Indus River and marine sediments and compares these with published values from the High Himalaya [29,30], Lesser Himalaya [32,33,34], NPHM [35], the Transhimalaya [36], Kohistan/Dras Arcs [37,38], the Karakoram [39], and Lhasa Block [40]. In general, sediment samples taken from rivers draining restricted areas seem to show good correspondence with the ONd values measured from the basement, e.g. S-15 and W-27 span the range measured from NPHM. Sediment eroding from the Ladakh Batholith,

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LA-94, is slightly lower in ONd than samples measured from Transhimalayan granite samples themselves, but this material is still clearly less radiogenic than other samples in the Indus system. Not surprisingly, W-2 from the Gilgit River also shows unradiogenic values reecting the importance of the Kohistan Batholith, an along-strike equivalent of the Ladakh Batholith, as a source to that region. W-2 is more radiogenic than LA-94, because the Gilgit River also receives sediment from the Karakoram, which has lower ONd values. Rivers whose drainage basins mostly comprise the Lesser and High Himalaya are seen to lie close to the peak ONd values seen in the High Himalaya, i.e. Zanskar (LA-109) and Ravi (S1476) rivers, consistent with the High Himalaya dominating the sediment ux to these stream. In the main Indus itself ONd values fall downstream from 38.4 at the Indus^Zanskar conuence (LA-111), to 38.6 at Skardu (W21), to 310.77 at Besham and reaching the lowest values

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Fig. 4. Geological map of the Gilgit River region.

shortly before entering the Arabian Sea, 315.0 at Sukkur (S-1) and 315.4 at Thatta (TH-1). This trend can be readily understood in terms of a progressive mixing of radiogenic sediment, mostly eroded from the Lesser and High Himalayas and NPHM, into the less radiogenic sediment that the main Indus River derives from the Indus Suture

Zone. The ONd values of the Indus in the Indus Suture Zone in Ladakh lie closest to the values measured in the Karakoram basement or in proximal stream draining the Karakoram. The provenance evolution of the river is not simple because the ONd values measured from the Pleistocene Indus Fan (ODP Site 720 [19]) and from the shallow-water shelf (ID-18) are markedly less radiogenic than the modern sediment in the lower reaches of the river. Indeed the ONd values measured from S-1 and TH-1 are so close to the values measured from the Ravi River that it implies that by the time the Indus reaches the Arabian Sea there is almost no contribution from the less radiogenic Indus River sediments that reached the foreland at Besham (W-32). That this has not always been the case is shown by the less radiogenic values on the shelf and on the Indus Fan itself.

4. Pb isotopes of detrital feldspars

Fig. 5. Nd isotopic discrimination diagrams for the river sediments sampled from the Indus system, and compared with previously published values from the basement sources.

In order to better understand the provenance evolution of the Indus River we employ the newly

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developed technique of measuring Pb in situ [41] in single sand grains using a high-resolution Cameca 1270 ion microprobe of the Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility (NENIMF) at WHOI. Although producing analytical uncertainties much greater than the conventional thermal ionization mass spectrometer method, the ion probe approach allows for the rst time isotopic determinations on individual sand and silt-sized particles. In order to exploit the potential of this method to characterize heterogeneous feldspar populations several analyses were run from each sand sample in order to dene the range of isotopic ratios in a single sample, and in the case of the mixed sediment samples to identify small populations of grains with distinct isotopic characters (Table 2 in the Background Data Set2 ). The sandstones were sieved, after which the size fraction 1 mm to 200 Wm, was mounted in epoxy and polished using aluminum oxide abrasives. The K-feldspar grains were then identied by area mapping of Al2 O3 and K2 O using the JEOL Superprobe electron microprobe at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This allowed the K-feldspars to be identied for isotopic analysis. After gold coating the grains were analyzed using a beam of negatively charged oxygen ions (O3 ) focused to a spot as small as 15^20 Wm. Analytical uncertainties are principally a reection of the counting statistics, typically averaging 2c 9 1%. The analytical results are shown in Table 2 in the Background Data Set2 . Analysis of K-feldspar standards veries that there is no signicant mass fractionation eect in analyzing Pb isotopes using the ion microprobe methodology compared to conventional mass spectrometry. In order to minimize the risk of secondary Pb contamination from sources outside the feldspar, analyses were made in the center of the grain, away from cracks, inclusions or alteration zones. The ion beam was trained on the spot to be analyzed for 5 min before analysis began, so that any surface Pb contamination was removed, thus avoiding any contamination that might have occurred during preparation of the grains mount. Through probing grain centers and allowing the beam to remove surface coating of the

sectioned grains we avoid analysis of excess secondary Pb that is normally removed by leaching procedures prior to conventional mass spectrometry [23]. K-feldspars from basement samples taken in the Hindu Kush (Fig. 3) were extracted after jaw crushing and were analyzed using conventional mass spectrometry at the British Geological Society, Keyworth, UK. Results from this work are shown in Table 3 in the Background Data Set2 .

5. Results Figs. 6^8 show the spread of measured isotopic ratios for detrital Indus River sands compared with those previously recorded from basement rocks from the central Himalaya/Tibet area, as well as Asian mantle sources [20^26]. The elds dened for the Indian Plate, Transhimalaya, Karakoram and Lhasa Block are also K-feldspar analyses, while those from the Kohistan/Dras Arc represent whole rock analyses from Pakistani exposures [38], since no K-feldspar data are available from this unit. It is apparent that there is a wide spread of Pb isotopic values in Indus River sands. Streams draining the NPHM are the most radiogenic noted, exceeding values from the High Himalaya [23], similar to the pattern seen in the Nd data. Likewise, grains eroded from the Ladakh Batholith (LA-94) and some of the grains in the Gilgit River (W-2), probably derived from the Kohistan Batholith, represent the least radiogenic end members. Many grains fall in intermediary values overlapping known basement values for the Lhasa Block, the Karakoram, as well as the new basement measurements from the Hindu Kush. In practice there is a general gradation between unradiogenic arc units, intermediate units representing the southern margin of Asia prior to India collision and the radiogenic values of the Indian Plate. Because K-feldspar contains almost no U the Pb isotope character of the K-feldspars represents the whole rock values at the time of crystallization of the source rocks, and is not aected by subsequent ingrowth of radiogenic Pb [42]. Conse-

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Fig. 6. Pb isotopic discrimination diagrams for (A) Karakoram Batholith, (B) Ladakh Batholith, and (C) Indus River at Zanskar. Analyses from detrital grains are compared with previously measured Pb isotope values from basement rocks in the central Himalaya/Tibet region, as well as Indian and Pacic mantle ranges [20^26].

quently, the river sediments conrm a broad scale isotopic heterogeneity within the western Himalaya that reects unique geological histories of the dierent tectonic blocks prior to their present amalgamation into the Himalaya. The results also support the idea of using Pb as eective source discriminants for sediments in the western Himalaya because of the dierences between sources. Although there is overlap between arc units and the Karakoram/Hindu Kush/Lhasa Block crustal group, a denitive interpretation is possible for many grains. Similarly, some grains have values compatible with erosion from either the High Himalaya or from Karakoram/Hindu Kush/Lhasa Block. However, even in cases of ambiguity it is normally possible to clearly rule out some sources as possible origins for a given grain. For example, a grain that plots within the overlap between High Himalaya and Karakoram/Hindu Kush/ Lhasa Block cannot be eroded from the Ladakh/Kohistan Batholiths or from NPHM. Earlier studies suggest that other variables such as mineralogy or Nd isotopes can be used to separate sources that are not unique in Pb isotopes [18].

6. Sediment provenance The range of Pb isotopes recognized in grains from the proximal streams draining the source terrains within the Indus drainage basin allows the evolution of provenance in the modern river to be assessed during its ow towards the Arabian Sea. The Indus River in Ladakh below the conuence with the Zanskar (LA-111) has mostly intermediate to low isotopic ratios in its detrital K-feldspars and an ONd value of 38.37, indicating that ux from the High Himalaya draining Zanskar River is not a major contributor to the net ow. The Pb isotopic character of K-feldspars in the Indus River in Ladakh is compatible with dominant erosion of the Ladakh Batholith, or the Paleogene sediments of the Indus Molasse [18]. However, the bulk sediment Nd isotope work demonstrates that the Indus sediment here is too ONd negative to be derived solely from the Ladakh Batholith. Although the K-feldspars at the Indus^Zanskar Conuence could be derived preferentially from other sources compared to the bulk sediment, we infer that many of the grains in sample LA-111 were derived upstream,

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Fig. 7. Pb isotopic discrimination diagrams for (A) Gilgit River, and (B) Kabul River.

either directly from the Lhasa Block or reworked from the Indus Molasse, which itself is largely eroded from the Lhasa Block in the upper part of its stratigraphy [18]. The Gilgit River contains K-feldspar grains that span a broad range of Pb isotopic values, consistent with the Gilgit drainage basin deriving run-o from both the Kohistan Batholith, with its low Pb isotopic ratios, and the SKMB, dominated by intermediate values. Like other rivers entering the Indus River upstream of NPHM, the Gilgit River does not have any grains with the very high ratios typical of the Lesser Himalaya and NPHM, both reworked parts of the ancient Indian craton. 6.1. Inuence of Nanga Parbat The inuence of the NPHM in the net sediment ow to the Arabian Sea can be assessed through examination of the composition of the Indus upand downstream of the massif. The closest sample upstream is W-21 located just upstream of the Indus^Shyok Conuence (Fig. 1). The Indus

that ows past the NPHM is diluted by the addition of the Gilgit River compared to W-21, pushing the net ONd value of the Indus to more positive values before it passes NPHM. Because the average ONd values for the Karakoram lie close to the ONd value of W-21, and this terrain represents the dominant sediment source upstream of NPHM, it seems likely that the average ONd value of the Indus just upstream of NPHM was close to the 38.64 measured at W-21. A simple mixing calculation can estimate the amount of NPHM material needed to push the net ONd value of the Indus from 38.64 to that found at W-32, i.e. 310.77. We use an average of S-15 and W-27 to represent the ow from NPHM, and assume similar concentrations of Nd in the sediment from each source. The modest gure of 13% from NPHM still allows deep erosion of the massif, but precludes a large proportion of the grains in the Indus at W-32 being derived from that area. A similar mixing calculation can be performed for the total sediment reaching the Indus Fan by using the values of

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Fig. 8. Pb isotopic discrimination diagrams for (A) Nanga Parbat, and (B) the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers.

312.56 and 314.03 measured for Pleistocene Indus Fan muds [19], and assuming that the four major foreland tributaries which mostly drain the High and Lesser Himalaya have similar ONd values to the Ravi River sample measured here (315.0). The average Pleistocene ONd value for the Indus Fan can be achieved by mixing 41^ 75% (depending on the value of the Indus Fan) material derived from the High and Lesser Himalaya via the foreland tributaries, and 25^59% from the main Indus River as sampled at W-32. In this case NPHM would be the source of V3^ 8% of the total sediment reaching the Arabian Sea. Because the streams draining NPHM yield grains with very high isotopic ratios, the single

grain Pb isotope work allows us to test the hypothesis that the Indus Fan is not strongly affected by erosion of this massif. Analyses of Pb isotopes from Pleistocene Indus Fan sediments (Fig. 9B) have been used to infer a weak ux of sediment from Indian Plate sources [19], including NPHM. Additional analyses were made from the Pleistocene fan sample from ODP Site 720 on the mid fan, which was previously examined, in order to search for small grain population groups that may have been missed by the initial work [19]. There is no evidence for the distinctive radiogenic grains from the NPHM, in the Pleistocene fan sediment, indicating that this massif provides only a small amount of the total sediment reaching the Arabian Sea. The geochemically derived evidence for erosional inux from NPHM can be compared to estimates of eroded rock volumes based on the area of the source and the degree of Neogene cooling measured by radiometric methods [19]. By making such estimates for the entire Indus drainage basin Clift et al. [19] predicted that as much as V20% of the modern Indus bedload could be derived from the NPHM, assuming that a peak rate of cooling of 7 km/Myr [1,2,43] was applied to the entire area of the NPHM, and that a temperature gradient of 30/km was appropriate. However, exhumation rates based on these simple assumptions were probably overestimates. Other workers have proposed peak exhumation rates of 3^7 km/Myr after considering the eects of topography and the perturbed geothermal gradient [44,45]. If these lower rates were correct this would imply 6 10% of the Indus Fan having been derived from NPHM. If exhumation was even partly tectonic in origin (e.g. [46]) then this would reduce the erosional contribution further, approaching the 3^8% estimate favored by this study. Clearly the erosional record of the Indus Fan is not dominated by erosion from NPHM. 6.2. Inuence of the High Himalaya As noted above, the Nd isotope data indicate that as much as 41^75% of the sediment reaching the Indus Fan may be derived from the large tributaries of the Indian foreland which principally

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erode the Lesser and High Himalaya. This hypothesis can be tested using the single grain Pb isotope data. Although the range of Pb isotope values in the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers does show signicant overlap with the range measured in Karakoram rivers (Fig. 8B), making absolute discrimination of the two sources impossible, it is noteworthy that each foreland river also carries a minority of very radiogenic grains that have no equivalent yet detected in the Karakoram or the Indus Fan. Grains from the SKMB with high 206 Pb/204 Pb values have lower 207 Pb/204 Pb values than those from the Lesser Himalaya/ NPHM. The absence of very radiogenic grains from the Indus Fan sediment argues against a very large proportion of that sediment in the Indus Fan being derived from the foreland tributaries, at least during the Pleistocene. 6.3. Inuence of the Karakoram The implication of the combined Nd and Pb data is that much of the sediment in the Indus Fan is derived from north of the Indus Suture, mostly from the Karakoram. Exhumation rates derived from radiometric work in the SKMB reach 5^7 km/Myr [2^4,6,7], suggesting that this could be a major sediment source. In contrast, the Karakoram Batholith has much lower recent rates of exhumation ( 6 1 km/Myr [47]). The area of the SKMB is approximately six times that of NPHM (500U35 km versus 100U30 km), and consequently six times more material may be derived from this source into the Indus River. The Pb isotopic character of the K-feldspar grains in the Indus Fan is consistent with the Karakoram being their dominant source, as is the bulk sediment ONd value. Within the sediment now eroding from the Karakoram there is a minority population of radiogenic grains identied in the Braldu River (W23), which does not seem to be reected in the fan sediment. The High Himalaya show a range of Pb isotope ratios that overlap with those in the fan, but this source does not match the ONd values, or explain the lack of very radiogenic Lesser Himalayan feldspar grains that are supplied along with the High Himalayan material by the foreland tributaries.

The low proportion of High Himalayan material in the Indus Fan compared to the Bengal Fan reects the nature of the drainage basin concentrated north of the Indus Suture, and the simple fact that the western High Himalaya are not topographically very elevated compared to their eastern equivalents. Although the High Himalaya in Zanskar and Lahaul were rapidly exhumed at V20^23 Ma [5,48,49], metamorphism in the western Pakistan High Himalaya appears to peak much earlier, V45 Ma [8,49]. Consequently, the modern erosional ux from these units into the Indus is rather less than is the case in the Ganges^Brahmaputra drainage basin. It is noteworthy that unlike the central and eastern Himalaya, exhumation is strong north of the Indus Suture Zone within the Indus drainage area, an observation suggestive of an active link between exhumation and drainage development.

7. Sediment ow rates Analyses from the Indus River at Sukkur and Thatta (S1 and TH-1; Fig. 1) provide an additional dimension to our understanding of sediment ow within the modern Indus. These samples were taken downstream of the major foreland tributaries that join the main Indus River (i.e. Jellum, Chenab, Sutlej and Ravi). The dominant sources for these tributaries are the High and Lesser Himalaya, a fact conrmed by the analyses from the Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej rivers made in this study (Fig. 8B). In contrast with the Indus Fan sample (ODP Site 720), the Indus at Sukkur (S1) has a small number of grains with high isotopic ratios, associated with erosion of the Lesser Himalaya or NPHM. The bulk sediment ONd values for S1 and TH-1 are more radiogenic than the Indus River upstream or the Indus Fan and Pakistan Shelf. No major tributary joins the Indus River downstream of Sukkur or Thatta, making its mis-match with the marine dicult to explain. Both Pb and Nd isotopic data suggest that S1 and TH-1 do not represent the product of steadystate ow in the Indus River, as they are much more enriched in material eroded from the Indian Plate than is normal given the character of the fan

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Fig. 9. Pb isotopic discrimination diagrams showing a comparison between the range of Pb isotopic characters inferred for the source regions and detrital K-feldspars in the Indus River at (A) Sukkur, (B) ODP Site 720 on the Indus Fan, and (C) in the Indus River at the Indus^Zanskar Conuence.

sediments. The cause for this mis-match is presently unclear. One possibility is that this represents seasonal variation in the sediment ux, perhaps due to climatic variability favoring erosion of the Himalaya over the Karakoram. For example, precipitation during the summer monsoon is

strongest in the frontal Himalayan ranges, while erosion of the Karakoram may be dominantly governed by glacial erosion. Alternatively, the radiogenic isotopic character of S1 and TH-1 may be related to the damming of the Indus close to where it reaches the foreland at Tarbela (Fig. 1).

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The dam there was completed in 1976 and has drastically cut the amount of sediment from the upstream parts of the river which reaches the foreland. The dam must therefore cause sediment downstream to be enriched in Indian Plate material relative to normal ow conditions, because the foreland tributaries would represent a high proportion of the total sediment ux after damming. This hypothesis requires that the river between the dam and Thatta has been largely washed of sediment eroded from upstream of the dam, and thus dominated by ow from the Himalaya-draining tributaries that join the Indus River in the foreland. This model allows the rate of sediment ow through the river to be estimated. Thinking of the dam as creating a negative wave of sediment owing downstream from the dam since 1976 at an average transport rate of 48 km/yr would be required to cover the V1200 km horizontal distance between Sukkur and the dam. Further complexity in the sediment transport is inferred from the very unradiogenic ONd values measured from the Pakistan Shelf, less than the sediments at S1 and TH-1, as well as the Indus Fan itself. This mis-match may reect alongshore, eastward transport of material from the Makran coast, while much of the sediment from the Indus itself may bypass the shelf and be transported directly to the deep fan via the Indus Canyon.

8. Crustal evolution Isotopic dierences between dierent tectonic blocks in the western Himalaya reect important dierences in the petrogenesis of each unit. Because the Pb isotopic character of the K-feldspar grains represents the original Pb isotopic character of the whole rock at the time of crystallization, and before ingrowth of additional radiogenic Pb after crystallization, the measured values can be used to infer the relative inuence of ancient radiogenic continental crust versus oceanic mantle in the melting process. Thus, very high radiogenic Pb isotopic ratios from NPHM indicate a reworking of very ancient continental crust, in accord

with the correlation of NPHM with the Lesser Himalaya, based on very radiogenic Nd isotope data [35]. Similarly, the slightly lower, but still relatively high Nd isotopic values seen in the Ravi River reect the radiogenic character of the High Himalaya, also derived by melting and reworking of pre-existing Indian continental crust [31,36]. Nonetheless, there is a marked dierence between the range of Pb isotopic ratios measured in the Indus drainage basin and those recorded from the High Himalaya further east [23]. The western High Himalaya do not seem to show the range to much higher values that the eastern and central ranges do, implying a generally less radiogenic (younger) crust, closer in composition to the Karakoram/Lhasa Block/Hindu Kush. In contrast, the low, unradiogenic ratios measured in grains from the Gilgit River, which were derived from erosion of the Kohistan Batholith, are in accord with the source being either an intra-oceanic arc intrusion [37,38] or a later intrusion into an intra-oceanic arc. The low values preclude major reworking of ancient radiogenic continental crust into the Kohistan Batholith. Interestingly, the Ladakh Batholith also has dominantly low Pb isotopic ratios, somewhat lower than its apparent along-strike equivalent in the Gangdese Batholith [40]. Gangdese, Ladakh and Kohistan are all believed to represent the roots of a continental arc along the southern margin of Asia active prior to India-Asia collision. The more continental character of the Gangdese Batholith is typical of continental arc intrusions, and suggests that either the Ladakh Batholith was melted from a mantle source and then intruded into the Asian (Karakoram) margin without much reworking of the existing crust, or that the basement into which it was emplaced contained a large amount of oceanic material, as is clearly the case in the Kohistan Batholith. Given that Kohistan and Ladakh lie close to one another and are only separated by the NPHM the latter scenario is preferred. Chemical and isotopic work show that intra-oceanic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Kohistan/Dras Arc are found as far east as Ladakh, immediately south of the area sampled for K-feldspars [50]. The lower structural levels of that arc sequence may have been reworked during

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the later continental arc magmatism, resulting in a relatively unradiogenic character to the total batholith. This conclusion is at odds with the suggestion that an oceanic arc only existed in Kohistan and that the arc magmatism in the Ladakh region, east of Kargil, was always continental [51]. The generally similar Pb isotopic ranges for the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Lhasa Block are consistent with them all being terranes along the southern margin of Asia prior to Indian collision. Their generally less radiogenic character than the Lesser Himalaya and NPHM suggests that the crust is younger, with less time for radiogenic Pb to accumulate since extraction from a mantle source. Alternatively, the crust may have originally been of the same age, but has been intruded by younger, less radiogenic melts in an active margin environment, which reduced the average radiogenic contents to the values seen. The appearance of a minor population of radiogenic grains in the Braldu River suggests that the SKMB contains a minor amount of older crust, intercalated within the dominant less radiogenic material. Clearly the Karakoram, Hindu Kush and Lhasa Block have been in an active margin setting for a long time, because intrusions dating from as early as 195 Ma are known from the Hindu Kush [52], and from 150^145 Ma [5] and 115 Ma [53] in the Karakoram. Although much of this magmatism would involve reworking of the continental basement on which the arc was sited, the derivation of some new material from the upper mantle would necessarily make the crust less radiogenic than it would otherwise have been.

with NPHM and the Lesser Himalaya. Another group with high Pb isotopic ratios is eroded from the High Himalaya, while an intermediate group is derived from the Karakoram, Hindu Kush or Lhasa Block. Finally a group with low Pb isotopic ratios is eroded from the Ladakh and Kohistan Batholiths. The dierences are inferred to represent real dierences in bulk age of crustal accretion, composition and the duration over which radiogenic Pb has been allowed to accumulate. The Ladakh Batholith has low Pb isotopic ratios similar to Kohistan Batholith, but lower than the Gangdese Batholith, which is located further east in the Transhimalaya. This indicates magmatic recycling of oceanic arc fragments in the west prior to India^Asia collision. The bedload of the Indus River in Ladakh is derived from the Lhasa Block and/or the Indus Molasse Group, with rather less ux from the Ladakh Batholith. Downstream large volumes of material are added from the Karakoram. Pb isotopic analyses from deep-sea sands conrm that the Indian Plate, including NPHM, is not the main contributor to the Indus Fan, which is dominated instead by the rapidly exhuming terranes of the SKMB. The High and Lesser Himalaya provide V40% of the total sediment, mostly via the large tributaries that join the Indus in the foreland. Erosional ux to the ocean appears to be linked to both the area of a given source and the instantaneous rates of tectonic uplift.

Acknowledgements P.C. thanks JOI/USSAC and WHOI for nancial support to perform eldwork in the Indus Suture and for some analytical support. P.C. thanks Fida Hussein Mittoo of Leh and Rockland Tour and Trek for all their logistical help in the eld, and Nilanjan Chatterjee (MIT) for technical help using the electron microprobe. J.L. was supported by the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation. J.D.B. thanks C. Gazis for help in the eld and National Science Foundation Grant EAR-9418154 for support. The NENIMF at WHOI is supported by Grant EAR-9904400 from the National Science Foundation.[BARD]

9. Conclusions Analysis of the Pb isotopic composition of detrital K-feldspar grains and the Nd isotopic character of the bulk sediment from which they were taken, at a variety of locations within the Indus River system has identied signicant isotopic heterogeneity within the western Himalaya, Karakoram and Tibet. Four grain populations can be distinguished, albeit with some overlap between groups. A very radiogenic group is associated

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