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Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

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Dense mineral data from the northwestern Himalayan foreland


sedimentary rocks and recent river sediments: evaluation of the hinterland
B.P. Singh*, J.S. Pawar, S.K. Karlupia
Postgraduate Department of Geology, University of Jammu, Jammu 180006, India
Received 28 March 2002; revised 16 October 2002; accepted 11 March 2003

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

of stable heavy minerals (ZTR) increase. Also, unstable


heavy minerals disappear during intrastratal solution in the
process of diagenesis and only stable heavy minerals remain
in the rocks (Pettijohn, 1975). Sorkhabi and Arita (1997a)
evaluated the effects of diagenesis in the heavy minerals of
the Siwalik Group and interpreted that intrastratal solution is
low in these sequences and these can be utilized for
provenance determination.
Short distance streams and rivers, which exclusively flow
in specific terrains, and deposit denudation products of those
terrains seems significant for correlation purposes. In this
respect, heavy minerals data were collected from the Baspa
river (Fig. 1) flowing for nearly 35 km (exclusively in the
Higher Himalaya) and the Bhuzas stream extending for
more than 50 km (exclusively in the Lesser Himalaya). The
Himalayan Foreland succession shows temporal variation in

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B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

Fig. 1. Outline map of northern India showing location of the areas under
study.

the heavy minerals record in the Jammu area (Fig. 1) and


was used for correlation with the recent sediments.
Based on a major study on heavy minerals of the
Cenozoic succession of the northwestern Himalaya, Raju
and Dehadrai (1962) and Raju (1967) concluded that
staurolite, kyanite, hornblende, sillimanite, andalusite and
sphene have a restricted vertical distribution and serve as
positive mineral markers for different horizons. They found
that the Lower Siwalik contains staurolite and epidote
besides garnet, tourmaline and zircon. The Middle Siwalik
is represented by kyanite whereas the Upper Siwalik
sediments are characterized by sillimanite and hornblende.
Sinha and Khan (1965) and Sinha (1970) studied the heavy
minerals of the Siwalik Group in parts of Himachal Pradesh
and Uttar Pradesh for provenance determination, and
suggested a metamorphic provenance from the Himalaya
for them.
Chaudhri (1972, 1975) also studied heavy minerals of the
Tertiary sedimentary rocks and suggested a northerly
provenance. Tandon (1972) investigated heavy minerals of
the Siwalik sequences for part of the Kumaun area and
confirmed the earlier workers view that the Lower Siwalik
contains staurolite as a marker and the Middle Siwalik
contains kyanite as a marker. Chaudhri and Gill (1982)
indicated, from the study of heavy mineral suites of recent
sediments in Sukhna Lake in the vicinity of the Siwalik
sequence at Chandigarh, that the mineral assemblage of
lacustrine sediments is the same as that of the local Siwalik
Group rocks. Chaudhri and Grewal (1984) studied heavy
minerals from fluvio-glacial and fluvial sediments of

Kashmir and suggested that heavy minerals show more


directional arrangement because of higher density.
Singh et al. (1990), on the basis of the occurrence of
garnet, epidote, chlorite, biotite and staurolite in the Murree
Group, suggested a low to medium grade-metamorphic
source. Singh and Tiwari (1996) studied heavy minerals of
Ganga river sediments near Varanasi, and suggested their
recycling and derivation from the Himalaya.
Sorkhabi and Arita (1997a) gave a detail account of the
works done by previous workers on the Cenozoic heavy
minerals of the Himalayan Foreland and successfully
correlated the heavy mineral zonation with the inverted
metamorphism of the source terrain. Also, Sorkhabi and
Arita (1997b) proposed a new method for approximate
calculation of denudation rates of the Higher Himalaya
based on metamorphic heavy minerals in the Siwalik
molasses.
In order to ascertain the temporal variation of heavy
minerals in the Himalayan Foreland sedimentary successions and evaluate the sedimentological evidence regarding
differences in the sources, the present study was carried out
in the Jammu area. Also, the Himalayan Foreland heavy
minerals are compared with the heavy mineral assemblages
of the Higher Himalayan Baspa river (H.P.) and Lesser
Himalayan Bhuzas stream (J and K) for the hinterland
evaluation.

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

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

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.

increasingly older towards the north. These exhibit reverse


metamorphism with the high-grade rocks lying at higher
levels over the low-grade ones (Jangpangi et al., 1978;
Thakur et al., 1990).
The Sub-Himalaya forms a more or less continuous belt
traceable from the Potwar Plateau in Pakistan to Arunachal
Pradesh in India. It is bounded by the Main Boundary Thrust
in the north and by the Main Frontal Thrust in the south. The
Lower Tertiary sequences in the Jammu area comprises the
Murree Group underlain by the Late Palaeocene-Eocene
Subathu Formation and disconformably overlain by the
Siwalik Group (Fig. 3(A)). The Murree succession contains
mud pebble conglomerate, sandstone, siltstone, mudstone
and calcrete. The Siwalik Group is the most extensively
developed siliciclastic succession in the Himalayan Foreland basin. Medlicott (1879) divided this Group into
mudstone, sandstone-dominated Lower Siwalik, sandstone,
mudstone, conglomerate-dominated Middle Siwalik and
conglomerate-dominated Upper Siwalik.
2.1. Baspa catchment
The Baspa river flows exclusively in the Higher
Himalaya before joining the Satluj river at Karcham in the
Kinnaur district of Himachal Pradesh. This river forms a
V-shaped valley up to the Sangla and a deep george beyond
its confluence with the Satluj river. The river deposited braid
bars occur along the entire channel course. The bars contain
gravels in the base followed by coarse sand on top. The
Baspa river normally flows with laminar flow except for

summers when the flow becomes turbulent. In the Baspa


catchment, the rock types are quartzite, carbonaceous
phyllite, crystalline limestone and schist in the up-stream
part followed by porphyroblastic gneiss that shows alternating bands of quartz-feldspar and biotite in the mid-stream
part. Psammitic gneiss with quartzite, garnetiferous mica
schist, porphyroblastic gneiss and greyish-brown gneiss
intercalated with kyanite bands occur associated with
tourmaline-bearing granite and biotite granite in the
down-stream part of the river (Fig. 3(B)). For details of
the geology and tectonic setting, see Tewari et al. (1978)
and Singh and Jain (1993).
2.2. Bhuzas catchment
The Bhuzas valley is a broad V-shaped valley in the
Lesser Himalaya formed by the Bhuzas stream (Bhuzas
Bhut Nalas) that ultimately joins the Chenab river at Atholi
(Fig. 3(C)). The high discharge during summers under
turbulent flow condition is responsible for deposition of
gravel and sand bars along the stream course. The Lesser
Himalayan tectonic unit mainly comprised of metamorphic
rocks with granite intrusives is exposed along the Bhuzas
stream. Rock Formation around Bhuzas valley represents
high-grade metasediments of sillimanite-almandine-orthoclase subfacies revealing regional metamorphism of Barrovian-almandine-amphibole facies and NNW-SSE trending
thrust separates high-grades metamorphic rocks from the
low-grade metamorphic rocks (Jangpangi et al., 1978;
Thakur et al., 1990). The metamorphic rocks are composed

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B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

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).

of garnetiferous-biotite gneisses associated with sillimanite


and kyanite schists, marble and lenticular calc-silicate
gneisses. These metasediments are intruded by acid and
basic intrusives of amphibolites, granites, pegmatites and
quartz veins at some places (Fig. 3(C)).

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

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

investigation. The bulk samples were reduced to an


appropriate weight by coning and quartering and 50 gm of
the sample was taken for heavy mineral separation. In every
case, clay content was removed by repeated decantation and
sediment samples were dried at room temperature. The
Cenozoic sandstone samples were gently crushed and
treated with acetic acid to remove the carbonate coating.
The samples having ferruginous coating were treated with
stannous chloride. The cleaned samples were washed with
distilled water and dried in an oven at 110 8C. Heavy
mineral separation was carried out in separating funnels
using bromoform as the heavy liquid. Permanent mounts
were prepared for all samples studied under a petrological
microscope and total counts were made for every mineral
slide.

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

molasse sequence of the Himalayan Foreland were


studied and modal counts were done in order to
correlate, both qualitatively and quantitatively, between
the heavy minerals of the source areas and sedimentary
sequences.
The Baspa River sediments contain tourmaline, staurolite (Fig. 4(A)), epidote, kyanite (Fig. 4(D)), garnet,
zircon (Fig. 4(G)g), rutile, excluding the opaques
(Table 1). Coarse sand sized heavy minerals show angular
to subangular shape. Silt and very fine sand size minerals,
however, have subrounded to rounded shapes. Tourmaline, staurolite, epidote and kyanite constitute a significant
proportion of the heavy mineral assemblage, while zircon,
garnet, zoisite and hornblende constitute , 30% of the
bulk (Table 1).
The heavy mineral assemblage from sediments of the
Bhuzas stream beds consists of tourmaline, sillimanite
(Fig. 4(I)), staurolite, kyanite, garnet, epidote, zircon, rutile
and zoisite in addition to opaque minerals such as ilmenite,
magnetite, hematite, limonite and pyrite. Tourmaline
dominates the non-opaque heavies followed by sillimanite,
staurolite and garnet (Table 1).
The heavy mineral assemblage of the Murree Group
consists of tourmaline, epidote, zircon (Fig. 4(F)), staurolite
(Fig. 4(B)), garnet, zoisite and spinel. Opaque minerals form
11 18% of the heavy mineral assemblage. The proportion
of heavy minerals present in the Murree sandstones of the
Kalakot area are shown in Table 2. These heavy minerals

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.

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B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

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.

are subrounded to rounded in a medium sand-size range. In


the Murree sandstones, subrounded, colorless or green and
greenish red spinel occurs in some mineral slides. Bossart
and Ottiger (1989) also reported spinel from the Murree
sandstones of the Hazara area, Pakistan and indicated that to
be of crome-spinel variety based on microprobe analysis.
Similar to Palaeogene Murree heavy minerals, the Lower
and Middle Siwalik heavy minerals are also rich in
tourmaline and staurolite. However, the Upper Siwalik is
rich in kyanite and sillimanite (Fig. 4(E)) in addition to
tourmaline.

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.

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

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

distribution of heavy minerals in the Cenozoic succession of


the Himachal Pradesh, suggested that groups of heavy
minerals are of better stratigraphic value than individual
heavy minerals in demarcating three different zones here.
Sorkhabi and Arita (1997a) suggested erosion of the roof,
subsequent erosion of the middle part and the root, and its
deposition in the Himalayan Foreland in a sequencial
manner as a reason for the inverted metamorphism in the
Himalaya. They suggested that biotite-garnet grade to
staurolite to partially staurolite grade of metamorphism
and kyanite grade of metamorphism is indicative of middle
almandine amphibolite facies. This corresponds to the main
metamorphic event (M2 at 23 Ma) of the Lesser/Higher
Himalaya.
The relative abundance of heavy minerals seems to be
indirectly related to the age of strata but directly related to
the depth of burial and length of time below sea level
(Gazzi, 1965; Morton, 1979). The possible cause for the
dearth of unstable heavy minerals in pre-Cenozoic sediments can be attributed primarily to intrastratal solution
(Pettijohn, 1975). Although the Early Cenozoic sequences
have a higher proportion of stable heavy minerals, Late
Cenozoic sequences possibly have not undergone a greater
depth of burial and this may be one reason for the presence
of unstable varieties.
In the heavy mineral suites described from the two
streams and Cenozoic sediments of the Himalaya, the
mineral species are similar. However, the contrast is mainly
in the presence or absence of a particular heavy mineral
species. Krynine (1942) believes that provenance changes
are far more important in causing changes in the heavy
mineral compositions. Our study supports this contention
where heavy minerals originating from the Higher Himalaya contain staurolite- and kyanite-bearing suites whereas
those originating from the Lesser Himalaya contains a
sillimanite-bearing suite depending upon the local geology
of the catchment.
5.2. Provenance and tectonic setting
It is already mentioned that provenance determination is
one of the important attributes of heavy minerals study (e.g.
Basu, 1976; Morton et al., 1992; Nechaev and Isohording,
1993). In the Cenozoic sequences of Jammu Himalaya,
tourmaline, zircon, epidote, garnet, staurolite, kyanite,
sillimanite and hornblende are common. In the Palaeogene
Murree Group, blue and bluish green tourmaline, zircon,
epidote, garnet and staurolite are present. Blue tourmaline
typically suggest a pegmatitic source and zircon originates
from an acid igneous rock (Pettijohn, 1975). Both minerals
suggest a source that seems similar to the Higher Himalayan
gneisses and granite. These may be recycled from the
metasediments as interpreted by DeCelles et al. (2000) from
Nepal. Epidote and garnet are an indicator of a metamorphic
provenance, whereas staurolite suggests a source where the
degree of metamorphism is of low grade at lower depth.

32

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

Fig. 5. Heavy mineral zonation of the Cenozoic succession in the Jammu area.

Staurolite persists up to the Lower Siwalik Subgroup,


the sequences of which appear very similar to the Upper
Murree Formation. A comparison of the heavy minerals
present in the Murree Group and the Lower Siwalik
Subgroup with that of the recent Baspa river sediments
shows similarities. The only difference is in the grain size,
grain shape and color of tourmaline. The Baspa river heavy
minerals are angular to sub-angular and occur in the coarse
sand-size range while heavy minerals in the Murree Group
and the Lower Siwalik Subgroup are subrounded and within
the medium sand-size range (Fig. 4). This suggests that
Murree and Lower Siwalik sediments were transported for
comparatively longer distances than the Baspa river
sediments. Furthermore, brown tourmaline in the Baspa
river sediments was derived from a low-grade metamorphic
rock and blue/green tourmaline of the Murree Group was
derived from pegmatites/coarse granites or may have been
recycled from metasediments.
The Middle Siwalik heavy mineral suite in the Jammu
area contains kyanite in addition to the above-mentioned

heavy minerals. This suggests that when the Middle Siwalik


basin came into existence, the sediments were being derived
from a provenance that was metamorphic in character and
may have attained a higher degree of metamorphism.
Kyanite grade of metamorphism has occurred in the Higher
Himalaya. In addition, Baspa river sediments also contain
kyanite and point to the Higher Himalaya as the source for
the Middle Siwalik sediments. However, the presence of
both staurolite and kyanite in the present day Higher
Himalayan derived sediments indicate that tectonics and
thrust stacking played a major role in the hinterland during
derivation of these sediments.
The sillimanite and hornblende-bearing suite in the
Upper Siwalik is correlable with the Lesser Himalayan
metamorphic rocks present in the Bhuzas valley and
elsewhere. The Bhuzas stream heavy mineral suite definitely contains sillimanite in addition to other heavy
minerals. Thus, a correlation exists in heavy minerals of
the Bhuzas stream sediments and heavy minerals of the
Upper Siwalik sediments. However, sillimanite-grade

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

metamorphic rocks present in the core of the Higher


Himalaya reported by Staubli (1989) and Vance and Harris
(1999) must have also contributed sediments when those
areas were uplifted and exposed to denudation.
Raju (1967) interpreted the appearance of each diagnostic mineral species in the Tertiary sediments as the result
of a corresponding tectonic episode in the source area. Also,
Sinha (1970), on the basis of the behavior of epidote and
similarity in the structural trends and mode of variation in
average percentages of minerals, inferred gradual uplift and
unroofing of rocks in order to explain Siwalik heavy
minerals in parts of Uttar Pradesh. Tandon (1972) recovered
tourmaline, zircon, epidote, garnet, rutile, staurolite, kyanite
and magnetite ilmenite in lateral continuity from the
Siwalik sequences of Uttar Pradesh.
Chaudhri (1972, 1975) reported tourmaline, zircon,
epidote, garnet and staurolite from the Lower Tertiary
sequences of Shimla Hills and additionally kyanite,
sillimanite, hornblende from the Upper Tertiary Siwalik
sequences in that area and suggested a rising Himalayan
provenance for them. Chaudhri and Gill (1981) reported that
opaque heavy minerals predominate over nonopaques in the
Siwalik sequences of Nepal and honrnblende is conspicuously absent in the Upper Siwalik sedimentary units there.
The presence of hornblende in the western part of the Upper
Siwalik succession and its absence in the eastern part is
either due to its local absence in the provenance or its
destruction during weathering and transportation. Staurolite, kyanite and sillimanite in Lower, Middle and Upper
Siwalik successions of Nepal suggest unroofing of the lowto high-grade metamorphic rocks from the Himalaya which
contributed sediments to the Siwalik basin (Chaudhri and
Gill, 1981). DeCelles et al. (1998, 2000) found zircon of
three different ages in the foreland sequences and river
sediments that suggest derivation from Proterozoic metasediments and also from granites of Cambrian age. Although
earlier workers suggested a metamorphic provenance for the
Cenozoic sedimentary sequences of the Himalaya, the
present correlation clearly demonstrates that the Palaeogene
sediments were contributed by denudation of the peripheral
parts of the Higher Himalaya and the Neogene sediments
were derived through unroofing of both the Higher and the
Lesser Himalayan ranges.
Nechaev and Isohording (1993) have categorized heavy
minerals into three groups such as the GM, MT and MF. The
GM suite is characterized by zircon, tourmaline, staurolite
and less commonly sillimanite, andalusite, monazite and
kyanite forming an association derived from the weathering
of continental igneous and metamorphic rocks (the earths
sialic crust). The MT suite is rich in basic metamorphic
minerals such as pale-colored and blue-green amphiboles,
epidote and garnet. MF indicates mafic minerals like
olivine, iddinsite, pyroxene and green brown hornblende.
The heavy mineral suites both in recent sediments and
Cenozoic sedimentary rocks belong mainly to the GM and
MT categories except for the Upper Siwalik Subgroup

33

where hornblende is present in small proportion.


The Himalayan Foreland basin sediments belong to a
recycled orogen considering the sandstone petrography (e.g.
Critelli and Garzanti, 1994; Singh, 1996) and the heavy
minerals occupy the passive continental margin field of
Nechaev and Isohording (1993). Therefore, we suggest that
peripheral foreland heavy minerals are similar to passive
margin heavy minerals (Fig. 6). We cannot rule out the lack
of precision in the Nechaev and Isohording (1993) diagram.
The Higher Himalaya uplifted along the Main Central
Thrust and the Lesser Himalaya came up late along the
Main Boundary Thrust (Le Fort, 1996). The Himalayan
Foreland formed as a result of India-Asia collision and its
forebulge progressively shifted towards the south with
progressive filling of the basin.
Paleocurrents from Late Palaeogene sequences in
different sub-basins indicate rivers entering the foreland
from the north, northwest and northeast (Raiverman et al.,
1983; Srivastava and Casshyap, 1983; Singh and Singh,
1995). Similar to the Murree sandstones (Singh et al., 1990;
Critelli and Garzanti, 1994; Singh, 1996), the lithic particles
and heavy minerals of the late Palaeogene sandstones in
Himachal Pradesh, India (Chaudhri, 1975) indicate derivation from a northerly provenance. A common presence of
detrital illite, chlorite, and sepiolite in the Lower Tertiary
mudrocks of the Jammu area, India, suggests derivation
either from the Trans-Himalayan schists, phyllites and,

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

B.P. Singh et al. / Journal of Asian Earth Sciences 23 (2004) 2535

granites or from the Higher Himalayan Crystallines and


the Indus Suture zone (Singh et al., 2000). Furthermore, the
detritus composition of early Himalayan Foreland basin
sediments from Pakistan to Nepal and Bangladesh is
consistent with progressively later closure of the Neotethys
along the suture, from latest Palaeocene time in the west to
Eocene time or even later in the east (Najman and Garzanti,
2000). This suggests that the general palaeoslope was
southerly and southeasterly when the Palaeogene sediments
accumulated in the Himalayan Foreland, and the sediments
were mainly derived from the rising Himalaya to the north.
During Neogene time, the palaeocurrent was again
dominantly southerly with diversification in the flow
directions in the Jammu area (Pandita and Bhat, 1996), in
Himachal Pradesh (Kumar et al., 1999) and in Punjab
(Kumar and Tandon, 1985). The overall southerly palaeocurrent suggests that the hinterland was still to the north and
the source terrain shifted with the rising of the Lesser
Himalayan sequences. The sillimanite-bearing heavy mineral suite in the present day stream flowing out of the Lesser
Himalaya certainly reflects contribution from the Lesser
Himalayan nappes in the Siwalik sequences, especially in
the Upper part. DeCelles et al. (1998) suggested that the
Tethyan Himalaya contributed much of the sediments for
the pre-Siwalik basin, the higher Himalaya for the Lower
and the Middle Siwalik and Lesser Himalaya for the
conglomerate bearing Upper Siwalik in Nepal. Ghosh and
Kumar (2000) also suggested reactivation of the Main
Central Thrust and resulting contributions from the Higher
Himalaya between 9 and 7 Ma on the basis of the presence
of very high amounts of mica in some beds. This suggests
that in addition to the Lesser Himalaya, the Higher
Himalaya also contributed substantial amounts of sediment
during accumulation of the Siwalik sequences.

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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