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Abstract
The Worlds largest peripheral foreland basin, developed in front of the rising Himalaya, incorporates a sedimentary pile on the order of
104 m in thickness. Temporal variation in the heavy mineral record exists in the northwestern Himalayan Foreland succession due to a change
in the composition of the hinterland. This study was conducted in order to correlate the heavy minerals occurring in sedimentary rocks with
those of the present day small rivers/streams flowing exclusively either in the Higher Himalaya or in the Lesser Himalaya. The present study
confirms some of the earlier views demonstrating temporal variation in the heavy minerals in the Cenozoic Himalayan Foreland sequences.
In addition, their correlation with the heavy minerals of recent river-deposited sediments help in identifying exact sources which became
positive areas due to tectonic rising of the Himalaya at different stages.
The results suggest that the heavy mineral suites were mainly contributed from the low- to medium-grade metamorphic provenance at the
initial stages and from the high-grade metamorphic provenance at the later stage of foreland sedimentation. This may be associated with the
shifting of the channel pattern from axial to transverse as mountain chains grown in width over time. Also, Higher Himalayan Baspa river
sediments contain staurolite and kyanite, in addition to tourmaline, epidote, garnet and other minor heavy minerals whereas Bhuzas stream
sediments contain sillimanite in addition to staurolite, kyanite, tourmaline, epidote and garnet. Similarities in the heavy minerals exclusively
derived from the Higher/Lesser Himalaya, and the Cenozoic heavy minerals of the Himalayan Foreland in the Jammu area suggest that
staurolite is a contribution of the hinterland during the earlier stage and kyanite is a contribution of the Higher Himalaya during the later
stage. Among the three mineral markers, the sillimanite-bearing suite was derived at a still later stage from the Lesser Himalaya and/or
Higher Himalaya due to successive emplacement of the thrust sheets.
q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Heavy minerals; Provenance; Recent sediments; Cenozoic succession; Himalayan foreland
1. Introduction
Heavy minerals occurring in sediments and sedimentary
rocks are used as a guide for source-rock characterization,
lithological variation, heavy minerals zonation and dispersal
pattern. Heavy mineral suites provide a mineralogical basis
by which the two source areas may be distinguished
(Morton et al., 1992). Heavy minerals are additionally
useful in evaluating pre-erosional weathering and tectonic
history of the source terrain (e.g. Nechaev and Isohording,
1993).
Some of the heavy minerals are lost during surface
weathering and transportation, and the relative proportions
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bpsingh_in@yahoo.com (B.P. Singh).
1367-9120/03/$ - see front matter q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S1367-9120(03)00097-X
26
Fig. 1. Outline map of northern India showing location of the areas under
study.
2. Geological setting
The Himalayan Foreland developed due to continental
collision. This collision resulted in crustal shortening
accompanied by thrusting and folding, and uplift of the
Higher Himalayan Crystallines over the Lesser Himalaya
along the Main Central Thrust.
A brief geological setting of the Himalaya is discussed
below and the relationship of the tectonic units is shown in
Fig. 2(A) and (B).
The Tethys Himalaya consists of a sedimentary succession ranging in age from Late Proterozoic to Eocene and the
contact is tectonic (e.g. Herren, 1987) with the Higher
Himalayan Crystallines. The Tethyan sequence represents
typical shelf sediments deposited on the Tethyan margin of
India (Fuchs, 1982; Gaetani et al., 1985; Gaetani and
Garzanti, 1991).
The Higher Himalaya represents the high mountain chain
and constitute a 10 15 km thick slab consisting principally
of metamorphic rocks (gneisses and schists) with granitic
intrusions. The Higher Himalaya in Zanskar displays a
domal arrangement with the highest-grade rocks in the core
and the lowest-grade ones along the margin (Staubli, 1989;
Vance and Harris, 1999).
The Lesser Himalaya is bounded by the Main Central
Thrust in the north and the Main Boundary Thrust (The
Murree Thrust) in the south (Fig. 2). It consists of a number
of more or less parallel belts of metasediments becoming
27
Fig. 2. (A) Map of the Himalaya exhibiting major lithotectonic zones (modified after S.K. Acharyya, 2000); Also shown are the locations of the studied sections
in different tectonic zones; (B) Cross-section along line A B shown in the geological map.
28
Fig. 3. (A) Geological map of the Cenozoic belt of the Jammu area; (B) Geological map showing disposition of various rock types in the Baspa river valley
(modified after Tewari et al., 1978); (C) Geological map exhibiting different rock units in the Bhuzas valley (modified after Thakur et al., 1990).
3. Methodology
Forty-four representative sand and sandstone samples
from the Baspa river bed, Bhuzas stream bed and the
Cenozoic succession of the Jammu area were selected for
4. Heavy minerals
Although heavy mineral assemblages contain a variety of
mineral species, they rarely constitute more than 1% of the
total volume of sediments. Species like zircon and rutile
occur in small amounts due to their minor occurrences in the
source rocks while abundant species in the source like
amphibole and pyroxene are relatively unstable and are
destroyed during weathering in the source area.
In this study, the heavy mineral assemblages of the
Baspa river and Bhuzas stream sediments and Cenozoic
29
Fig. 4. Photomicrograph of heavy minerals; (A) Staurolite from Baspa river; (B) Staurolite from Murree sandstone; (C) Kyanite from Upper Siwalik; (D)
Kyanite from Baspa river; (E) Sillimanite from Upper Siwalik; (F) Zircon from Murree Sandstone; (G) Zircon from Baspa river; (H) Hornblende from Upper
Siwalik; (I) Sillimanite from Bhuzas stream.
30
Table 1
Table-1 Heavy minerals in recent river sediments (in%)
Heavy minerals
P1
P2
P4
NR
NR1
NR2
NR3
NR11
NR12
NR13
KR
ZR1
ZR3
BR
Tourmaline
Staurolite
Kyanite
Sillimanite
Garnet
Zircon
Epidote
Zoisite
Rutile
Opaques
n
28
32
10
6
6
6
2
10
250
32
28
10
7
4
10
9
300
35
20
3
5
2
25
7
300
32
30
7
5
5
8
2
11
250
25
31
5
8
3
16
12
300
29
33
6
6
3
10
2
11
300
30
24
8
8
3
14
3
10
300
33
23
10
8
8
11
7
300
34
24
6
8
9
5
2
12
250
30
21
10
9
5
9
2
14
250
29
15
7
19
10
7
5
2
6
300
34
16
6
20
9
7
2
6
250
40
14
6
16
7
7
3
7
250
21
18
7
18
13
10
6
2
5
300
P1 P4, NR NR13 Baspa river sediments; KR, ZR1, ZR3, BR Bhuzas stream sediments, n number of grains counted.
5. Discussion
In light of the applicability of heavy minerals for source
determination and correlation, the heavy minerals of the
modern streams exclusively flowing out of the two
metamorphic terrains (e.g. Higher Himalaya and Lesser
Himalaya) and the heavy minerals of the Cenozoic rocks of
the Jammu area will be discussed.
The Higher Himalaya contains metamorphic rocks of
gneissic character in addition to granites, phyllites and
quartzites. The denudation of these rocks under monsoonal
Table 2
Heavy minerals in the Cenozoic (Murree and Siwalik) sandstones (in%)
Heavy Minerals
Mk1
Mk2
Mk3
Ms1
Ms5
Ms16
Ms21
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
T6
T7
T9
Tourmaline
Staurolite
Kyanite
Garnet
Zircon
Epidote
Zoisite
Rutile
Spinel
Opaques
n
28
18
8
13
14
2
2
1
14
300
25
18
12
12
19
1
2
11
300
28
20
10
11
15
15
250
26
16
10
8
18
4
18
300
31
21
9
8
12
16
300
27
17
10
7
13
2
5
1
18
250
24
18
10
8
15
4
2
2
17
300
28
20
14
30
300
31
15
11
5
16
2
20
300
24
22
13
8
12
18
300
29
14
10
15
32
300
21
25
7
5
10
6
1
25
250
29
18
12
10
13
17
300
30
16
5
8
5
36
300
33
20
8
4
8
5
22
300
Heavy Minerals
S3
S9
S10
K1
K3
K6
K7
K8
Tm1
Tm2
Tm3
Tm4
Tm5
Tm6
Tm7
Tourmaline
Staurolite
Kyanite
Sillimanite
Hornblende
Garnet
Zircon
Epidote
Zoisite
Rutile
Spinel
Opaques
n
25
28
5
15
20
300
32
20
6
8
5
7
2
2
18
250
26
24
5
34
300
33
15
5
5
15
5
22
300
19
27
8
12
1
25
300
26
30
5
8
5
8
17
250
24
12
8
15
8
10
7
16
300
31
18
7
13
5
5
21
300
20
10
10
12
20
2
26
300
21
8
21
10
10
25
300
26
8
22
12
9
3
5
15
300
20
7
23
12
12
2
6
18
300
30
6
15
8
5
10
20
300
19
7
15
15
29
300
26
5
18
12
4
10
18
300
Mk1 Mk3, Ms1Ms21 Murree sandstones; T1T9 Lower Siwalik sandstones; S3 S10 and K1K8 Middle Siwalik sandstones; Tm1
Tm7 Upper Siwalik Sandstones; n Total number of grains counted.
climatic conditions contributes sediments to the glaciofluvial Baspa river which have a total stretch of nearly
35 km before joining the Satluj. This river exclusively flows
in the Higher Himalaya containing low to medium grade
metamorphic rocks in its catchment.
Heavy minerals present in the Baspa river sand include
tourmaline, zircon, epidote, garnet, staurolite and kyanite.
Tourmaline constitutes the major proportion and is mostly
brown colored and has a euhedral shape characteristic of a
low-grade metamorphic provenance. Zircon is contributed
from the granitic bodies that occur in association with
gneisses. The kyanite is contributed from the kyanite-grade
metamorphic rocks in the catchment. Epidote and garnet
further comes from the metamorphic rocks containing these
minerals in the terrain.
Heavy minerals present in the Bhuzas stream sediments
and exclusively derived from metamorphic rocks of the
Bhuzas valley are tourmaline, zircon, epidote, garnet
staurolite, kyanite and sillimanite. In this case, tourmaline
is mostly pale yellow and brown colored suggesting a lowgrade metamorphic source (e.g. Pettijohn, 1975). Since the
Bhuzas valley is characterized by almandine-sillimanite
grade metamorphism, sillimanite is present in the Bhuzas
river sediments. The two river catchments can be differentiated on the basis of kyanite and sillimanite where both
minerals show characteristic properties indicative of a short
distance of transportation.
5.1. Heavy mineral zones
Heavy mineral suites have been identified and used to
distinguish different zones in the Cenozoic sequences of the
Jammu area. These zones are similar to what have already
been established by Raju and Dehadrai (1962). They reported
that pre-Siwalik Tertiary sediments mostly contain tourmaline and zircon. However, garnet, epidote and staurolite may
also be present. Also, Lower Siwalik sequences contain
staurolite as a marker heavy mineral, Middle Siwalik is
marked by the first appearance of kyanite and Upper Siwalik
is marked by the first appearance of hornblende and
sillimanite. The present study also demonstrates temporal
variation of the heavy minerals in the Cenozoic rocks of the
Jammu area. Heavy mineral associations reflect the reverse
lithological sequence of the adjacent source area, as a
function of the interaction between uplift and erosion along
the boundary fault (Dill, 1995). This statement holds true in
the case of Himalayan Foreland sediments and the present
study also suggests that staurolite-grade metamorphic rocks
present in the upper part were eroded and deposited in the
basin first, followed by kyanite-grade metamorphic rocks.
Metamorphic rocks of sillimanite-grade forming the root
zone were exposed to further erosion in the source terrain
and this resulted in a sillimanite-bearing suite that persists in
the Upper Siwalik (Fig. 5).
Raiverman et al. (1983) and Mukherjea et al. (1988),
while applying the concept of energy sequence in the
31
32
Fig. 5. Heavy mineral zonation of the Cenozoic succession in the Jammu area.
33
Fig. 6. GMMT MF plot for the heavy minerals of the Cenozoic and
Recent Himalayan Foreland sediments. Heavy minerals data of Kumaun
Siwalik and Nepal Siwalik are taken from Tandon, 1972; Chaudhri and
Gill, 1981, respectively. MT Total content of epidote and garnet.
GM Total content of tourmaline, staurolite, zircon, kyanite, sillimanite
and zoisite. MF Total content of hornblende, pyroxene and olivine.
34
6. Conclusions
The Himalayan Foreland represents a succession that
formed due to successive unroofing of the hinterland, and as
such, the collisional tectonics played a major role in the
shifting of the hinterland vis-a-vis shifting of the sediment
depocentre. Based on our present study and several other
studies, it is established that the Himalayan Foreland
sequences may be classified into three different zones: a
lower staurolite zone, middle kyanite zone and an upper
sillimanite zone. The reverse zonation may be the result of
successive emplacement of the older thrust sheets and/or
successive unroofing of the hinterland. A qualitative correlation exists in the heavy minerals suite of the Higher
Himalayan river sediments and the heavy minerals of the early
Cenozoic (up to ,5 Ma) succession. Similarly, the heavy
mineral suite of the Lesser Himalayan stream sediments is
correlable with the later-deposited heavy minerals of the
Upper Siwalik succession when the Lesser Himalaya
contributed much of the sediments towards the Foreland.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Head, Postgraduate
Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu for
providing working facilities. Dr R. Kumar of the Directorate
of Geology and Mining is gratefully acknowledged for
providing sediment samples of Bhuzas stream. We are
thankful to Dr S.K. Ghosh for reading an earlier version of
the manuscript and suggesting improvements. Prof. Abhijit
Basu and Dr E. Garzanti are thanked for suggesting
modifications that improved the manuscript substantially.
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