The current status of orogenesis in the Central Indian Tectonic Zone: A view from its Southern Margin

Abstract

The Central Indian Tectonic Zone, because of its critical position in the tectonic framework of East Gondwanaland, holds insights into our understanding of the assembly and dispersal of Columbia and Rodinia supercontinents through the growth of the Greater Indian Landmass. The tectonic zone, which is now a collage of different supracrustal and granulite‐gneiss belts, bears testimony to a multistage orogenic evolution from Late Palaeoproterozoic to Early Neoproterozoic time. In this contribution, the current status of orogenic evolution in the Central Indian Tectonic Zone has been reviewed using petrological and geochronological constraints from the Sausar Mobile Belt, its southernmost constituent. It reveals a three‐stage evolution leading to the growth of the Greater Indian Landmass: (a) c. 1.6–1.5‐Ga accretionary orogenesis produced the first nucleus of Greater India through the assembly of arc, back arc, and continental margins; (b) a phase of Middle Proterzoic extension led to the disintegration of the Proto‐Greater India; and (c) classical Himalayan‐style continental collision between 1.06 and 0.93 Ga finally stitched the North and South India blocks to produce the final configuration of the Greater Indian Landmass. It is argued that the Late Palaeoproterozoic to Early Mesoproterozoic orogenesis in India and former Gondwanaland and Laurentian fragments is a globally significant amalgamation event separate from the Columbia Supercontinent assembly.