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Correlation of Himalayan exhumation rates and Asian monsoon intensity

Nature Geoscience volume 1, pages 875–880 (2008)Cite this article

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.

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Figure 1: Physiographic map of Asia with study sites.
Figure 2: Correlation of erosional and depositional histories with the ODP Site 1148 monsoon intensity model.
Figure 3: Schematic cross-section of the southern margin of the Himalayan–Tibetan orogen.

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Acknowledgements

P.D.C. thanks the A. von Humboldt Foundation for the time to work on this study. K.V.H. thanks the US National Science Foundation for supporting this research through EAR0087508, EAR0642731 and EAR0708714 through its Continental Dynamics, Sedimentary Geology and Paleobiology, and Tectonics programs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UE, UK

    Peter D. Clift, Hoang Van Long & Gerome Calves

  2. School of Earth and Space Exploration, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287-1404, PO Box 871404, USA

    Kip V. Hodges

  3. F.B. Geowissenschaften, Universität Bremen, Klagenfurter Strasse, 28359 Bremen, Germany

    David Heslop

  4. Department of Chemistry and Physics, Arkansas State University, State University, Arkansas 72467, USA

    Robyn Hannigan

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  1. Peter D. Clift
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Contributions

P.D.C. was responsible for deriving marine sedimentation rates and synthesizing the data. K.V.H. compiled thermochronology data and related the weathering to Himalayan tectonic history. D.H. generated the CRAT weathering proxy and processed colour spectral data. R.H. produced the whole-sediment XRF data, and H.V.L. and G.C. were responsible for the whole-core XRF scanner data.

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Correspondence to Peter D. Clift.

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Clift, P., Hodges, K., Heslop, D. et al. Correlation of Himalayan exhumation rates and Asian monsoon intensity. Nature Geosci 1, 875–880 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo351

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