​Nadine McQuarrie and graduate students Joshua Olsen and Suryodoy Ghoshal joined colleagues from the University of Alabama for a 6 week field season in the central Nepal Himalaya, April and May of 2016.  The group mapped geologic formations, identified major structures and collected a suite of rocks that they brought back to the US.  Minerals (apatite. zircon and muscovite) separated from these rocks will be analyzed to determine the age that they cooled through specific temperatures.  The purpose of the field work is to accurately delineate the extent and geometry of main Himalayan fault plane that separates the Himalayan mountains from the underthrusting India continent.  Understanding the geometry of the fault,  where there are large flat portions that can easily rupture in an earthquake  or where there are ramps or steps  in the faults that may impede rupture, can help predict the size of future earthquakes.  The Main Himalayan Fault ruptured spring of 2015 producing a 7.8Mw earthquake in Central Nepal (the April 2015 Gorkha earthquake).  

The Team and Annapurna II:  Delores Robinson (UA), Suijit Kunwor (UA), Cole Valentino (Occidental), Nadine McQuarrie (Pitt), Liz Olree (UA), Joshua Olsen (Pitt), Somiddho "Dido” Bosu (UA), Suryodoy Ghoshal (Pitt), Bir Tamang (Nepal guide) (photo credit: Olsen)

Waiting for the second vehicle, Manang, Nepal  (photo credit:  Ghoshal)

Identifying rocks, central Nepal.  Left to right, Somiddho "Dido" Bosu  U of Alabama; UA), Delores Robinson (UA) Cole   (Occidental College) Nadine McQuarrie (University of Pittsburgh; Pitt), Liz Olree (UA) Joshua Olsen (Pitt) Suryodoy Ghoshal (Pitt) (photo credit: Bir Tamang)

Sunset over the Lesser Himalayas on the road from Royal Chatwan National Park to Gorkha, Nepal  (photo credit: McQuarrie)