Structural evolution of the Namche Barwa Syntaxis and Nyang River Shear Zone, SE-Tibet

• Applicant: Professor Manfred Strecker, Ph.D., since 11/2006
• Subject Area: Palaeontology
• Term: from 2006 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 26764102

Herewith I apply for funding of analytical work on two existing sets of samples collected in April 2005; one from the core of the Namche Barwa Syntaxis, the other from a previously unrecognized major shear zone within the south Tibetan Lhasa Block. The proposed work on the Namche Barwa samples is aimed at constraining the origin of the extremely rapidly exhuming crust in this region. While previous workers have argued that the rocks exposed in the core of the syntaxis represent Indian plate crust, limited zircon age data imply that they may, instead, represent lower crust from beneath Tibet. This hypothesis will be tested through U-Pb dating of core-to-rim transects on zircons. The proposed work on samples from the newly recognized shear zone within the Lhasa Block will establish whether this structure is pre- or post-collisional, with important implications for the geodynamic evolution of the Tibetan Plateau.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Ehemaliger Antragsteller: Peter Michael Blisniuk, Ph.D., until 11/2006