Regional plate tectonic reconstructions of the Indian Ocean

Abstract

This thesis outlines and tackles the major outstanding issues of early Indian Ocean plate tectonic reconstructions using recent advancements in data and technology. The first chapter is focussed on the original extent of Greater India, using information from the abyssal plains offshore West Australia to incorporate tectonic boundaries that include several major submarine plateaus. In this chapter we also describe the methods employed to construct our plate kinematic models. The second chapter investigates the seafloor off East Antarctica, relating it to the conjugate seafloor off East India, where there are several anomalous tectonic features, with disputed origins. This chapter also solves the enigmatic, curved fracture zones located several kilometres off West Australia and East Antarctica, and predicts a diachronous separation between Madagascar and India. The final chapter investigates the implications of the plate reconstruction model further afield, matching the accretions of Greater India, Argoland and various Tethyan oceanic arcs, to the geological evidence in the Eurasia and Southeast Asian margins.