Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Dyke Swarms:Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation pp 437–455Cite as

Petrogenetic Comparison of the Mafic Dykes in the Kohistan Paleo-Island Arc-Back-Arc System, Himalayas of North Pakistan

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

Abstract

Kohistan paleo-island arc is considered a complex entity of island arc and back-arc rock assemblages. It contains two major magmatic complexes: the layered ultramafic and mafic Chilas complex at the base, and the Kohistan batholith in the middle part. Back-arc basin rock assemblages, the Jaglot group, occur as septum within the Kohistan batholith. Mafic dykes intrude the ultramafic and mafic rocks of the Chilas complex and the diorites, granodiorites and tonalities of the Kohistan batholith. Mafic dykes both basaltic and doleritic, intrude the metasediments and gabbros of the Jaglot group. Petrographic and geochemical variations are observed in all mafic dykes of the area. Mafic dykes of the Chilas complex are picrobasalt to basalt, tholeiitic and subalkaline. These dykes are mainly amphibolites that contain green hornblende, biotite, epidote and plagioclase. Mafic dykes of the Kohistan batholith are tholeiitic and calc-alkaline/alkaline basaltic andesite to trachyandesite, which preserved trachytic-type texture. Mafic dykes of the Jaglot group are tholeiitic basalt and basaltic andesite, which preserved ophitic to subophitic texture. Mafic dykes of the Chilas complex are high in Al2O3, MgO, CaO, and low in Na2O, K2O, P2O5, Zr, Rb, Sr, Ba and Nb. Mafic dykes of the Kohistan batholith contain diagnostically high Al2O3 and low TiO2, Zr, Rb, Sr, Ba and Nb. The calc-alkaline/alkali basaltic mafic dykes are distinctly high in Na2O, K2O and P2O5, Rb, Sr, Ba, Nb and low in MgO, CaO, Fe2O3 and Y. Mafic dykes of the Jaglot group are distinct to contain high TiO2, Fe2O3, Na2O, Y, Zr and low Al2O3, K2O, Rb, Sr and Ba. These dykes show flat pattern with slightly high HFSE/LILE ratios whereas the other dykes show opposite characteristics with marked Nb depletion and Sr enrichment, when compared with N-MORB and primitive mantle values. Mafic dykes of the Jaglot group show enriched MORB-type affinity whereas mafic dykes of the Chilas complex and the tholeiitic dykes of the Kohistan batholith give island arc type signatures. Calc-alkaline/alkali basaltic dykes give continental margin origin. All mafic dykes of the area are derived by the partial melting of depleted, heterogeneous mantle and enriched mantle sources during island arc, continental margin and back-arc tectonic settings.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

References

  • Aitchison JC, Ali JR, Davis AM (2007) When and where did India and Asia collide? J Geoph Res 112: B0542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anczkiewicz R, Vance D (1997) Chronology of subduction, collision and regional metamorphism in Kohistan, vol 331, NW Himalaya, Pakistan. Terra Abstracts

    Google Scholar 

  • Bard JP (1983) Metamorphism of an obducted island arc: Example of the Kohistan sequence (Pakistan) in the Himalayan collided range. Earth Planet Sci Lett 65: 133–144

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bender FK, Raza HA (1995) Geology of Pakistan. Gebrunder Borntragaer. Stuttgart, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Burg JP, Bodinier J, Chaudhry MA, Hussain SS, Dawood H (1998) Intra-arc mantle-crust transition and intra-arc mantle diapers in the Kohistan complex (Pakistani Himalaya): Petro-structural evidence. Terra Nova 10: 74–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burg JP, Jagoutz O, Hamid D, Hussain S (2006) Pre-collision tilt of crustal blocks in rifted island arcs: Structural evidence from the Kohistan Arc. Tectonics 25(5): 1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coward MP, Windley BF, Broughton RD, Luff IW, Petterson MG, Pudsey CJ, Rex DC, Khan MA (1986) Collision Tectonics in the NW Himalayas. In: Coward MP, Ries AC (eds) Collision Tectonics. J. Geol Soc London, Spec Publ 19: 203–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey JF, Cande S, Pitman WC (1989) Tectonic evolution of the India – Eurasia collision zone. Eclogae Geologicae Helvetiae 82: 717–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Ding L, Kapp P, Wan XQ (2005) Paleocene – Eocene record of ophiolite obduction and initial India – Asia collision. Tectonics, south central Tibet: 24

    Google Scholar 

  • Harper GD (2003) Fe-Ti basalts and propagating rift tectonics in the Josephine ophiolite. Geol Soc Am Bull 115: 771–787

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Honegger K, Dietrich V, Frank W, Gansser A, Thoni M, Trommsdorff V (1982) Magmatism and metamorphism in the Ladkh Himalayas (the Indus-Tsangpo suture zone). Earth Planet Sci Lett 60: 253–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Irvine TN, Baragar WRA (1971) A guide to the classification of the common volcanic rocks. Canad J Earth Sci 8: 523–549

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jagoutz OE, Burg J-P, Hussain S, Dawood H, Pettke T, Iizuka T, Maruyama S (2009) Construction of the granitoid crust of an island arc part I: Geochronological and geochemical constraints from the plutonic Kohistan (NW Pakistan). Contrib Mineral Petrol 158: 739–755. doi: 10.1007/s00410-009-0408-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jagoutz O, Burg JP, Jagoutz E, Muntener O, Petteke T, Ulmer P (2004) Zoned ultramafic intrusions of the Chilas complex in Kohistan (NE Pakistan): Mantle diapers and km-scale melt conduits in extending island arcs. Himalayan J Sci 2(4) Special Issue Extended Abstracts: 166

    Google Scholar 

  • Jagoutz O, Müntener O, Burg JP, Ulmer P, Jagoutz E (2006) Lower continental crust formation through focused flow in km-scale melt conduits: The zoned ultramafic bodies of the Chilas Complex in the Kohistan Island arc (NW Pakistan). Earth Planet Sci Lett 242(3–4): 320–342

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jagoutz O, Müntener O, Ulmer P, Burg J-P, Pettke T (2007) Petrology and mineral chemistry of lower crustal intrusions: The Chilas complex, Kohistan (NW Pakistan). J Petrol 48(10): 1895–1953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jan MQ (1977) Petrography of the amphibolites of Swat and Kohistan. Geol Bull Univ Peshawar 11: 51–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Jan MQ (1990) Petrology and geochemistry of the southern amphibolites of the Kohistan arc, N. Pakistan. In: Sharma KK (ed) Geology and geodynamic evolution of the Himalayan collision zone. Phy Chem Earth 17: 71–92

    Google Scholar 

  • Jan MQ, Howie RA (1981) The mineralogy and geochemistry of the metamorphosed basic and ultrabasic rocks of the Jijal Complex, Kohistan, N.W. Pakistan. J Petrol 22: 85–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jan MQ, Pervez MK, Khattak MUK, Windley BF (1984) The Chilas stratiform complex: Field and mineralogical aspects. Geol Bull Univ Peshawar 17: 153–169

    Google Scholar 

  • Jan MQ, Windley BF (1990) Chromium Spinel-silicate chemistry in ultramafic rocks of the Jijal complex, Northeast Pakistan. J Petrol 31: 667–715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan T, Jan MQ, Khan MA, Kausar AB (1997a) High-grade metasedimentary rocks (Gilgit Formation) in the vicinity of Gilgit, Kohistan, northern Pakistan. J Mineral Petrol Econ Geol 92(11): 465–479

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MA, Jan MQ, Weaver BL (1993) Evolution of the lower arc crust in Kohistan, N. Pakistan; temporal arc magmatism through early, mature and intra-arc rift stages. In: Treloar PJ, Searle MP (eds), Himalayan tectonics. Geological Society Special Publications. Geol Soc London, London: 123–138

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan MA, Jan MQ, Windley BF, Tarney J, Thirlwall MF (1989) The Chilas mafic-ultramafic igneous complex of the Kohistan island arc in the Himalaya of north Pakistan. Geol Soc Am Spec Paper 232: 75–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan T, Khan MA, Aziz A (1992) Petrogenetic comparison between the mafic dykes of Chilas complex and Kohistan batholith, Northern Pakistan. Acta Mineralogica Pakistanica 6: 118–125

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan T, Khan MA, Jan MQ (1994) Geology of part of the Kohistan terrane between Gilgit and Chilas, Northern areas of Pakistan. Geol Bull Univ Peshawar 27: 99–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan T, Khan MA, Jan MQ, Naseem M (1996) Back-arc basin assemblages in Kohistan, Northern Pakistan. Geodinamica Acta 9(no 1): 30–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Khan T, Murata M, Karim T, Zafar M, Ozawa H, Rehman H (2007) A Cretaceous dike swarm provides evidence of a spreading axis in the back-arc basin of the Kohistan paleo-island arc, northwestern Himalaya, Pakistan. J Asian Earth Sci 29: 350–360

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan MA, Stern RJ, Gribble RF, Windley BF (1997b) Geochemical and isotopic constraints on subduction polarity, magma source, and paleogeography of the Kohistan intra-oceanic arc, northern Pakistan Himalaya. J Geol Soc London 154: 935–946

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khan SD, Walker DJ, Hall SA, Burke KC, Shah MT, Stockli L (2009) Did the Kohistan-Ladakh island arc collide first with India? Geol Soc Am Bull 121: 366–384

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klootwijk CT, Conaghan PJ, Nazirullah R, De Jong KA (1994) Further palaeomagnetic data from Chitral (eastern Hindukush); evidence for an early India-Asia contact. Tectonophysics 237(1–2): 1–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klootwijk CT, Gee JS, Peirce JW, Smith GM (1991) Constraints on the India-Asia convergence: Paleomagnetic results from Ninetyeast Ridge. In: Weissel J, Peirce J, Taylor E, Alt J., et al., Proceedings. ODP, Sci. Results 121: College Station, TX (Ocean Drilling Program): 777–882

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohn MJ, Speer FS, Dalziel IWD (1993) Metamorphic P-T-paths from Cordillera Darwin, a Core Complex in Teirra del Fuego, Chile. J Petrol 34: 519–542

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Pichon X, Fournier M, Jolivet L (1992) Kinematics, topography, shortening, and extrusion in the India – Eurasia collision. Tectonics 11: 1085–1098

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maurice C, David J, O’Neil J, Francis D (2009) Age and tectonic implications of Paleoproterozoic mafic dyke swarms for the origin of 2.2 Ga enriched lithosphere beneath the Ungava Peninsula, Canada. doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2009.07.007

    Google Scholar 

  • Meschede M (1986) A method of discriminating between different types of mid ocean ridge basalts and continental tholeiites with the Nb-Zr-Y diagram. Chem Geol 56: 207–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murata M (1993) Major and trace component analysis of Korean Institute of Energy and Resources igneous rock reference samples using X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Res Bull Nat Sci Naruto Univ of Education 8: 37–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Najman Y, Garzanti E, Pringle M, Bickle M, Stix J, Khan I (2003) Early – middle Miocene paleodrainage and tectonics in the Pakistan Himalaya. Geol Soc Am Bull 115: 1265–1277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Najman Y, Pringle M, Godin L, Oliver G (2001) Dating of the oldest continental sediments from the Himalayan foreland basin. Nature 410: 194–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicholas A (1986) A melt extraction model based on structural studies in mantle peridotites. J Petrol 27: 999–1022

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patriat P, Achache J (1984) India – Eurasia collision chronology has implications for crustal shortening and driving mechanism of plates. Nature 311: 615– 621

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA (1982) Trace element characteristics of lavas of destructive plate boundaries. In: Thorpe SS (ed), Andesites: orogenic andesites and related rocks. Wiley Press, New York: 525–548

    Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA, Cann JR (1973) Tectonic setting of basic volcanic rocks determined using trace element analyses. Earth Planet Sci Lett 19: 290–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pearce JA, Norry MJ (1979) Petrogenetic implications of Ti, Zr, Y and Nb variations I volcanic interpretation. Contr Mineral Petrol 69: 217–235

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petterson MG, Windley BF (1985) Rb-Sr dating of the Kohistan arc batholith in the Transhimalayan of the North Pakistan and tectonic implications. Earth Planet Sci Lett 74: 45–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petterson MG, Windley BF (1991) Changing source region of magma and crustal growth in the Trans-Himalayas: Evidence from Chalt volcanics and Kohistan batholith, Kohistan, northern Pakistan. Earth Planet Sci Lett 102: 326–341

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petterson MG, Windley BF (1992) The field relations, geochemistry and petrogenesis of the Cretaceous basaltic Jutal dyke-suite, Kohistan, Northern Pakistan. J Geol Soc London 149: 107–114

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petterson MG, Windley BF, Luff IW (1990) The Chalt volcanics, Kohistan, N. Pakistan: High-Mg tholeiites and low Mg calc-alkaline volcanism in a Cretaceous island arc. In: Sharma KK (ed) Geology and geodynamic evolution of the Himalayan collision zone. Phys Chem Earth 17: 19–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell CMcA (1979) A speculative tectonic history of Pakistan and surroundings: Some constraints from Indian ocean. In: Farah A, Dejong K (eds), Geodynamics of Pakistan. Geological Survey Pakistan, Pakistan: 5–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Pudsey CJ (1986) The Northern Suture, Pakistan: Margin of a Cretaceous island arc. Geol Magazine 123: 405–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pudsey CJ, Coward MP, Luff IW, Shackleton RM, Windley BF, Jan MQ (1985) The collision zone between the Kohistan arc and the Asian plate in NW Pakistan. Trans Royal Soc Edinburg 76: 464–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowley DB (1996) Age of collision between India and Asia: A review of the stratigraphic data. Earth Planet Sci Lett 145: 1–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sawada Y, Kubo K, Kausar AB, Takashi Y (1993) Primary magma of the Chilas complex in the Kohistan arc, Northern Pakistan. Proc Geosci Colloq, Geoscience Laboratory, Geol Surv Pakistan 7: 97–119

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaltegger U et al (2004) Crust-mantle interaction during Karakoram- Kohistan accretion (NW Pakistan). Goldschmidt 2004. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 68(11) Copenhagen

    Google Scholar 

  • Schaltegger U, Zeilinger G, Frank M, Burg JP (2002) Multiple mantle sources during island arc magmatism: U-Pb and Hf isotopic evidence from the Kohistan arc complex, Pakistan. Terra Nova 14: 461–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun SS (1980) Lead isotope study of young volcanic rocks from mid ocean ridges and island arcs. Phil Trans R Soc London, A 297: 409–445

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun SS, McDonough WF (1989) Chemical and isotopic systematic of ocean basalts: Implication for mantle composition and processes. J Geol Soc London Spec Publ 42: 313–345

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tahirkheli RAK (1982) Geology of the Himalaya, Karakorum and Hindukush. Geol Bull Univ Peshawar 13: 1–151

    Google Scholar 

  • Treloar PJ, Broadie KH, Coward MP, Jan MQ, Knipe RJ, Rex DC, Williams MP (1990) The evolution of the Kamila shear zone, Kohistan, Pakistan. In: Salibury MH, Fountain DM (eds), Exposed cross sections of the continental crust. Kluwer Academy Press, Amsterdam: 175–214

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Treloar PJ, Petterson MG, Jan MQ, Sullivan MA (1996) A re-evaluation of the stratigraphy and evolution of the Kohistan arc sequence, Pakistan Himalaya: Implications for magmatic and tectonic arc-building processes. J Geol Soc London 153: 681–693

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Treloar PJ, Rex DC, Guise PG, Coward MP, Searle MP, Windley BF, Petterson MG, Jan MQ, Luff IW (1989) K/Ar and Ar/Ar geochronology of the Himalayan collision in NW Pakistan: Constraints on the timing of suturing, deformation, metamorphism and uplift. Tectonics 4: 881–909

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson M (1989) Igneous petrogenesis, a global tectonic approach. Unwin Hyman Press, London: 1–466

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Winchester JA, Floyd PA (1977) Geochemical discrimination of different magma series and their differentiation products using immobile elements. Chem Geol 20: 325–343

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto H, Nakamura E (1996) Sm-Nd dating of garnet granulites from the Kohistan complex, northern Pakistan. J Geol Soc London 153: 965–969

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yin A, Harrison TM (2000) Geologic evolution of the Himalayan-Tibetan orogen. Annual Review of Earth Planet Sci Lett 28: 211–280

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yoshida M, Zaman H, Ahmad MN (1996) Paleoposition of Kohistan arc and surrounding terranes since Cretaceous time: The paleomagnetic contraints. In: Kausar AB, Yajima J (eds) Geology, Geochemistry, Economic Geology and Rock Magnetism of the Kohistan arc. Proce Geosci Colloq, Geoscience Laboratory, Geol Surv Pakistan: 83–101

    Google Scholar 

  • Zaman H, Torii M (1999) Palaeomagnetic study of Cretaceous red beds from the eastern Hindukush ranges, northern Pakistan; paleoarc construction of the Kohistan-Karakoram composite unit before the India-Asia collision. Geophys J Int 136(3): 719–738

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zeitler PK, Tahirkheli RAK, Naesser C, Johnson N, Lyon J (1980) Preliminary fission-track ages from Swat valley, northern Pakistan. Geol Bull Univ Peshawar 13: 23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhu B, Kidd WSF, Rowley DB, Currie BS, Shafique N (2005) Age of initiation of the India – Asia collision in the east central Himalaya. J Geol 113: 265–285

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to Imran Khan, Director General, Geological Survey of Pakistan and Tahir Karim, Project Director of the Geoscience Advance Research Laboratories, Islamabad and the President of the Naruto University of Education, Tokushima, Japan for facilitating this study. We are also indebted to Talat Ahmad and Rajesh K. Srivastava for the critical review of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan

    Tahseenullah Khan & Mohammad Zafar

  2. Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Science, Naruto University of Education, National University Corporation Naruto, Tokushima, 772-8502, Japan

    Mamuro Murata

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Faculty of Science, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, 890-0065, Japan

    Hafiz Ur Rehman

Authors
  1. Tahseenullah Khan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Mamuro Murata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Mohammad Zafar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hafiz Ur Rehman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tahseenullah Khan .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Khan, T., Murata, M., Zafar, M., Rehman, H.U. (2011). Petrogenetic Comparison of the Mafic Dykes in the Kohistan Paleo-Island Arc-Back-Arc System, Himalayas of North Pakistan. In: Dyke Swarms:Keys for Geodynamic Interpretation. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-12496-9_24

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation