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Himalayan Geology, Vol. 43 (1B), 2022, pp. 231-240, Printed in India

Juxtaposition of Greater and Lesser Himalayan nappes in west Nepal: implications for delineating Main Central Thrust

MEGH RAJ DHITAL

Department of Geology, Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University, Ghantaghar, Kathmandu, Nepal

Email: megh.dhital@trc.tu.edu.np

Abstract: There has been much controversy over the southwards extension of the Main Central Thrust in Nepal and India. Detailed investigations in west Nepal reveal that a few klippen of the Greater Himalayan Nappe, constituting the hanging wall of the Main Central Thrust, rest over the Lesser Himalayan Nappe. The hitherto supposed Greater Himalayan Crystallines occurring between Darchula and Budar in west Nepal are part of the Lesser Himalayan thrust sheet. The Lesser Himalayan Nappe is folded and its several synformal outliers are distributed in west Nepal. In the inner zone, north of Darchula, Chainpur, and Martadi, the Lesser Himalayan Nappe is rooted under the Greater Himalayan Crystallines and extends in the northwest-southeast direction for a few hundred kilometres. Most of the Lesser Himalayan Sequence is of Proterozoic age, but a few slivers of Palaeocene - Miocene succession also occur below the Lesser Himalayan thrust sheet or within imbricate slices. Palaeozoic granites found in west Nepal and Kumaun, India, intrude the Lesser Himalayan (Dadeldhura or Almora) Nappe. The upper part of the Dadeldhura Granite is transformed to augen gneiss, presumably during the southwards propagation of the Greater Himalayan Nappe. The movement of the Lesser Himalayan Nappe was facilitated by the youngest Palaeocene - Miocene strata. In this process, the incompetent dolomite and slate succession from the inner belt was also folded and faulted.

Keywords: Nappe, Thrust sheet, Greater Himalaya, Lesser Himalaya, Main Central Thrust

 
 
 
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