An embryonic fold and thrust belt south of the Himalayan morphological front: Examples from the Central Nepal and Darjeeling piedmonts

The morphological boundary between the Himalayas and the foreland plain is well expressed and most often corresponds to the frontal emergence of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT). This boundary is affected by surface ruptures during very large Himalayan earthquakes (Mw > 8) that regularly induce (with a recurrence of the order of 500 to 1200 years) the uplift of the foothills relative to the plain.