Cenozoic India-Asia collision driven by mantle dragging the cratonic root

The driving force behind the Cenozoic India-Asia collision remains elusive. Using global-scale geodynamic modeling, we find that the continuous motion of the Indian plate is driven by a prominent upper-mantle flow pushing the thick Indian lithospheric root, originated from the northward rollover of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2024-08, Vol.15 (1), p.6674-11, Article 6674
Main Authors: Li, Yanchong, Liu, Lijun, Li, Sanzhong, Peng, Diandian, Cao, Zebin, Li, Xinyu
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/2151/210
704/2151/2809
704/2151/562
Asthenosphere
Cenozoic
Flow distribution
Flow pattern
Flow resistance
Gravity
Humanities and Social Sciences
Lithosphere
Modelling
multidisciplinary
Pattern analysis
Plateaus
Potential energy
Pushing
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Slabs
Upper mantle
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Summary:The driving force behind the Cenozoic India-Asia collision remains elusive. Using global-scale geodynamic modeling, we find that the continuous motion of the Indian plate is driven by a prominent upper-mantle flow pushing the thick Indian lithospheric root, originated from the northward rollover of the detached Neo-Tethyan slab and sinking slabs below East Asia. The maximum mantle drag occurs within the strong Indian lithosphere and is comparable in magnitude to that of slab pull (10 13  N m −1 ). The thick cratonic root enhances both lithosphere-asthenosphere coupling and upper-plate compressional stress, thereby sustaining the topography of Tibetan Plateau. We show that the calculated resistant force from the India-Asia plate boundary is also close to that due to the gravitational potential energy of Tibetan Plateau. Here, we demonstrate that this mantle flow is key for the formation of the Tibetan Plateau and represents part of a hemispheric convergent flow pattern centered on central Asia. Global geodynamic modeling and force analysis reveal that the Cenozoic India-Asia collision is driven by an upper-mantle flow pushing the Indian cratonic root, a consequence of asthenosphere-lithosphere interaction within a hemispheric convergence.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/s41467-024-51107-0