A recent study has suggested that the tectonic plate beneath India is dividing into two parts.
India, the seventh largest country in the world, spans approximately 3.287 million km². If it were to be divided vertically, it would create two countries, each about the size of Mongolia. However, scientists believe the division is occurring horizontally.
This theory was first presented at the American Geophysical Union conference in December 2023. The study, titled “Slab Tearing and Delamination of the Indian Lithospheric Mantle During Flat-Slab Subduction, Southeast Tibet,” explores the formation of the Himalayas. This mountain range, which spans India, Pakistan, Nepal, China, and Bhutan, has been forming due to the collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate over the past 50 million years.
Researchers, including Lin Liu, Danian Shi, and Simon L. Klemperer, began by examining helium levels in Tibetan springs, proposing a new theory about the tectonic plates beneath the Himalayas. They found higher helium levels in southern Tibet compared to northern Tibet, indicating that the Indian Plate is splitting beneath the Tibetan plateau.
Using ‘3D S-wave receiver-functions,’ the study analyzed the Indian Plate. This technique uses data from teleseismic earthquakes to image the Earth’s internal structures and boundaries. The study revealed perpendicular tearing or warping of the Indian Plate.
Images from the study showed the top and lower slabs of the Indian Plate appearing to detach, suggesting the plate is underplating or subducting beneath a mantle wedge. The study concluded that the Indian and Tibetan lithosphere-asthenosphere boundaries are distinct across southeastern Tibet. The boundary between the two lithospheres is supported by changes in seismic wave parameters, mantle degassing patterns, and sub-Moho earthquake data.
In essence, the Indian Plate is peeling into two rather than breaking apart.
