Delamination
( UPSC Prelims)
News Context
Recent studies indicate that the Indian Continental Plate is undergoing a division. A novel theory, termed 'Delamination', has been proposed to explain the movement of the Indian Plate.
About Delamination
The dense lower section of the Indian plate detaches and descends into the Earth's mantle as it moves beneath the Eurasian plate, resulting in the splitting of the Indian Plate.
Movement of Indian Plate
The Indian Continental Plate is a significant tectonic plate surrounded by four major plates: the Eurasian Plate, Arabian Plate, African Plate, and Australian Plate. Over the past 60 million years, it has collided with the Eurasian Plate, leading to the creation of the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas. There are two classic theories that describe this process: Underplating, where the denser lower crust of India moves beneath the Eurasian crust, and Subduction, where one plate slides beneath another.