The collision of India with Asia

We review the relative motion of India and Asia for the last 100 million years and present a revised reconstruction for the India–Antarctica–Africa–North America–Eurasia plate circuit based on published motion histories. Deformation of these continental masses during this time introduces uncertainties, as does error in oceanic isochron age and location. Neglecting these factors, the data ipso facto allow the inference that the motion of India relative to Eurasia was distinctly episodic. Although motion is likely to have varied more smoothly than these results would allow, the geological record also suggests a sequence of distinct episodes, at about the same times. Hence we suggest that no single event should be regarded as the collision of India with Asia. The deceleration of the Indian plate commencing at ∼65 Ma is matched by an equally significant prior acceleration and this aspect must be taken into account in geodynamic scenarios proposed to explain the collision of India with Asia.

► We present a revised tectonic reconstruction of the Indian plate. ► The data indicates the motion of India relative to Eurasia was distinctly episodic. ► Changes in the velocity of the Indian plate correlate with the geological record. ► Geodynamic scenarios must explain plate acceleration and deceleration. ► No single event should be regarded as the collision of India with Asia.