Tibet 2013


Ophiolites of the Indus-Yarlung suture

 

In June 2013, Marco-Maffione and I joined an American-led expedition to the Indus-Yarlung suture zone that demarcates the former plate boundary between India and Asia, before the two continents started their collision. This zone is located at the boundary between the Tibetan plateau and the Himalaya mountain range, quite close (about a day drive) from Mount Everest. The expedition was held within the context of a Continental Dynamics program led by Paul Kapp (University of Arizona at Tucson) and Lin Ding (Chinese Academy of Sciences) that aims to study the collision between India and Asia. We joined the expedition to carry out paleomagnetic and structural geological research on relics of the ocean floor (ophiolites) of the - now largely disappeared - Neotethyan Ocean that once intervened the two continents. Our main aim is to study the initiation of subduction that occurred below these ophiolites presumably about 130 Ma ago. This trip was part of my ERC project 'SINK' (Subduction Initiation reconstructed from Neotethyan Kinematics). Below you find a photo impression of the trip, enjoy!

 

The Team

 

 

 

 

 

Marco Maffione, post-doc at Utrecht University, the Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carl Guilmette, assistant professor at the University of Waterloo, Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jared Butler, Post-doc at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nate Borneman, PhD student at the Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA

 

 

 

 

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Mary Schultz, PhD student at the Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wentao Huang, PhD student at Utrecht University, the Netherlands

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kip Hodges, Professor at the Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shun Li, PhD student at Beijing University, China

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco and I discussing with Paul Kapp and Mark Harrison in the bus from Lhasa airport to the city, where the group would split up into different field teams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lhasa! The famous Potala, Buddhist headquarters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Streetview of Lhasa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The entire suture zone field crew 2013

 

 

 

 

 

Ross Waldrip, Paul Kapp and Lin Ding. Paul and Lin made this trip all possible

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last pictures together, just before taking off

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jared, hugging his last tree before not seeing one for several weeks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

... and off we go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tibetan landscape is pretty cool...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yarlung-Tsangpo river, that flows along the India-Asia contact

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The inevitable Tibetan colourful flags

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We came to study ophiolites, fragments of oceanic lithosphere thrusted onto continents. To the right you see the base of the ophiolite, overturned beyond vertical. To the left, sub-ophiolitic melange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here the top of the same ophiolite, with an unconformable cover of Asia-derived sediments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, drilling these sediments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wentao and Carl's student, Xiao, collecting cores

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The team, inspecting the contact of the Sang Sang ophiolite with its sedimentary cover at a pass at 5115 m elevation...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sampled sandstones :)

'

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orientation device, sticking out of a dyke in serpentinite

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Serpentinite. Note the pockets of unserpentinized peridotite with serpentinized veins along a regular fracture pattern

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleasant lunch spot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

Rock star with paparazzi :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don't know what the game was, but I think that Mary won, and Carl did not :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeep taking a shortcut

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shun, measuring

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, studying float

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carl, disappointed after finding another sandstone :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nate, suggesting directions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, spotting superman. Nate, amazed. Carl, jealous.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Field lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carl, getting hammered

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, not enjoying a disgusting lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back to fieldwork

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Base camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Measuring peridotite samples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shun standing on a former ocean floor at the contact of pillow lavas and radiolarites

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco and Shun, collecting samples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, making sure we didn't bring the IPad for nothing :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Marco, finding an awesome random pebble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carl, being happy for him

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final ascent before going home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Failed attempt to go home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Final group pic (fltr: Nate, Marco, Wentao, Jun, Jared, Shun, Carl and Xiao)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some last images on the way home...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks all, this was an amazing trip with great scientists of a myriad of backgrounds. Fantastic way to do our job!