The Restless Indian Plate and Its Epic Voyage from Gondwana to Asia: Its Tectonic, Paleoclimatic, and Paleobiogeographic Evolution

by

Sankar Chatterjee Department of Geosciences Museum of Texas Tech University Lubbock, Texas 79409-3191, USA

Christopher R. Scotese PALEOMAP Project 134 Dodge Evanston, Illinois 60202, USA

Sunil Bajpai Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences 53 University Road Lucknow 226007, India

Special Paper 529 3300 Penrose Place, P.O. Box 9140 Boulder, Colorado 80301-9140, USA 2017

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chatterjee, Sankar. | Scotese, Christopher R. | Bajpai, Sunil. | Geological Society of America. Title: The restless Indian plate and its epic voyage from Gondwana to Asia : its tectonic, paleoclimatic, and paleobiogeographic evolution / by Sankar Chatterjee, Department of Geosciences, Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas, Christopher R. Scotese, PALEOMAP Project, Evanston, Illinois, Sunil Bajpai, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, India. Description: Boulder, Colorado : The Geological Society of America, 2017. | Series: Special paper ; 529 | Includes bibliographical references. Identifiers: LCCN 2017017590 | ISBN 9780813725291 (pbk.) Subjects: LCSH: Plate tectonics—India. | Plate tectonics—Asia. | Paleoclimatology—India. | Paleobiogeography—India. | Gondwana (Continent) Classification: LCC QE511.4 .C41945 2017 | DDC 555.4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017017590

Cover: (Front) Paleoecology of the Early Kota Formation of India. (Back) Paleoecology of the Siwalik vertebrates on the Himalayan flanks (ca. 12 Ma) showing the Serengeti-like ecosystem with the freshwater Siwalik River fed by mountain rivers.

Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/books/book/chapter-pdf/2538792/spe529-00e.pdf by guest on 27 September 2021 Contents

Abstract...... 1

Introduction...... 3

Principles of Paleoclimatology...... 4

Principles of Paleobiogeography...... 6

Chronology of the Tectonic Evolution of the Indian Plate ...... 10

Terrestrial Tetrapod Horizons in India...... 11

The Period: The Beginnings of Gondwana Sedimentation...... 15 Late Paleozoic Ice Age...... 15 Early Permian Biogeography...... 16 The Return of Terrestrial Life to Glaciated India...... 17 Late Permian Biogeography...... 21 End-Permian Extinction and Faunal Turnover...... 22

The Period: Pangean World...... 24 Early Triassic Panchet and Kamthi Tetrapods ...... 25 Early Triassic Biogeography...... 26 Middle Triassic Yerrapalli and Denwa Tetrapods...... 27 Middle Triassic Biogeography...... 29 Late Triassic Maleri, Tiki, and Lower Dharmaram Formations...... 29 Lower Maleri Tetrapods (Late Triassic, Carnian)...... 30 Late Triassic (Carnian) Tiki Tetrapods...... 32 Late Triassic (Carnian) Biogeography...... 32 Carnian–Norian Faunal Turnover...... 33 Upper Maleri Tetrapods (Late Triassic, Norian)...... 35 Lower Dharmaram Tetrapods (Late Triassic, Rhaetian)...... 35 Late Triassic (Norian–Rhaetian) Biogeography...... 35 End-Triassic Mass Extinction and Faunal Turnover...... 36

The Jurassic Period: Time of the Giants ...... 37 Upper Dharmaram Tetrapods (Early Jurassic, Hettangian) ...... 38 Lower Kota Tetrapods (Early Jurassic, Sinemurian–Toarcian)...... 39 Early Jurassic Biogeography...... 43 Upper Kota Tetrapods (Middle Jurassic) ...... 43 Middle Jurassic Biogeography...... 45 Upper Jurassic Bagra Tetrapods...... 45

The Period...... 46 Early Cretaceous Sediments and Rajmahal Volcanism (ca. 120 Ma)...... 48 Rifting of Madagascar from India (ca. 88 Ma)...... 50 Collision of India with the Kohistan-Ladakh (KL) Island Arc (ca. 85 Ma)...... 53

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Late Cretaceous Tetrapods...... 55 Nimar Sandstone (Cenomian) Tetrapods ...... 55 Tetrapod Fauna from the Deccan Volcanic Province...... 56 Late Cretaceous Biogeography...... 64 End-Cretaceous Mass Extinction and Faunal Turnover...... 67

The Paleocene Period...... 70 Separation of Seychelles from India (ca. 65 Ma)...... 70 Acceleration of the Indian Plate (ca. 67–52 Ma) ...... 73 Noah’s Ark versus Passenger Ship...... 73 Paleocene Vertebrates...... 75

The Paleocene–Eocene Transition: Initial Collision with Asia...... 76 The Onset of India-Asia Continental Collision during the PETM (ca. 55 Ma)...... 77 Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum ...... 80 Geologic Setting of the Cambay Shale Formation, Vastan Lignite Mine, Gujarat...... 85 Early Eocene Tetrapods ...... 86 Nonmammalian Tetrapods ...... 86 Early Eocene ...... 91 ...... 92 ...... 92 Ferungulata...... 93 ...... 98 Early Eocene Biogeography...... 100 Origin of Modern Orders of Placental Mammals...... 101 Great Indo-European Interchange...... 103

The Making of the Himalayan Mountains and the Tibetan Plateau...... 103 Pre-Collisional Tectonics ...... 104 Postcollisional Tectonics...... 105 Geology and Major Structures of the Himalaya...... 105 Tectonic Evolution of the Himalaya...... 107 The Rise of the Himalaya...... 112 The Coupling of Indian Subduction and the Tectonic Evolution of the Tibetan Plateau...... 114 Timing of the Tibetan Uplift...... 117

Neogene Siwalik Group ...... 118 Siwalik Stratigraphy...... 118 Axial Paleodrainage of the Siwalik River...... 119 Siwalik Mammals...... 123 Siwalik Paleobiogeography...... 126 Late Pleistocene Extinction of Siwalik Megafauna ...... 127 Paleoclimate Proxies of the Siwalik Group ...... 128 Origin of the Himalayan River Systems...... 129

Evolution of Indian Summer Monsoons...... 131 Mountains and Monsoons...... 133 Link between Himalayan Exhumation and Monsoon Intensity...... 134

Conclusions...... 135

Acknowledgments...... 136

References Cited...... 137

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