The India–Asia collision in north Pakistan: Insight from the U–Pb detrital zircon provenance of Cenozoic foreland basin

The northernmost exposures of sub-Himalayan Cenozoic strata in the Hazara–Kashmir syntaxial region of north Pakistan comprises the Paleocene–Eocene marine strata in the lower part and Oligocene–Miocene nonmarine strata in the upper part. This study provides the detrital zircon U–Pb geochronology of the Cenozoic strata in this area. The strong resemblance of U–Pb age spectra of Paleocene Hangu, Lockhart and Patala formations with those of Himalayan strata indicate an Indian plate provenance. The first appearance of