Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/D000092/1
Determining Himalayan evolution and erosion history: innovative provenance techniques applied to the suture zone sediments
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor Y Najman, Lancaster University, Environmental Science
- Grant held at:
- Lancaster University, Environmental Science
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Global Change
- Science Topics:
- Earth Surface Processes
- Tectonic Processes
- Sediment/Sedimentary Processes
- Abstract:
- Theories of crustal deformation are modelled on the Himalayas, and Himalayan evolution may have had a profound impact on global climate and ocean geochemistry. The record of material eroded from the mountain belt and preserved in adjacent basins is key to constraining such models; for example, crustal deformation models differ in the timing and extent of orogenic erosion, whilst the timing of onset of significant erosion is required to test the hypothesis that increased erosion from the Himalayas resulted in rise of the marine Sr isotopic ratio and global cooling. This project will date the sediments preserved in the Himalayan suture zone, and geochemically and isotopically characterise them, using innovative techniques, in order to determine provenance. This will achieve two aims: Firstly, dating and provenancing suture zone sediments will allow them to be used to constrain the timing of collision, critical to estimates of crustal shortening, and to document Himalayan evolution. Secondly, characterisation of known Himalayan detritus will allow it to be recognised in distal basins of mixed provenance, e.g. the Indus and Bengal Fans. A number of studies use the distal basins to document Himalayan erosion as they can contain more complete sediment records. This project will allow robust interpretation of the sediment record in the distal basins. The results of this project will be of benefit to a number of researchers in diverse disciplines, for example those in the fields of oceanography, climate change, and tectonics. The work is not limited to academic interest. Those in, for example, the oil industry would benefit from the further development of provenance techniques which can be used to determine sediment routing and basin evolution.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/D000092/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- New Investigators Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- New Investigators
This grant award has a total value of £51,940
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs |
|---|---|
| £12,353 | £39,586 |
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