Drift velocity partitioning indicates anomalous high westward drift component for the Indian plate during ~65 + 2 Ma

Abstract

Rapid northward drift of the Indian plate after 130 Ma has also recorded signi cant plate rotations due to the torques resulting from multiple vector force components. Seismic tomography of the Indian Ocean and palaeomagnetic database of the Deccan Traps are used here to constrain drift velocities at different temporal snapshots, resulting into estimates of 263.2 to 255.7 mmyr − 1 latitudinal drift, 234 to 227.3 mmyr − 1 longitudinal drift and 352.2 to 342.1 mmyr − 1 diagonal drift, for the period from ~ 66 to 64 Ma during the Chrons C30n.y-C29n.y. Alternative displacement models suggest active driving forces arising from i) slab pull, ii) ridge push from eastern-, western and southern plate margins, and iii) Reunion plume-push force; in addition to delamination of the lithospheric root during approximately 65 ± 2 Ma. Delamination of the root ampli ed the buoyancy of the Indian plate in contrast to sudden loading from Deccan basaltic pile that resulted into complex drift dynamics expressed by hyper plate velocities with an anomalous westward drift component of > 342 mmy − 1 .