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Seeber, L., and V. Gornitz, 1983: River profiles along the Himalayan arc as indicators of active tectonics. Tectonophysics, 92, 335-467, doi:10.1016/0040-1951(83)90201-9.
Longitudinal profiles along sixteen major transverse Himalayan rivers add important constraints to models of active continental subduction and its evolution. These profiles are characterized by a zone of relatively high gradient that cannot be associated with differential resistance to erosion in all cases. The base of the zone of increased gradients correlates with (1) the topographic front between the Lesser and High Himalayas, (2) the narrow belt of intermediate-magnitude thrust earthquakes, (3) the Main Central Thrust zone (MCT). These features define a small circle in the central portion of the Himalayan arc. These correlations suggest that the discontinuity in the river profiles and the other features are controlled by a major tectonic boundary between the rising High Himalayas and the Lesser Himalayas. Few sharp increases in gradient are observed near the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT). It is unlikely that the MBT is a major tectonic boundary. The diversion of river courses along the MBT and around anticlines in the Sub Himalayas has probably been caused by aggradation. A parallel is drawn between the Himalayas and New Guinea based on the hypothesis that continent-arc collision, of the type occurring in northern Australia, preceded continent-continent collision in the Himalayas.
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