Cenozoic low temperature cooling history of the Northern Tethyan Himalaya in Zedang, SE Tibet and its implications

Abstract

Major structures and climatic change during the Cenozoic (especially Miocene) interacted to shape the giant Tibetan Plateau, whose formation was triggered by convergence of Indian and Asian plates. In this work, we report a low-temperature thermochronology data set from the northern Tethyan Himalaya and Indus-Yarlung suture zone in the Zedang area, where structures are defined by two parallel thrusts (the Zhongba-Gyantse Thrust to the south and Great Counter Thrust to the north). Eighteen samples from the region constrain their low temperature cooling and exhumation histories and further elucidate the evolution of the southern Tibetan Plateau. Thermal history modelling reveals Eocene and Mio..