SHRIMP U-Pb in zircon geochronology of the Chor granitoid: evidence for Neoproterozoic magmatism in the Lesser Himalayan granite belt of NW India

Porphyritic and peraluminous granitoids of the Lesser Himalayan granite belt fringe the High Himalaya from Nepal to Pakistan. Magmatic zircons in the Chor granitoid in Himchal Pradesh define a SHRIMP U-Pb age of 823+/-5 Ma. This Neoproterozoic age contrasts with Cambro-Ordovician ages for other dated Lesser Himalayan granites, but is coeval with granite magmatism in the South China craton. Neoproterozoic magmatism within the northern margin of Gondwanaland may provide a more local source for detrital zircons in High Himalayan metasediments during the Neoproterozoic and early Paleozoic than the recently postulated East African orogen. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.