Metamorphic and intrusive history of the Hindu Raj region, northern Pakistan

Abstract

Abstract The Hindu Raj region of northern Pakistan is situated between the Karakoram to the east and the Hindu Kush to the west. Both the Karakoram and the Hindu Kush are better studied and have well-documented, distinct geological histories. Investigation of the Hindu Raj region has been mainly limited to reconnaissance exploration and as such little is known about its tectonometamorphic history and whether that history is similar to its neighbouring areas. Analysis of new specimens collected along the Yasin Valley within the Hindu Raj region outline mid-to-Late Cretaceous pluton emplacement (ca. 105 and 95 Ma). Some of those plutonic rocks were metamorphosed to ∼750 ± 30 °C and 0.65 ± 0.05 GPa during the ca. 80–75 Ma docking of the Kohistan arc. A record of this collisional event is well-preserved to the west in the Hindu Kush and variably so to the east in the Hunza Karakoram. A subsequent, ca. 61 Ma, thermal event is partially preserved in Rb–Sr geochronology from the Hindu Raj, which overlaps with sillimanite-grade metamorphism in the Hunza portion of the Karakoram region to the east. Finally, apatite U–Pb and in situ Rb–Sr both record a late Eocene thermal/fluid event likely related to the India-Asia collision. These new data outline a complex geological history within the Hindu Raj, one that shares similarities with both adjacent regions. The information about the tectonometamorphic development of the Hindu Raj is important to gaining a detailed view of the geological characteristics of the southern Asian margin prior to the India-Asia collision.