title: Pangea breakup and northward drift of the Indian subcontinent reproduced by a numerical model of mantle convection.
abstract: Since around 200 Ma, the most notable event in the process of the breakup of Pangea has been the high speed (up to 20 cm yr(-1)) of the northward drift of the Indian subcontinent. Our numerical simulations of 3-D spherical mantle convection approximately reproduced the process of continental drift from the breakup of Pangea at 200 Ma to the present-day continental distribution. These simulations revealed that a major factor in the northward drift of the Indian subcontinent was the large-scale cold mantle downwelling that developed spontaneously in the North Tethys Ocean, attributed to the overall shape of Pangea. The strong lateral mantle flow caused by the high-temperature anomaly beneath Pangea, due to the thermal insulation effect, enhanced the acceleration of the Indian subcontinent during the early stage of the Pangea breakup. The large-scale hot upwelling plumes from the lower mantle, initially located under Africa, might have contributed to the formation of the large-scale cold mantle downwelling in the North Tethys Ocean.
authors: Department of Deep Earth Structure and Dynamics Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
authors: Masaki
authors: M
authors: Yoshida
authors: Department of Deep Earth Structure and Dynamics Research, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), 2-15 Natsushima-cho, Yokosuka, Kanagawa 237-0061, Japan.
authors: Yozo
authors: Y
authors: Hamano