Burma Terrane part of the Trans-Tethyan arc during collision with India according to palaeomagnetic data

Convergence between the Indian and Asian plates has reshaped large parts of Asia, changing regional climate and biodiversity, yet geodynamic models fundamentally diverge on how convergence was accommodated since the India–Asia collision. Here we report palaeomagnetic data from the Burma Terrane, whi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature geoscience 2019-10, Vol.12 (10), p.863-868
Main Authors: Westerweel, Jan, Roperch, Pierrick, Licht, Alexis, Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume, Win, Zaw, Poblete, Fernando, Ruffet, Gilles, Swe, Hnin Hnin, Thi, Myat Kai, Aung, Day Wa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
704/2151/210
704/2151/412
704/2151/562
Biodiversity
Biota
Climate change
Climate models
Convergence
Cretaceous
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earth System Sciences
Endemism
Geochemistry
Geology
Geophysics
Geophysics/Geodesy
Island arcs
Palaeomagnetism
Paleomagnetism
Plates
Plates (tectonics)
Regional climate models
Regional climates
Sciences of the Universe
Subduction
Subduction (geology)
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Summary:Convergence between the Indian and Asian plates has reshaped large parts of Asia, changing regional climate and biodiversity, yet geodynamic models fundamentally diverge on how convergence was accommodated since the India–Asia collision. Here we report palaeomagnetic data from the Burma Terrane, which is at the eastern edge of the collision zone and is famous for its Cretaceous amber biota, to better determine the evolution of the India–Asia collision. The Burma Terrane was part of a Trans-Tethyan island arc and stood at a near-equatorial southern latitude at ~95 Ma, suggesting island endemism for the Burmese amber biota. The Burma Terrane underwent significant clockwise rotation between ~80 and 50 Ma, causing its subduction margin to become hyper-oblique. Subsequently, it was translated northward on the Indian Plate by an exceptional distance of at least 2,000 km along a dextral strike-slip fault system in the east. Our reconstructions are only compatible with geodynamic models involving an initial collision of India with a near-equatorial Trans-Tethyan subduction system at ~60 Ma, followed by a later collision with the Asian margin. The Burma Terrane was part of a Trans-Tethyan island arc that began to collide with India 60 million years ago, according to palaeomagnetic data.
ISSN:1752-0894
1752-0908
DOI:10.1038/s41561-019-0443-2