Strong imprint of past orogenic events on the thermochronological record

•Age of cessation of orogenic event is strongly imprinted in the thermochronological record.•Thermal relaxation towards conductive equilibrium is responsible for rapid cooling of upper crust.•Resulting age-elevation trends do not reflect exhumation rate.•This explains the presence of “ghost” or “static” peaks in detrital age datasets•Care must be taken when interpreting thermochronological data.•End of orogenic event erases information concerning pre- and post-orogenic rates.

Using a simple solution to the heat conduction equation, I show how, at the end of an orogenic event, the relaxation of isotherms from a syn-orogenic advection-dominated geometry to a post-orogenic conduction-dominated geometry leads to the creation of a thick iso-age crustal layer. Subsequent erosion of this layer yields peculiar age-elevation profiles and detrital age distributions that cannot be easily interpreted using traditional techniques. I illustrate these points by using a simple analytical solution of the heat equation as well as a transient, three-dimensional numerical model. I also demonstrate that the age of the end of an orogenic event is so strongly imprinted in the thermochronological record that it erases most of the information pertaining to the orogenic phase itself and the subsequent isostatically-driven exhumation. The concept is used to explain two thermochronological datasets from the Himalayas and demonstrate that their most likely interpretation involves the sudden interruption of extremely fast exhumation accommodated by movement along the South Tibetan Detachment in the Higher Himalayas around 15 Ma.