Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

India's and Australia's pole path since the late Mesozoic and the India–Asia collision

Abstract

The Indian apparent polar wandering path (APW) for the late Mesozoic–Cenozoic period has been too poorly defined to use as a constraint to establish the timing of collision of India and Asia. Here we update the Indian APW on the basis of new palaeomagnetic data from DSDP cores and from Baluchistan (Pakistan). This new synthesis details the late Mesozoic and Cenozoic northward motion of India, and supports geological evidence for an initial collision with Asia during the late Palaeocene–early Eocene.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Molnar, P. & Tapponnier, P. Science 189, 419–426 (1975).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Sclater, J. G. & Fischer, R. L. Bull. geol Soc. Am. 85, 683–702 (1974).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Johnson, B. D., Powell, C. McA. & Veevers, J. J. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 87, 1560–1566 (1976).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Luyendyk, B. P. & Rennick, W. Bull. geol. Soc. Am. 28, 1347–1356 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Wellman, P., McElhinny, M. W. & McDougall, I. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 18, 371–395 (1969).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. McElhinny, M. W., Embleton, B. J. J. & Wellman, P. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 36, 141–151 (1974).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. McElhinny, M. W. & Embleton, B. J. J. Tectonophysics 22, 1–29 (1974).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Powell, C. McA. & Conaghan, P. J. Geology 4, 727–731 (1975).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Powell, C. McA., Geodynamics of Pakistan (eds Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A.) 5–24 (Geol. Surv. Pakistan, Quetta 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Powell, C. McA. & Conaghan, P. J. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 20, 1–12 (1973).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Klootwijk, C. T. Geodynamics of Pakistan (eds. Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A.) 41–80 (Geol. Surv. Pakistan, Quetta, 1979); Structural Geology of the Himalayas (ed. Saklani, P. S.) (in the press); Tectonophysics 12, 449–467 (1971).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Peirce, J. W. J. geophys. Res. 81, 4173–4187 (1976); Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 52, 277–311 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  13. Cox, A. (unpublished).

  14. Powell, C. McA., Johnson, B. D. & Veevers, J. J. Tectonophysics (in the press).

  15. Klootwijk, C. T., Ullah, R. N., De Jong, K. A. & Ahmed, H. J. geophys. Res. (submitted).

  16. Klootwijk, C. T. et al. Earth planet. Sci. 44, 47–64 (1979).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  17. Frank, W., Gansser, A. & Trommsdorff, V. Schweiz. miner. petrog. Mitt. 57, 89–113 (1977).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Tahirkheli, R. A. K., Mattauer, W., Proust, F. & Tapponnier, P. Geodynamics of Pakistan (eds Farah, A. & De Jong, K. A.) 125–130 (Geol. Surv. Pakistan, Quetta, 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hunting Survey, Reconnaissance Geology of Part of Western Pakistan (ed. Jones, A. G.) (Government of Canada, Toronto, 1960).

  20. Stoneley, R. The Geology of Coninental Margins (eds Drake, C. L. & Burke, K.) 889–903 (Springer, New York, 1974).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  21. Irving, E. Nature 270, 304‐309 (1977).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  22. Wensink, H. Pak. J. Sci. Ind. Res. 15, 89–91 (1972).

    Google Scholar 

  23. Robertson, W. A. & Hastie, L. J. geol. Soc. Austr. 8, 259–268 (1961).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Robertson, W. A. J. geophys. Res. 68, 2299–2312 (1963); Proc. R. Soc. Queensl. 78, 87–100 (1966).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  25. Schmidt, P. W. thesis, Australian National Univ. (1976); Tectonophysics 33, 1–13 (1976).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Idnurm, M. & Senior, B. R. Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimat. Palaeoecol. 24, 263–277 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  27. Mumme, W. G. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 7, 314–327 (1963).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  28. Wellman, P. Proc. R. Soc. Queensl. 86, 147–153 (1975).

    Google Scholar 

  29. Aziz-ur-Rahman, Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 24, 255–269 (1971).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  30. McElhinny, M. W. & Wellman, P. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 6, 198–204 (1969).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  31. Weissel, J. K., Hayes, D. E. & Herren, E. M. Mar. Geol. 25, 231–277 (1977).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Norton, I. & Molnar, P. Nature 267, 338–340 (1977).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Klootwijk, C., Peirce, J. India's and Australia's pole path since the late Mesozoic and the India–Asia collision. Nature 282, 605–607 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/282605a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/282605a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing