The extent of Greater India, I. Preliminary palaeomagnetic data from the Upper Devonian of the eastern Hindukush, Chitral (Pakistan)

Abstract

Samples of Upper Devonian sedimentary ironstones from the eastern Hindukush, Chitral (Pakistan), give a characteristic palaeomagnetic direction: declination D = 318°, inclination I = −6.5°; believed to represent the primary magnetization direction. The samples come from an area which lies north of a major ophiolite zone that recent workers suggest is the southwestern continuation of the Indus Suture. As the present palaeomagnetic results are in fair agreement with palaeomagnetic data from the Siberian platform but not with data from Gondwanaland they can be taken as additional evidence that this suture does indeed constitute the main collision zone between the Gondwanic Indian subcontinent and Asia. The palaeomagnetic data presented here from the Devonian of Chitral suggests additionally: (1) in excess of 100° of counterclockwise rotation of the area, associated most likely with the formation of the regional Hindukush-Pamir-Karakoram syntaxial bend; (2) more than 2000 km of crustal shortening between Chitral and the Siberian platform due to the northward indentation of the Indian Gondwanaland fragment subsequent to collision.