Impact of Deccan Volcanism on Reorganization of the Indian plate kinematics

Abstract

Western Indian Ocean basin shows one of the most complex signatures of the ocean floor anomalies by juxtaposition of the rapidly evolving, multiple spreading ridges, subduction systems and microcontinental slivers. This study based on ocean floor magnetic anomalies, gravity gradient map, tomographic profiles and geometrical kinematic models reports a significant westward drift of the Central Indian Ridge (CIR) segments. Documented precisely between the latitudes 17°S and 21°S the drift is coincident with the Deccan volcanism at ~65±2 Ma and we further explain its bearing on the Indian plate kinematics. The progressive stair-step trend of the ridge segments towards NE is marked by anomalous deflection to NW for a brief distance of ~217 km between these latitudes represented by the anomalies C30n-C29n. The observed length of the ridge segments moving NW at 17°S match the calculated NW drift rates of Indian plate (Bhagat et al., 2022). We infer that the NW drift and its restoration towards NE triggered short Plume Induced Subduction Initiation along the Amirante trench. Further a plume induced lithospheric tilt of the Indian plate (Sangode et al 2022) led to restoration of subduction along the Sunda trench at ~65 Ma imparting new slab pull force over the Indian subcontinent besides the NE trend for CIR. This episode resulted into anticlockwise rotation of the Indian plate along with accelerated drift rates due to vector addition of the plume push and the slab pull forces from Eurasian as well as Sunda subduction systems after 65 Ma. The Deccan eruption thus resulted in major geodynamic reorganization that altered the kinematics of Indian plate; and the signatures of which are well preserved over the ocean floor.