Article abstract
Nature Geoscience 1, 875 - 880 (2008)
Published online: 9 November 2008 | doi:10.1038/ngeo351
Subject Categories: Geomorphology | Palaeoclimate and palaeoceanography | Structural geology, tectonics and geodynamics
Correlation of Himalayan exhumation rates and Asian monsoon intensity
Peter D. Clift1, Kip V. Hodges2, David Heslop3, Robyn Hannigan4, Hoang Van Long1 & Gerome Calves1
Abstract
Although most data suggest that the India–Eurasia continental collision began 
45–55 Myr ago, the architecture of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen is dominated by deformational structures developed in the Neogene period (<23 Myr ago). The stratigraphic record and thermochronometric data indicate that erosion of the Himalaya intensified as this constructional phase began and reached a peak around 15 Myr ago. It remained high until 10.5 Myr ago and subsequently slowed gradually to 3.5 Myr ago, but then began to increase once again in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs. Here we present weathering records from the South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea that permit Asian monsoon climate to be reconstructed back to the earliest Neogene. These indicate a correlation between the rate of Himalayan exhumation—as inferred from published thermochronometric data—and monsoon intensity over the past 23 Myr. We interpret this correlation as indicating dynamic coupling between Neogene climate and both erosion and deformation in the Himalaya.
- Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK
- School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, PO Box 871404, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1404, USA
- F.B. Geowissenschaften, Universität Bremen, Klagenfurter Strasse, 28359 Bremen, Germany
- Department of Chemistry and Physics, Arkansas State University, State University, Arkansas 72467, USA
Correspondence to: Peter D. Clift1 e-mail: p.clift@abdn.ac.uk
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