Central Himalayan crystallines as the primary source for the sandstone–mudstone suites of the Siwalik Group: New geochemical evidence

Geochemistry of the Sub-Himalayan foreland basin Siwalik sediments has been used for interpreting the nature of the source rocks. This study has shown that the compositional changes are a function of stratigraphic height, demonstrated by the upward increase of P2O5, Na2O, CaO, MgO and SiO2 content from Lower to the Upper Siwalik rocks. On the other hand, K2O, Fe2O3, TiO2 and Al2O3 show decrease with the increasing stratigraphic height. These trends are a clear reflection of time-controlled changes in the source lithology. Ratios such as Eu/Eu*, (La/Lu)cn, La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co, and Cr/Th suggest a prominent felsic source area for the Siwalik sediments. Chondrite-normalized REE pattern with LREE enrichment and moderately flat HREE pattern with sharp negative Eu anomaly are attributed to a felsic source. Contrary to the existing belief, this study has ruled out any contribution from the mafic sources and highlighted the compositional similarities of Siwalik sediments with the crustal proxies like PAAS, NASC and UCC. The geochemical data point to a significant role played by the Precambrian and early Paleozoic granitic rocks of the Himalayan tectogene in shaping the composition of the foreland sediments. The variable CIA values and marked depletion in Na, Mg and Ca exhibited by the Lower, Middle and Upper Siwalik sediments reflect variable climatic zones and variations in the rate of tectonic uplift of the source area. Our results demonstrate that in the Lower Siwalik and part of the Middle Siwalik, Higher Himalayan Crystalline sequence (HHCS) was the primary source area with minor contributions by the meta-sedimentary succession of the Lesser Himalaya. Later, during the deposition of the upper part of the Middle Siwalik and Upper Siwalik, the source terrain switched positions. These two prominent source terrains supplied sediments in steadily changing proportion through time.