PR01 - A GEOLOGICAL TRANSECT FROM THE INDIAN PLATE TO THE EAST HINDU KUSH, PAKISTAN
M. Gaetani, J.P. Burg, A. Zanchi & Q.M. Jan
This field trip will cover a complete transect through the ranges of Central Asia, from the Indian Plate to the Eastern Hindu Kush. First, participants will examine the oceanic arc of Kohistan, perhaps the best exposed on our planet, tilted and deformed by the collision with the Indian Plate after the closure of the Neo-Tethys. Later, the Nanga Parbat Spur deeply indenting the Kohistan and Ladakh arcs, the back-arc Kohistan and the suture with the Karakorum terranes will be examined.
Finally, the Karakorum Range which is composed of several blocks, will be crossed. A southern part affected by medium to low-grade metamorphism preserves a graben with Paleozoic and Mesozoic metasediments in the west. In the core of the range, a large complex of batholiths, mostly granodioritic, had intruded it from the mid-Cretaceous to the Eocene. The northern part of the range consists of several thrust sheets. A couple of thrust sheets preserve the pre-Ordovician crystalline basement and the sedimentary successions extend from the Ordovician to the Cretaceous. The contact with the Eastern Hindu Kush will also be exposed.