Tibet2013

In June and July 2013 I've spent 5 weeks in Tibet studying the ophiolites of the Yarlung-Tsangpo Suture Zone (YTSZ). Together with field structural geological analyses I've carried out paleomagnetic sampling of both the magmatic and sedimentary sections of the ophiolite.

My work, coordinated by my colleague Dr Douwe van Hinsbergen (Utrecht University, The Netherlands), was part of a major project on the kinematic evolution of the India-Asia collision zone carried out by several US universities, including: The University of Arizona (USA, project leader Prof. Paul Kapp), the Arizona State University (USA, project leader Prof. Kip Hodges), UCLA (USA, project leader Prof. Mark Harrison), University of Waterloo (Canada, project leader Dr Carl Guilmette).

In the pictures below I will give you a little taste of what it looks like being at 5000 m altitude! Enjoy!

The Tibetan Research Group on the first day of fieldwork

From the top of a Xigatze ophiolitic massif looking north into the

Xigatze sedimentary units

Happyness after a successful drilling day in the Bailang ophiolite

Myself drilling the sedimentary cover of the Xigatze ophiolite