Pleistocene-Holocene crustal deformation in the far-Western Himalaya

Abstract

We present new Late Pleistocene-Holocene shortening rates across the frontal fold-and-thrust belt, namely as, the Sub-Himalaya (SH) from the far-western Himalayan sector of Jammu. OSL-dated offset/ folded fluvial strath terraces suggest that the intraplate convergence is partitioned among several active structures in the SH. Estimated cumulative Late Pleistocene- Holocene shortening rate in the SH is ~9.5±1.3 mm/yr, which is ~70-75% of the measured geodetic convergence rates. Our study invokes the existence of a ~350-400 km-long out-of-sequence fault-boundary within the SH which accommodates ~5.3±2.3 mm/yr shortening since Late Pleistocene-Holocene. Our study also highlights that ongoing crustal shortening is not accommodated only at the toe of the Himalayan wedge.