Timing of initial collision and suturing processes in the Himalaya and Zagros
摘要
The Tibetan and Iranian plateaus are the two most prominent orogenic plateaus on the present Earth built by continental collision. However, the timings of initial collision and suturing in the Himalaya and Zagros remain debated. In this Review, we summarize the timings, similarities and differences between the India–Eurasia collision and the Arabia–Eurasia collision, by comparing their sedimentary, magmatic, metamorphic, structural and palaeomagnetic records. The India–Eurasia collision is tightly constrained to have initiated in the central Himalaya at 65–59 Ma, possibly progressing towards the western and eastern Himalayas by 55–50 Ma. By contrast, the initial collision in the Zagros is loosely constrained to ~34 Ma, with a possibility of diachronous collision, younging to the southeast. Similarities between the two collisions include pre-collisional accretionary tectonism and magmatism, syn-collisional deformation and sedimentation, and crustal thickening. Apparent differences in lithospheric dynamics, deformation styles and metamorphism are attributed to variations in convergence rates, durations and magnitudes. Future research should focus on data-driven modelling and geophysical imaging beneath the Tibetan and Iranian plateaus to further quantify the geodynamic processes and driving forces contributing to continuous plate convergence, plateau formation and their surface impacts.