Research Paper
Year: 2022 | Month: November | Volume: 9 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 120-129
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20221119
Field and Petrographic Characteristics of Photang Thrust Sheet of Zanskar Tethys Himalaya, Ladakh, India
Deepak Pant1, Harshita Joshi1, Rajeev Upadhyay2, Diwakar Pant2, Abhishek Mehra2
1Department of Geology, L. S. M. Government PG College, Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand, India, 262502
2Department of Geology, Centre of advanced study, D. S. B. Campus, Kumaun University Nainital, Uttarakhand, India, 263002
Corresponding Author: Deepak Pant
ABSTRACT
The Photang thrust sheet is a distinct complex of rocks that lies under the Spongtang ophiolite, showing almost complete ophiolite sequences. The pre-collision tectonic setting, emplacement age, mechanism of association of diverse litho-units within Spongtang klippe, and their regional correlation is still debatable and partially known. The controversy exists as to whether the ophiolite was obducted onto the northern passive margin of the Indian plate during the Eocene or the late Cretaceous. Moreover, the fundamental question emerges whether the Photang thrust sheet is a part of the independent Spong arc, has been tectonically derived from the Ophiolitic Melange Zone in the Dras island arc, or is a representative of the accreted seamounts of the Indus suture zone. This paper presents the application of fundamentals of field geology and petrography to understand the pre-collision tectonic setting of the Photang thrust sheet, Spongtang ophiolite, and associated rock sequences in the Photoksar region of the Zanskar Himalaya.
Keywords: Photang thrust sheet, Spongtang ophiolite, Tectonic setting, Obduction, Ophiolitic Melange Zone, Indus suture zone, Himalaya
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