Tectonic Evolution of the Shyok Suture in the Nubra Region, Ladakh Himalaya

The Shyok Suture in Ladakh Himalaya represents a Late Cretaceous arc-continent collision that preceded the Paleogene continental collision between India and Eurasia. The Shyok Suture is identified by the presence of highly deformed ophiolitic and island arc rocks, which are remnants from the now extinct Mesotethys Ocean. This suture continues west into the Kohistan region in Pakistan and can also be correlated with the Bangong Suture in Tibet to the east. The Ladakh section of the suture is an important link between these regions, but correlations between ophiolite and magmatic arc rocks along the Himalaya were difficult due to a lack of robust isotopic ages in Ladakh. Therefore, the main objectives of this dissertation are to investigate the key formations from the Shyok Suture and provide new data that can enable terrane correlations along the Himalayan Orogen. This is a key step in determining the early assembly architecture of the Himalaya, before it was disrupted by a major crustal discontinuity, the dextral Miocene Karakoram Fault.