Structural and Chronological Evidence for the India‐Eurasia Collision of the Early Paleocene in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis, Namjagbarwa

Abstract  The eastern Himalayan syntaxis in Namjagbarwa is a high‐grade metamorphic terrain formed by the India‐Eurasia collision and northward indentation of the Indian continent into Asia. Right‐ and left‐lateral slip zones were formed by the indentation on the eastern and western boundaries of the syntaxis respectively. The Dongjug‐Mainling fault zone is the main shear zone on the western boundary. This fault zone is a left‐lateral slip belt with a large component of thrusting. The kinematics of the fault is consistent with the shortening within the syntaxis, and the slipping history along it represents the indenting process of the syntaxis. The Ar‐Ar chronological study shows that the age of the early deformation in the Dongjug‐Mainling fault zone ranges from 62 to 59 Ma. This evidences that the India‐Eurasia collision occurred in the early Paleocene in the eastern Himalayan syntaxis.