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Miocene Exhumation of the Pamir Revealed by Detrital Geothermochronology of Tajik Rivers C

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Miocene Exhumation of the Pamir Revealed by Detrital Geothermochronology of Tajik Rivers C TECTONICS, VOL. 31, TC2014, doi:10.1029/2011TC003040, 2012 Miocene exhumation of the Pamir revealed by detrital geothermochronology of Tajik rivers C. E. Lukens,1 B. Carrapa,1,2 B. S. Singer,3 and G. Gehrels2 Received 4 October 2011; revised 6 February 2012; accepted 26 February 2012; published 18 April 2012. [1] The Pamir mountains are the western continuation of the Tibetan-Himalayan system, the largest and highest orogenic system on Earth. Detrital geothermochronology applied to modern river sands from the western Pamir of Tajikistan records the history of sediment source crystallization, cooling, and exhumation. This provides important information on the timing of tectonic processes, relief formation, and erosion during orogenesis. U-Pb geochronology of detrital zircons and 40Ar/39Ar thermochronology of white micas from five rivers draining distinct tectonic terranes in the western Pamir document Paleozoic through Cenozoic crystallization ages and a Miocene (13–21 Ma) cooling signal. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages show Proterozoic through Cenozoic ages and affinity with Asian rocks in Tibet. The detrital 40Ar/39Ar data set documents deep and regional exhumation of the Pamir mountains >30 Myr after Indo-Asia collision, which is best explained with widespread erosion of metamorphic domes. This exhumation signal coincides with deposition of over 6 km of conglomerates in the adjacent foreland, documenting high subsidence, sedimentation, and regional exhumation in the region. Our data are consistent with a high relief landscape and orogen-wide exhumation at 13–21 Ma and correlate with the timing of exhumation of the Pamir gneiss domes. This exhumation is younger in the Pamir than that observed in neighboring Tibet and is consistent with higher magnitude Cenozoic deformation and shortening in this part of the orogenic system. Citation: Lukens, C. E., B. Carrapa, B. S. Singer, and G. Gehrels (2012), Miocene exhumation of the Pamir revealed by detrital geothermochronology of Tajik rivers, Tectonics, 31, TC2014, doi:10.1029/2011TC003040. 1. Introduction 2000; Schwab et al.,2004;Kapp et al.,2007;Robinson et al., 2007] and host Cenozoic magmatic rocks [e.g., Schwab et al., [2] The Pamir Mountains of Tajikistan and China are part 2004; Chu et al.,2006;Wang et al., 2008] and local exten- of the greater Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic system and com- sional features [e.g., Hubbard et al.,1999;Kapp and Guynn, prise some of the highest mountains on Earth (Figure 1a). 2004; Amidon and Hynek, 2010]. However, the Pamir, which The dramatic relief and altitude observed in the Himalayas currently lie well within the Asian continent, over 250 km and Tibet have been largely associated with processes related north of the western syntaxis (Figure 1a), may have a very to pre- and syn-collisional shortening combined with Ceno- different tectonic history than those of Tibet and the Hima- zoic erosion [Avouac and Tapponier,1993;Hodges,2000; laya. Several authors have attempted to correlate tectonic Yin and Harrison, 2000; DeCelles et al.,2002;Kapp et al., terranes in the Pamir with those in Tibet [Yin and Harrison, 2007; Ritts et al., 2008]. In contrast, very little is known 2000; Schwab et al., 2004; Robinson et al.,2007;Robinson, about the timing and processes responsible for deformation, 2009], based on the age and character of magmatic belts exhumation and uplift of the Pamir. In particular, it is unclear and offset of individual local units across strike-slip faults. if the Pamir result directly from Indo-Asia collision or if they Currently, a single correlation model does not exist and along- are the result of significantly different, younger geodynamic strike correlation remains controversial. and erosional processes. Parallels have been drawn between [3] The Pamir differ from the Himalaya and Tibet in the the Pamir and Tibet based on the fact that both comprise areal extent of metamorphic domes [Dmitriev, 1976; several Paleozoic-Mesozoic accreted terranes [Harrison et al., Pospelov and Sigachev, 1987; Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. The Pamir domes are larger than those documented in Tibet, 1Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Wyoming, they are Cenozoic in age, and have yielded predominantly Laramie, Wyoming, USA. Miocene exhumation ages [Hubbard et al., 1999; Robinson 2Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, et al., 2007]. Previous workers have suggested that relief USA. (and related high rates of exhumation) developed in the 3Department of Geoscience, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. southern Pamir after 11 Ma (based on xenoliths and thermal modeling [Ducea et al., 2003]) and, conversely, during Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union. early mid Miocene time (based on the sedimentary record in 0278-7407/12/2011TC003040 the Alai Valley [Hamburger et al., 1992; Coutand et al., TC2014 1of12 TC2014 LUKENS ET AL.: MIOCENE EXHUMATION OF THE TAJIK PAMIR TC2014 Figure 1. (a) Location map; white box is the approximate area in Figure 1b. (b) Map of the western Pamir, showing major tectonic boundaries, surface geology, and locations of gneiss domes [Burtman and Molnar, 1993; Schwab et al., 2004; Hacker, personal communication, 2011]. See section 2.1 for addi- tional description of rock types within each tectonic terrane. 2002] (Figure 1a). A few thermochronologic studies have and differences in tectonic and exhumation history between suggested early mid Miocene exhumation on a local scale the Pamir and Tibet and to gain new insights on possible [Hubbard et al., 1999; Amidon and Hynek, 2010], but fundamental differences in the geodynamics of the two no regionally extensive sampling has previously been regions. To determine the timing and distribution of source executed to determine the exhumation history of the Pamir, area crystallization and exhumation, we here use the detrital and thus the timing of orogenic-scale exhumation is geochronological and thermochronological signal recorded by not constrained. detrital minerals (zircon U-Pb and white mica 40Ar/39Ar) [4] Resolving both the crystallization and exhumation sig- derived from five major rivers draining the western Pamir nal in the Pamir is important in order to resolve similarities (Figures 1b and 2). Our new data set also contributes to 2of12 TC2014 LUKENS ET AL.: MIOCENE EXHUMATION OF THE TAJIK PAMIR TC2014 Figure 2. Map of the western Pamir, showing the areal extent of watersheds above each sample point. Tectonic boundaries are also shown (as in Figure 1) for reference. further constraining along-strike affinity between terranes in [6] The rocks of the Central Pamir record the presence of a the Pamir and in Tibet. small ocean basin in Mesozoic time. Deep marine sedi- mentary rocks, pillow basalts, and tuff of late Paleozoic to 2. Regional Setting Jurassic age were deposited [Pashkov and Shvol’man, 1979; Burtman and Molnar, 1993], and the basin closed in late 2.1. Geologic History of the Pamir Jurassic to Cretaceous time [Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. [5] The Pamir are generally divided into three distinct A thick Jurassic-Cretaceous sequence is today preserved in tectonic terranes: the Northern, Central, and Southern Pamir the Tajik depression [Hamburger et al., 1992; Nikolaev,2002] [e.g., Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. In the Northern Pamir, and constitutes the erosional and depositional record of these the closure of a large ocean basin in late Carboniferous time processes. Arc-type granitoids intruded into the Triassic is documented by the presence of island arc igneous rocks Rushan-Pshart marine basin sequence at 190–160 Ma may be [Pospelov and Sigachev, 1987; Burtman and Molnar, 1993], associated with subduction along the Rushan-Pshart suture marine carbonates, and conglomerates [Pospelov, 1987; and closure of the basin [Schwab et al., 2004] (Figure 1b). The Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. The suture associated with this Mesozoic basin evidenced in the Central Pamir is similar to basin closure has been correlated to the Kunlun suture in small basins documented in Afghanistan and in northwest Tibet [Schwab et al., 2004], and represents the suturing of Tibet, but there is no evidence that these basins were the Northern Pamir onto the Asian continent [Burtman and connected, and it is likely that several separate small basins Molnar, 1993]. Volcanic rocks exposed in the northern existed at this time [Burtman and Molnar,1993]. – Pamir from the Kunlun arc are dated at 370 320 Ma [7] Farther south, the Indus-Tsangpo and Shyok sutures [Schwab et al., 2004]. (Figures 1b and 3) and associated ophiolite belts most likely 3of12 TC2014 LUKENS ET AL.: MIOCENE EXHUMATION OF THE TAJIK PAMIR TC2014 Figure 3. Regional tectonic map, after Burtman and Molnar [1993]. document the collision of India with Asia in early Cenozoic 350 km [Burtman and Molnar, 1993; Schmidt et al., 2011]. time [Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. Exposed bedrock geol- High rates of convergence continue today, and geodetic ogy in the Southern Pamir includes Precambrian and Paleo- surveys have suggested that convergence across the northern zoic metamorphic rocks, Triassic, Cretaceous, and Paleogene Pamir and Alai Valley is as much as 21 mm/yr [Bazhenov and granites and diorites, and remnants of Carboniferous through Burtman, 1990; Reigber et al., 2001]. Prior to about 29 Ma, Paleogene sedimentary rock [Pashkov and Budanov, 1990; the Tarim Basin and Tajik Depression were connected by a Burtman and Molnar, 1993]. marine basin, of which the sedimentary record is preserved in [8] Correlation between terranes across Tibet and the the Alai Valley (Figure 1a). This basin began to close around Pamir is complicated by the ongoing controversy over dis- the Oligocene-Miocene boundary [Leith,1982;Hamburger placement along the Karakorum fault and related structures, et al.,1992;Coutand et al., 2002; Nikolaev, 2002], when a which separate the two regions. The magnitude of slip wedge of syn-tectonic Neogene conglomerates and coarse along the Karakorum strike-slip fault ranges from 65 km sediment was deposited [Hendrix et al., 1994; Sobel and [Murphy et al., 2000] to as much as 1000 km [Peltzer and Dumitru, 1997; Yin et al., 1999].
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