The geodynamics of the Pamir-Punjab syntaxis
Abstract
The collision of Hindustan with Eurasia in the Oligocene-early Miocene resulted in the rearrangement of the convective system in the upper mantle of the Pamir-Karakoram margin of the Eurasian Plate with subduction of the Hindustan continental lithosphere beneath this margin. The Pamir-Punjab syntaxis was formed in the Miocene as a giant horizontal extrusion (protrusion). Extensive nappes developed in the southern and central Pamirs along with deformation of its outer zone. The Pamir-Punjab syntaxis continued to form in the Pliocene-Quaternary when the deformed Pamirs, which propagated northward, were being transformed into a giant allochthon. A fold-nappe system was formed in the outer zone of the Pamirs at the front of this allochthon. A geodynamic model of syntaxis formation is proposed here.