Lecture 5: Structural Geology of Convergent Plate Boundaries

Slide 10 of 22

Collisional Mountain Belts
	The himalayas result from the closure of the Thetys ocean and the collision between India (detached from Gondwana 80Ma ago) and the Eurasian plate. The collision started 50Ma ago between India and Tibet (a microplate), and is still ongoing. During the collision, India was underthrusted beneath Tibet. Devonian sedimentary rocks from the Indian platform were uplifted and now form the higher peak on Earth: The Mount Jolmo-Lungma (8851m).

		The Main Central Thrust brings the highly metamorphosed Indian platform (in blue) onto a less metamorphic domain of schistose low-grade rocks. The MCT and the Main Boundary Thrust have accommodated a few hundred kilometers of convergence between India and Tibet since the beginning of the collision.