When and why the continental crust is subducted: Examples of Hindu Kush and Burma

The Indian subcontinent has been colliding against Asia along the Himalayas. Hindu Kush and Burma in this collision zone have intermediate-depth seismicities beneath them, with most of the continental crust subducted into a few hundred km depth. The subduction, not collision, in these regions is an enigma long time. We show that the continental lithosphere subducted beneath Hindu Kush and Burma traveled over the Reunion and Kerguelen hotspots from 100 Ma to 126 Ma and is likely to have been metasomatized by upwelling plumes beneath those hotspots. The devolatilization of the metasomatized lithosphere impinging on the collision boundary would have provided a high pore fluid pressure ratio at the thrust zones and made the subduction of the continental lithosphere in these regions possible. The subducted lithosphere could give intermediate-depth seismicities by devolatilization embrittlement. Such subduction of hotspot-affected lithosphere without accompanying any oceanic plate would be one candidate for producing ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks by deep subduction of the continental crust. (C) 2010 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.