The book provides a model for the structural evolution of the Himalaya with relevant background information making it easily accessible to earth scientists specializing in other areas. The book is divided into two parts: The first part describes the basic principles of structural geology that are required to understand the evolutionary model described in the second part. The book incorporates some of the commonly ignored structural features, such as Pre-Himalayan rift tectonics, reactivation of faults, simultaneous development of folds and thrust faults, superposed folds, strike-slip faults developed during early and superposed deformation, problems with GPS data, erratic crustal shortening obtained by restoration of deformed sections, etc. The proposed model is essentially based on inversion tectonics and provides answers to some previously unresolved questions. It describes in detail the structure of the Himalaya as a primary arc, with supporting evidence from model deformation under controlled boundary conditions and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility studies.

High pressure (HP) and ultrahigh pressure (UHP) metamorphic rocks play a key role in understanding the tectonic evolution of orogenic belts. They have typically experienced complex changes during subduction and exhumation processes arising from recrystallization, deformation, fluid-rock interactions and even partial melting, and may therefore carry valuable records of evolving geodynamic systems in an orogenic belt. This special publication addresses the current work on HP-UHP metamorphism and its relation to the tectonic evolution of orogenic belts. This special publication contains fifteen papers covering the important orogenic belts of the Himalaya, Dabie-Sulu, Tian Shan, North Qaidam and others that have been grouped into three parts: (I) new developments in the determination of metamorphic pressure-temperature (PT) conditions and their timing, (II) overview papers of well-known HP-UHP metamorphic belts and (III) research papers for some newly discovered HP-UHP belts.

A valuable introduction to the processes of mountain belt formation and summary of orogenic research, for advanced students and researchers.

This volume provides a state-of-the-art account of the geology of part of Central Asia named The Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). This Belt formed by accretion of island arcs, ophiolites, oceanic islands, seamounts, accretionary wedges, oceanic plateaux and microcontinents (c. 1000-250 Ma ago) by similar processes to those in the circum- Pacific Mesozoic-Cenozoic accretionary orogens. Also known as Altaids, this region is one of the largest orogenic belts on Earth, extending from the Ural Mountains in the West to far eastern Siberia. It is the product of a complex evolution lasting for more than 800 million years from the latest Mesoproterozoic to the end of the Palaeozoic. The CAOB consists of numerous accreted terranes, made up of island arcs, oceanic plateaux and islands, Precambrian microcontinents and remnants of oceanic crust that are preserved as fragmented ophiolites. Although the broad history if this huge territory is now reasonably well understood there are still major unanswered questions such as the rate and volume of crustal growth, the origin of continental fragments, the detailed mechanism of accretion and collision, the role of terrane rotations during the orogeny, and the age and composition of the lower crust in Central Asia. Large parts of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia and parts of Mongolia) treated in this volume have only been poorly covered in scholarly western publications. Most contributions of this book are by Russian scientists actively involved in field and laboratory research of the CAOB and therefore have an intimate knowledge of the terranes which they describe and analyze. In view of the increasing significance of Central Asia because of its wealth of mineral resources this volume is of interest to readers from all fields of the geosciences and from academics to industry.

The volume is organized into three sections entitled Overview, Extensional Settings and Contractional Settings together with a glossary of terms having to do with strike-slip deformation, basin formation and sedimentation.