NEOPROTEROZOIC INDIA WITHIN EAST GONDWANA: CONSTRAINTS FROM RECENT GEOCHRONOLOGIC DATA FROM HIMALAYA

Abstract

Recent geochronologic data of detrital zircons and neodymium isotopic signatures of the Himalaya, Arabian-Nubian Shield, and Western Australia-East Antarctica (the Pinjarra Orogen/Circum-East Antarctic Orogen) are assessed to estimate the location of Neoproterozoic basement of the Himalaya. The protolith of the Higher Himalayan Gneisses is considered to have been derived from the Pinjarra Orogen/Circum-East Antarctic Orogen of Western Australia-East Antarctica, and not from the Indian Craton to the south. This conclusion strongly suggests the juxtaposition of the Indian Craton, which forms the basement of the Himalaya, with the Circum-East Antarctic Orogen during the Neoproterozoic when the protolith of the Higher Himalayan Gneisses deposited. © 2006 International Association for Gondwana Research.