Constraints on the metamorphic history of a mélange complex within the easternmost Himalayan orogen, northern Indo-Burma Range, based on P-T pseudosection and thermobarometric studies.

Abstract:

Despite many petrologic and structural studies surrounding the eastern Himalayan syntaxis, P-T histories of metamorphic rocks within the northern Indo-Burman mélange of the easternmost Himalayas remain largely unknown. We present metamorphic P-T conditions of three schists from successive thrust sheets related to generation of the Himalayan orogen, based on mineral assemblage thermobarometry and pseudosection phase diagrams. Use of the garnet-muscovite-biotite-plagioclase thermobarometer and Ti-in-biotite thermometer yield peak conditions of 676 ± 78°C and 10.6 ± 1.3 kbar for schist (PH-1-8-13-26) thrust atop metavolcanics, mafic schist, and ultramafics of the Indus-Ysangpo suture zone (IYSZ). Within this sample, quartz is recrystallized along grain boundaries and garnets contain no significant compositional zoning. Pseudosections constructed from bulk-rock composition and equilibrium mineral assemblages yield a clockwise P-T path with similar peak garnet amphibolite conditions. At structurally lower levels, garnet chlorite schist (PH-1-8-13-8) from a thrust klippe of the IYSZ record peak temperatures below 650°C. Garnets display growth zoning, with increasing Mn and decreasing Fe and Mg from rim to core. Application of the Ti-in-biotite thermometer to a mafic schist (PH-1-3-13-1B) within the klippe near a southwestward-directed thrust yields a peak temperature of 679 ± 24°C. Our study reveals a complex metamorphic history throughout the northern Indo-Burman mélange zone that likely records metamorphism at deep crustal levels during thrust motion and growth of the Himalayan orogen around the northeastern corner of India.