Geological Society of London

M. P. Searle

P. J. Treloar

Himalayan Tectonics

Present knowledge of the geology and tectonics of the Karakoram Range lays a foundation for future geological studies of mountain-building processes in the high mountain ranges of Central Asia. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, constrained by field mapping and analysis, sets the scene for the great Karakoram-Himalayan Ranges by laying down the regional tectonic setting. Paleogeography of the Indian Ocean and south Asia and the geophysical constraints for the northward drift of India are examined as well as its collision with Asia and the evolution of crustal structures. The geology and tectonics of poorly known mountain ranges of central Asia--the Pamirs, Hind Kush, Alai and Vakhsh, Kun Lun and Tien Shan--are discussed. It then reviews geology and geological processes of the great Karakoram Range. Finally, the tectonics and evolution of the pre and post-collision orogenic processes involved in the construction of this, the highest and most spectacular mountain range on Earth, are examined.

Geology and Tectonics of the Karakoram Mountains

Richard D. Law

Laurent Godin

This collection of 27 review and research papers provides an overview of the geodynamic concepts of channel flow and ductile extrusion in continental collision zones. The focal point for this volume is the proposal that the middle or lower crust acts as a ductile, partially molten channel flowing out from beneath areas of over-thickened crust, such as the Tibetan plateau, towards the topographic surface at plateau margins. This controversial proposal explains many features related to the geodynamic evolution of the plateau and, for example, extrusion and exhumation of the crystalline core of the Himalayan mountain chain to the south. In this volume thermal-mechanical models for channel flow, extrusion and exhumation are presented, and geological and geophysical evidence both for and against the applicability of such models to the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau system, as well as older continental collision zones such as the Hellenides, the Appalachians and the Canadian Cordillera, are discussed.

M. P. Searle

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