158

T. S. BALAKRISHNAN
AND OTHERS
JOURNAL
GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
OF INDIA
Vol.74, August 2009, pp.158-170

The Tectonic Map of India and Contiguous Areas

T. S. BALAKRISHNAN1, P. UNNIKRISHNAN2 and A.V.S. MURTY3
1
Email: ts.balakrishnan@yahoo.com
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Western Offshore Basin, Sion, Mumbai 400 022
3
12-A/32, Udayrekha, Manish Nagar, J.P. Road, Andheri (W), Mumbai 400 053
Email: Akellamurty@hotmail.com

Abstract: The existing tectonic maps of India produced by the GSI and ONGC are largely based on the geological map
of India combined with the topographic maps and the lineations evident in satellite pictures of the earths surface.
Broadly speaking, these consider only features observed on the surface of the earth. The third dimension is not much in
evidence.
The introduction of 3D-geophysical data into these maps ensured a substantial advance in the study of the crustal
structure at depth. The new tectonic map is the result of this integration.
Apart from India, the new map covers Pakistan, S. Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Maldives, the Arabian Sea,
Bay of Bengal and the Andaman-Nicobar islands. Geophysical data used largely consists of gravity anomalies. To these
are added information from limited magnetic and seismic measurements and topographic data. The result is a depiction
of the subsurface as a number of crustal blocks of different orientations and dimensions fused together to form the
Indian plate. This paper gives only a description of the results obtained by the analysis and does not bring into play the
details of the data used in the analysis. Such an exercise is proposed to be carried out in a succeeding Memoir.
Keywords: 3D-geophysical data, Tectonic map, India.

INTRODUCTION

Traditionally the Indian plate consists of:

a. The Arabian Sea (which has an oceanic crust at its
base) bounded by the Carlsberg Ridge in the south,
the Owen Fracture in the west and the ChagosLakshadweep islands in the east,
b. The Indian peninsula including the continental shelves,
c. The Bay of Bengal,
d. The Myanmar sub-plate which includes the AndamanNicobar islands, and
e.South Tibet.
Major tectonic units form the boundaries that separate
these from each other. Each unit is sub-divided into second
order blocks, which, likewise, are separated by well-known
tectonic lines. It is this sub-division which forms the basis
for this paper. The various units are as described below:
The Himalaya

The story of the Himalaya is that of the interaction of

two slabs of the crust of the earth with widely different
thicknesses. The Peninsular slab has a depth to Moho of
35-40 km, while the Tibetan slab to the north has a depth to
Moho of about 75 km. These are juxtaposed along a major

deep fault running from Kashmir in the north to Arunachal

Pradesh in the east. The genesis of this situation is beyond
the scope of this note. Traditionally the Himalaya is divided
into three units:
1. The Sub-Himalaya, separated from the Indo-Gangetic
plains by the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT);
2. The Lesser Himalaya, separated from the SubHimalaya by the Main Boundary Fault (MBF);
3. The High Himalaya and Tibet, separated from the
Lesser Himalaya by the Main Central Thrust (MCT).
In a substantial part of the Lesser Himalaya, the latter
is covered by thrust sheets emanating from the region
of the High Himalaya.
The change in crustal thickness of the two continental
slabs is exhibited on the surface by the sharp difference in
topography. The thicker crust has a lower average density,
and hence experiences isostatic uplift at the surface leading
to the elevation of the High Himalayan peaks and the high
plateau of Tibet. The signature of the density of the subsurface rocks is the value of the gravity anomaly. Thus the
gravity anomalies of the Himalaya and Tibetan plateau are
substantially lower than in the Peninsula. The gravity field

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THE TECTONIC MAP OF INDIA AND CONTIGUOUS AREAS

thus forms an important parameter in the study of the crust.

In practice, the anomaly map is compared with topographic
map and the geological map to derive the necessary
conclusions. Seismic data is also extensively used.
The break between the Peninsular and Tibetan crusts
has a very high gravity gradient as its signature. In the north
it is a line that stretches north of the Kashmir valley in a
westerly direction up to the Khyber Pass. In the Himachal
Pradesh it lies at the foot of the Great Himalayan range
stretching from the Nunkun peak up to the Sutlej River. It is
followed by a high gradient just south of the line-up of peaks
from Bandar Punch up to Mt. Saipal just within the Nepal
border in the Kumaon region. It then veers southeastwards
along the Pamir-Karakoram Fault up to the area east of
Dhaulagiri peak in Nepal. From the foot of Dhaulagiri it
travels east up to Namche Barwa peak north of Arunachal
Pradesh near the eastern syntaxial bend. It then turns
southeastward more or less along the Arunachal-Tibet
border.
The line described above is the tectonic division between
the High Himalaya-Tibet areas and the Lesser Himalaya.
It more or less coincides with the MCT in the eastern
Himalaya, but substantially differs from it in Himachal
Pradesh and Kumaon. The Spiti Basin is situated northeast
of the line and extends up to the Indus Suture zone. It has
thick Phanerozoic sediments. Southwest of this line,
Proterozoic/crystalline rocks emanating from the northeast
are thrust over the Lesser Himalayan rocks below. The
former form the root zone of the Himalayan thrusts. The
Kashmir and Chamba valleys lie on this overthrust sheet.
The rocks of the Spiti basin are also thrust over the Indus
Suture zone. The basin is thus thrust over the Lesser
Himalaya in the southwest and over the Indus zone in the
northeast, forming a huge inverted wedge. Such a wedge is
also observed between the Kumaon Himalayan peaks and
the Indus Suture. It is topographically elevated and is
under intense compression.
A DSS profile shot from Kashmir valley up to the
Pamir shows a major crustal thickening north of the valley.
In the region of Nanga Parbat it thins down somewhat
resulting in a huge wedge between the Kashmir valley and
the Nanga Parbat zone (MMT).
The Kinnaur segment is a southeast extension of
the rocks of the Spiti Basin, but separated by a narrow
transverse crystalline divide. It contains the upper Sutlej
Basin. As in the Spiti basin, the Kinnaur sector lies between
the Kumaon peaks and the Indus Suture zone. It is thrust
over the Lesser Himalaya of Kumaon to its south and over
the Indus Suture zone as a counter thrust exactly as is
the case with the Spiti basin. It is terminated on the east by
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.74, AUGUST 2009

159

the Pamir-Karakoram Fault. The south Tibet part of the

Himalayan region also exhibits a wedge structure between
the MCT and the Tsang Po Suture.
It will be seen from the above that the Peninsula (with a
Moho depth of around 35-40 km) is bounded in the north
by a huge wedge of the crust (with a Moho depth of around
75 km) stretching from north of Kashmir up to Arunachal
Pradesh. The northern boundary of the wedge is the
Eurasian plate. The movement of the Indian plate against
the Eurasian plate produces a huge compression on the
wedge forcing it to move upwards. In this process the Tethys
Sea which covered the wedge earlier drained out leaving
only the huge pile of elevated marine sediments and the
high Himalayan peaks.
The line-up of the Himalayan peaks is sheared
southeastwards along the Karakoram Fault (a distance of
about 250 km) up to Dhaulagiri peak in Nepal. From there
it is aligned eastwards up to Namche Barwa north of the
eastern syntaxis. The southern Tibetan Plateau lies between
this line of peaks and the Tsangpo Suture zone. Beyond the
syntaxis, the line of peaks veers to a southeast direction over
a distance of about 200 km until it intersects the Red River
Suture separating the China plate from the Southeast Asian
plate. In the northeast, about 100 km to the east of this lineup, one finds a relatively high gravity anomaly. This
represents a local topographic low and lies just east of the
north-south gorges of Yunnan-Tibet. Through these gorges
flow the great rivers Salween, Mekong and YangTse Kiang
that originate in the Tibetan Plateau. The Salween and
Mekong pass through Thailand and Vietnam and enter the
Gulf of Martaban and the Gulf of Thailand respectively.
The YangTse Kiang, however, turns eastwards and flows
through China to enter the Yellow Sea.
In southern Tibet, the Brahmaputra River flows
eastwards and passes between the twin peaks of Namche
Barwa and Gyalapheri, then turns south to enter India
through the Brahmaputra gorge. The Sutlej is the
corresponding river in the Kinnaur sector. This, however,
crosses the Great Himalayan Range and flows westward to
form part of the Punjab river system. Similarly in the Spiti
Sector, the Indus flows in a northward direction through
Ladakh and crosses the Himalayan Range through a gorge
between the peaks of Nanga Parbat and Haramosh (the
Indus Gorge). All these rivers originate near Lake
Mansarovar south of Mt. Kailas in Tibet.
North of Srinagar and Wular Lake, the line of high gravity
gradients passes westward up to the Khyber Pass. The peaks
of Nanga Parbat and Haramosh lie on the northern end of
the corresponding gravity low. It is followed in the north by
the topographic low of Indus Kohistan. Further north is the

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T. S. BALAKRISHNAN AND OTHERS

Karakoram Range which stretches as an arc from Chitral to

Mt. K2. This unit is followed in the north by the Pamir
Plateau.
Lesser Himalaya

The Lesser Himalaya is tectonically defined by the area

to the south/southeast of the deep fault whose signature is
the high gravity gradients. It stretches from Kashmir in the
northwest to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. In the south it is
confined by the MBF. The base rocks of the Lesser Himalaya
are a continuation of those observed in the peninsular region.
It is, therefore, necessary to establish the continuity across
the MFT and the MBF. The relevant formations of the IndoGangetic plains of peninsular India lie under a thick alluvial
and Siwalik cover, and geophysical methods and drilling
are required to map them. The gravity map comes in handy
for this purpose. It has been mentioned earlier that a
substantial part of the Lesser Himalaya is covered by thrust
sheets emanating from the region of the High Himalaya.
These sheets do not structurally bear any relation to the rocks
of the peninsula, and the geophysical analysis will serve to
separate these sheets from the autochthonous rocks.
As will be shown later, the northwest part of the Lesser
Himalaya (Himachal Pradesh) is built over a basement that
is the northern extension of the Aravalli system. The Kumaon
part of the Lesser Himalaya rests on a crustal block that
extends from the Siwaliks of Himachal Pradesh in an
approximately east-west direction up to the Nepal border.
The Nepal-Bhutan portion of the Lesser Himalaya
similarly rests over an easterly extension (under the thrusts)
of the east-west Lakhimpur Ridge that lies subsurface of
the Ganga plains. The portion of the Lesser Himalaya east
of Bhutan rests over a northeastern extension of the peninsula
under the thrusts. It is virtually a northern extension of the
Shillong block. It is terminated on the east by the northsouth Bame Fault.
The Kumaon block and the Aravalli extension intersect
in the Shimla area south of the Sutlej River. The northern
edge of this intersection is marked by a major east-west fault
throwing the Aravalli block downward. This fault is also
close to the MCT as seen in the geological map. North of
this fault, there is no known outcrop of the Aravalli. The
only evidence is the strike of the superficial formations.
Along the southwest edge of the Lesser Himalaya of
Himachal Pradesh one observes a narrow strip of the
formation that is not covered by the crystalline thrusts.
Southwest of the deep fault (corresponding to the line of
high gravity gradients), the gravity picture indicates a narrow
elevated strip all the way from Kashmir up to the Sutlej
River. This is due to a swell in the subsurface rocks, and is

exhibited on the surface as the Kishtwar and Larji windows.

These windows are the representatives of the rocks of Lesser
Himalaya, and reflect the highs in the Aravalli system further
below.
The area along the centre of the Lesser Himalaya of
Himachal Pradesh, particularly in the north, is a large
syncline in which are situated the valleys of Kashmir and
Chamba. The southern part of the Lesser Himalaya of
Himachal Pradesh is enclosed within a strong positive
anomaly cut-off in the north by an east-west fault near the
Sutlej River. This anomaly is also cut-off in the east by the
Ganga River near Rishikesh.
The east-west fault continues eastwards to form the
northern edge of the Garhwal Nappe up to the Nepal border.
The MBF more or less forms the southern edge of the Nappe.
Between the above fault and the line of high peaks lies the
inner sedimentary basin of the Lesser Himalaya. This
terminates against the Pamir-Karakoram Fault. Two major
culminations are observed in the gravity picture in this
region.
The Lakhimpur Ridge in the Ganga valley plunges under
the Himalaya at around 82E, 28N. It is about 50 km wide
in N-S direction. It then progresses eastward up to east
Bhutan, and forms the base of the Nepal Lesser Himalaya.
It is only occasionally covered by the Himalayan thrusts.
Both the geological and gravity anomaly maps clearly
indicate this. The northern flank of this ridge abuts against
the Himalayan peaks. The southern flank is occupied by
the Kathmandu Nappe.
As mentioned earlier, the easternmost section of the
Lesser Himalaya (Arunachal Pradesh) is underlain by the
Indian Peninsula proper. It is largely covered by the
Himalayan overthrusts. Two prominent gravity anomalies
are observed in the area. At first sight they appear to be
volcanic vents. At the eastern end, the Lesser Himalaya is
cut off by the Lohit Thrust, which appears to be a southeast
continuation of the MCT.
Sub-Himalaya

This is situated between the Indo-Gangetic plains in the

south and the MBF in the north. The formations are a
continuation of the Siwaliks present below the alluvium of
the plains. The contact is a north hading thrust. The
geophysical signature of the outcropping Siwalik structures
is a series of residual gravity anomaly highs immediately
to the south of the MBF.
The Kalakote, Surinsar, Mastagarh anticlines are situated
in Kashmir. The Janauri, Bharwain, Jwalamukhi, Paror and
Sarkaghat structures lie in Himachal Pradesh. Further east
one finds the Dhanaura and Mohand anticlines. The Churia
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and Dundhwa Ranges, the Sumesar Range and the Churia

Ghati Hills are lumped together as the Siwalik Range of
Kumaon and Nepal. A couple of narrow anticlines are also
observed between the Shillong Plateau and the MBF. The
contact between the Siwalik Hills and the Lesser Himalaya
is a north hading thrust.
The Aravallis

The Aravalli Range is the main divide between the plains

of the Indus system and those of the Ganga system to the
east. The Aravallis are a complicated system consisting of
branches with different strike directions, and extend over a
large area in Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh and Gujarat. A substantial part of the range is
covered by alluvium in the north, while the main outcrops
lie in the south. The southernmost part of the Aravallis
strikes north-south, and is situated between west of Udaipur
and Jobat in the south. On the west, it is cut off by the
Rakhabdeo Suture, and, west of the latter is the Gujarat Rift.
Near Palanpur in Gujarat, the strike turns NE-SW and the
main outcrops are seen up to Ajmer. The width of the
outcrops is of the order of 40 km. It is sharply faulted on its
northwest flank. The fault line also contains an ophiolite
zone. On the gravity map the outcrop is represented by a
high anomaly. A deep-seismic sounding section reveals that
this high is caused by a major subsurface uplifted block of
the lower crust. This branch of the Aravalli is recognized on
the gravity anomaly as extending up to 28N latitude, where
it is cut off by the Mahendragarh-Dehradun shear.
The Jaipur branch of the Aravalli lies to the east of the
main range, and consists of a large number of isolated
outcrops with alluvial cover between them. Like the Aravalli
Range, the Jaipur branch strikes NE-SW, and is also
terminated north-west of Delhi by the MahendragarhDehradun shear.A third branch further east lies entirely under
alluvial cover, and is recognized only in the gravity anomaly
picture. It includes the Delhi Ridge. This is bounded on the
south by the Great Boundary Fault and on the north by the
Himalayan foothills.
South and southeast of the Moradabad Fault is a
NE-SW trending syncline, about 50 km wide. This is covered
by alluvium, but can be recognized on the gravity map.
Further southeast is the Bharatpur High. This has two
components The Bharatpur High in the southeast and the
more northerly Wazirgunj anticline. These are separated by
an east-west fault.
The southeast boundary of the Bharatpur High is the
GBF of Rajasthan. This has two components. The first
becomes the southeast boundary of the Wazirgunj anticline.
The second, which is the main fault, stretches from
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161

Chitorgarh to Shahjahanpur more or less along the Chambal

River. It then suddenly veers eastward, and traverses the
Ganga plains as the Lakhimpur Fault until it hits the
Himalayan foothills. As mentioned earlier, the continuation
of this fault under the Lesser Himalaya is the southern limit
of the ridge that controls the Himalayan thrust. This fault in
the Ganga valley and the corresponding ridge to its north
are overlain by a thick cover of alluvium and Siwalik
deposits.
The Aravalli Range continues north after being sheared
eastward by the Mahendragarh-Dehradun Fault. This is the
Ambala Ridge, recognizable up to the Sutlej River, and is
faulted on the west. This fault is really a continuation of the
fault seen west of the Aravalli Range, but sheared off at
the Mahendragarh-Dehradun shear. The Ambala Ridge is
about 80 km wide. In the vicinity of the Sutlej River, it
plunges under the Siwalik Hills, and thus forms the basement
for the Siwalik formations. The ridge abuts against the
Dhauladhar Range of the Lesser Himalaya.
The third Ridge is sheared across the Moradabad
Fault, and continues north to meet the Himalayan foothills.
It then plunges under the narrow Siwaliks and the Shimla
hills of the Lesser Himalaya. It is then downthrown across
the MCT, and continues to the northwest as the foundation
for the Lesser Himalaya of Himachal Pradesh. The sudden
change in strike of the Aravalli Range and the Delhi Ridge
from NE-SW to north-south across the MahendragarhDehradun shear will be noted.
The GBF of Rajasthan is broadly described as the contact
between the Vindhyan deposits to its south and the Aravalli
system to its north. The fault has been traced in the geological
map up to Mathura, beyond which the alluvial cover
obliterates any information. However, seismic data has
enabled a sedimentary thickness map to be produced. The
zero contours of Vindhyan sedimentary thickness on its
western end is obviously the limit of the Vindhyans under
the Ganga alluvium. This line intersects the GBF near
Mathura and proceeds northwards to meet the MBF.
Immediately to the north of the MBF the extra-peninsular
facies of Vindhyans is composed of the Shimla, Dogra and
Attock slates. A deep well drilled in the Ganga plains near
Puranpur in Uttar Pradesh has also met with this same
formation, thus establishing its continuity across the MBF.
The zero line mentioned above is obviously the limit of the
Aravalli system.
Bundelkhand

South of the Aravalli system, and separated from it by

the GBF, lies the massive area of Bundelkhand. We consider
the Lakhimpur Ridge to be its northern limit. The Narmada-

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T. S. BALAKRISHNAN AND OTHERS

Sone Fault is the southern limit. To the east it is limited by a

southeast extension of the Pamir-Karakoram Fault line.
The core of the mass is the well known Archaean
outcrop. Its flanks on the north, northeast, south and west
are occupied by wedges of Vindhyan sediments. The area
east of Pamir-Karakoram Fault is presumably occupied by
Gondwana sediments underlying alluvium and Siwaliks. The
northern and northwestern Vindhyans also are covered by
alluvium and Siwaliks. The other areas are occupied by
Vindhyan outcrops. In some areas in the west there is a
cover of Deccan Traps.
The crustal picture has to be inferred from the gravity
anomaly and the results of some deep seismic sounding work
in the narrow, block-faulted Narmada Basin. Deep seismic
sounding results indicate that lower crust exists below the
outcropping Vindhyan sediments, while the upper crust is
apparently missing. The southern part of the Bundelkhand
granitic outcrop has a significant negative gravity anomaly
indicating that the lower crust is at a deeper level than in the
Narmada Basin. Towards the northeast of the Bundelkhand
outcrop, the topographic level goes down, and interestingly
enough, is accompanied by a relative gravity high. This area
represents the commencement of the alluvial and Siwalik
deposits of the Ganga Valley. The high axis of gravity
indicates that the lower crust has risen again. From there
on, there is a steady decrease in the gravity anomaly
indicating a northward and downward slope in the lower
crust. The Siwalik wedge follows suit.
The thickening Vindhyans towards the north is
interrupted by the E-W Lakhimpur Fault. This reduces the
thickness of Vindhyans north of the fault. The fault has
hardly any effect on the Siwalik thickness. Towards the
northwest of the Bundelkhand outcrop, the Vindhyans
thicken until a maximum thickness is reached beyond
which the sediments are thrown into folds against the GBF.
Towards the west also, the Vindhyans thicken up to a certain
maximum thickness, and then thin down. The Malwa Ridge,
south of this Vindhyan Basin, is virtually a continuation of
the north-south block of the Aravalli. Two major Vindhyan
basins have been mapped on the northern slope of the
Bundelkhand mass. These are the Hardoi and Gandak
Basins. Immediately to the north of the Lakhimpur Fault
lies the Sarda Basin. Its western boundary is the Wazirganj
High.
The Lakhimpur Ridge divides the vast Vindhyan Basin
into two parts. The southern part consists of the Hardoi
and Gandak basins, while the northern part consists of the
extra-peninsular facies, i.e., the Shimla slates and its
equivalents, namely the Puranpur slates and the Daling
slates of the Lesser Himalaya.

Towards the southeast corner, the Bundelkhand mass

is terminated by a major fault beyond which the south
Vindhyan Basin is represented by a number of prominent
folds. The granitic outcrop in the south is faulted against
the Vindhyan Basin.
Marwar Craton

The Marwar craton lies to the west of the Aravalli system,

and extends from the Salt Range in the north to the Great
Rann of Kutch in the south. It is subdivided into several
parts. In the north, the Lahore and Sargodha Ridges strike
NW-SE. The Bahawalpur and Pokharan Highs strike northsouth, and the Chotan High lies to the north of the Great
Rann of Kutch. The Trans-Aravalli Vindhyans are located
in a gravity low immediately to the west of the Aravalli
Range. This zone continues in a north-south direction as a
negative block between the Aravallis and the Gujarat Rift.
The surface rocks are largely volcanic.
The entire craton lies in low country, which can be
recognized in the gravity map. There are a few outcrops on
the Sargodha Ridge. Cutting across the craton in the south
are the Jaisalmer Low and the Sanchor Low, both of which
are hydrocarbon prospective. A deep seismic sounding
profile from Jhalawar in Madhya Pradesh in a northwest
direction across the Aravallis going up to Nagaur in the
Trans-Aravalli Vindhyan zone gives some indication of the
structural behaviour. At depth, the Aravalli Range is seen as
a block uplift bringing the Conrad surface to a depth of about
18 km as against 25 km to its east. West of the uplift, the
Conrad surface deepens to 25 km, and gently rises up to
Nagaur. There is no signature of the Moho in the region of
the uplift. Under the influence of the uplifted block, the
upper crust on the east rises in a westerly direction from
Bundelkhand side. Similarly, on the western side, the upper
crust rises in an easterly direction. The eastern element of
the upper crust abuts against the western element at a
sharp angle. This phenomenon is visible in the surface
outcrops also. Overall, it will be seen that the mobility of
the Aravalli mobile zone is essentially evident only in
its upper crust. A similar situation can be seen in the
Himalaya. While the deeper section is subject to subduction,
the upper section, takes part in the collision process giving
rise to the great thrusts and uplifts.
The Marwar craton has an extensive cover of Malani
Formation, which has both acidic and basic components.
Presumably the latter has high magnetic susceptibilities
which could make aeromagnetic survey a useful tool to
delineate its subsurface extent. Such exercise has been
carried out in western Rajasthan during the early days of
oil exploration. Intensive magnetic fields have been
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mapped east of Jaisalmer in the Pokharan High and a

sudden drop in gradients is noted in the Indus Rift.
Indus Rift

The area immediately to the west of Bahawalpur and

Pokharan Highs witnesses a sudden change in the
characteristics of the magnetic anomalies. The gradients are
low and the area is covered by about of 5 km thick sediments.
This is the Indus Rift. The Jacobabad High to the west shows
a decrease in sedimentary cover as well as a thinning of the
sialic crust. West of Jacobabad High in the region of the
Indus River, the Indian crust vanishes, and the mantle
underlies the sediments. The Sind-Baluchistan Geosyncline
in the west continues up to the ophiolitic outcrops of the
Bela area west of Karachi. The rift containing the Great
Rann of Kutch branches off from the Indus Rift, and
continues further as the Gujarat Rift. The Indian Plate is
terminated towards the west by the Chaman Fault.
Kutch-Saurashtra

This lies to the west of Indus-Kutch-Gujarat Rift, and

forms a continental mass. It can be considered to be a
southwest continuation of the Marwar craton. Its crust
thins out westwards into the continental shelf. The Indian
crust vanishes beyond the shelf edge and a sub-sea
exposure of the mantle is expected along a north-south
axis. This axis abuts against the Owen Fracture to its north.
The deep-seated Kori Ridge hugs the shelf edge. These
conclusions are partly based on the refraction seismic
surveys carried out by the German research vessel
Meteor in the Gulf of Kutch.
The north Arabian Sea lies south of the Mekran coast of
Baluchistan. It is cut across in a NE-SW direction by the
Owen Fracture zone, which separates the Indian Plate
from the Baluchistan-Afghanistan-Iran plate. The Oman
subduction zone is encountered north of the Owen Fracture.
The Murray Ridge lies just south of the Owen Fracture.
Further south is a patch of continental crust west of the
mantle outcrop. It is covered by water and sediments of
about 5 km thickness. Sedimentary thickness steadily
increases north of this continental outlier, and the base is
essentially oceanic crust.
Eastern Block

The Peninsula proper is terminated on the east by the

Bengal Basin Margin Fault. Gondwana outcrops occur east
of this fault. The line extends northwards across the Sone
alignment and turns into a westerly and northwesterly
direction, and merges with the Pamir-Karakoram Fault. East
of this line is the Purnea Basin, which has a thick Gondwana
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165

section below the Siwaliks. Gondwanas are seen outcropping

at the foot of the Lesser Himalaya all the way from west of
Kathmandu up to the eastern syntaxis. They are also found
in the Ranjit Valley north of Darjeeling. The area to the east
of the Pamir-Karakoram Fault in both the Lesser Himalaya
and the Ganga Valley thus forms a broad Gondwana Basin
below the Himalayan thrusts and the Siwaliks respectively.
No Gondwanas are known to the west of this fault. In
accordance with the Kumaon section depicted in Ganssers
map, the Inner Sedimentary basin is underlain by
Gondwanas.
Rajmahal-Garo Gap

The Malda High is a block that lies between the Bengal

Basin Margin Fault and the Shillong plateau. It has an
alluvial cover of 200-250 m, and separates the Ganga Basin
from the Bengal Basin. To the west, Malda High is separated
from the Rajmahal Hills by a Gondwana graben. Likewise,
to the east, another Gondwana graben separates it from the
Shillong plateau. Gondwanas have also been discovered to
its south. The Ganga River cuts through the western graben
from the Ganga Valley to enter the Bengal Basin. Similarly
the Teesta and Brahmaputra Rivers cut through the eastern
graben to join the Bengal Basin.
Shillong Block

The Shillong plateau is terminated on the west at

approximately 90E longitude. To its north, the Himalayan
thrust overrides the block. To the east, the block forms the
base of the Lesser Himalaya up to the syntaxial bend. The
southern boundary of the Shillong block is the Dauki Fault,
which is also the northern boundary of the Sylhet Trough.
In the east the Shillong Block cuts across the Dhansiri
valley and proceeds under the Naga and Disang Thrusts up
to the Myanmar plate. Westward, the Dauki Fault is
aligned with the southern boundary of the Malda High.
This appears to be a continuation of the Rajmahal Hills
alignment. However, there is a clear cut break across the
Bengal Basin Margin Fault.
The Shillong Block is cut across by the major Teesta
lineament. Towards the west are two similar lineaments. If
these are regarded as strike-slip faults, then it is possible
that the Shillong block is essentially a southward movement
of the Himalayan thrusts, and Dauki Fault corresponds to
the MBF!
Western Boundary of the Peninsula

It has been shown above that beyond the northern

boundary of the peninsula, there is an abrupt increase in
crustal thickness, giving rise to the High Himalaya and the

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T. S. BALAKRISHNAN AND OTHERS

Tibetan Plateau. In the west and east of the peninsula,

however, the transition is from continental crust to oceanic
crust. This involves a thinning of the crust.
The granitic upper crust is more or less restricted to the
peninsula. The lower crust (continental basalts) is far more
extensive particularly on the western side. The junction of
the peninsula with the western shelf is marked by a sharp
gravity low (the West Coast Rift). This low can be followed
all the way from Kanyakumari in the south, off the coast up
to Surat, then through the Gujarat Rift. It then turns west to
form the Rann of Kutch. Finally, in Pakistan, it forms the
broad Indus Rift. The Indus Rift is bounded on the west by
Jacobabad High and Suleiman Mountains. On the east, it is
bounded by the Pokharan and Bahawalpur Highs and
Sargodha Ridge. This long north-south gravity low can be
recognized as a major crack in the west separating the
peninsula proper from the continental slice to its west. The
latter was largely invaded by sea in the past, and contains
thick marine sediments. The composite zone of marine
invasion can be divided into three parts the southern part
contains the Lakshadweep-Chagos Ridge. The northern part
covers the Indus Rift, the Jacobabad High and the SindBaluchistan Geosyncline. The Indian crust terminates on
the west at the Indus River, and the Geosyncline on its west
has mantle material as its basement. The two parts mentioned
above correspond to the Tethys Sea and the Southern Sea
respectively. In between the two parts, the Kutch-SaurashtraMumbai High area forms an island with a relatively thick
crust, and can be regarded as a southwestern extension of
the Marwar craton. Its western part contains the Kori Ridge.
It has been mentioned earlier that the area between the
Kutch-Saurashtra continental shelf and the Murray Ridge
has oceanic crust below. This oceanic crust extends in a
north-south direction from the Owen Fracture to 16N
latitude. To its west lies the Laxmi Ridge which, again, is a
continental slice. Its southern limit is also about 16N
latitude. Further south the oceanic crust abuts against the
Lakshadweep-Chagos zone of thinning of continental crust.
The thinning zone in the southern part of the west coast is
presumed to be created in the course of separation of India
from Madagascar and consists of continental basalts. The
presence of granitic crust is unlikely.
The continental shelf off the west coast is separated from
the Lakshadweep-Chagos Ridge by a deep sea extending
southward from about 16N. South of 8N the shelf zone
broadens into a large basement high faulted on its west by
the deep sea mentioned above, and on its east by a
corresponding fault separating it from the Gulf of Mannar.
The latter fault is the eastern edge of the Comorin Ridge.
This ridge terminates at about 2N latitude. The former fault

extends from about 8N latitude up to the east-west

Rodrigues Fracture at about 20S latitude. This fault is
virtually in continuation of the western edge of the Pratap
Ridge.
The deep sea between the western edge of the shelf and
the Lakshadweep-Chagos Ridge has a gravity high along
its deepest part. South of 8N latitude, it is contained between
the Chagos Ridge and the basement high mentioned above.
It is a zone where there is an upward swell of the mantle,
which has been responsible for the separation of the
Lakshadweep-Chagos Ridge from India.
Central Indian Tectonic Zone (CITZ)

The south Vindhyan Basin is terminated to the south by

the Narmada-Sone Fault. The significance of this fault is
that it acts as a sharp divider between the Vindhyan Basin
in the north and the Gondwana Basins in the south.
The Damodar and Satpura Gondwanas outcrops are shown
in geological maps. Westwards they underlie the Satpura
and Gawilgarh Ranges under a cover of Deccan Traps. This
east-west alignment has been termed the Central Indian
Tectonic Zone (CITZ). It is separated from the DharwarChhattisgarh-Singbhum cratons by a line stretching from
the Gulf of Cambay to the Bengal Basin Margin Fault, and
is often called the Central Indian Suture (CIS) or the
Satpura Mobile Belt. The Mahanadi Gondwanas cut
across the CITZ. The Godavari Gondwana Graben also
takes off southeastwards from this zone.
The CIS continues across the Mahanadi Fault to form
the northern boundary of the Singhbum craton (Singhbum
Thrust). The mobile belt bends around the craton to merge
with the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt in the south. The latter
overthrusts the Singhbum craton at the Sukhinda Thrust.
The Mahanadi Fault strikes NW-SE, and forms the boundary
of the Chattisgarh craton. The CIS and its apparent
continuation as the Mahanadi Fault is strikingly illustrated
in the magnetic anomaly map of India prepared by Mita
Rajaram.
The Eastern Ghats

The geological map shows the Eastern Ghats to be

broadly divided into two units. The western unit in contact
with the Chattisgarh craton contains charnokite rocks. The
eastern side mainly consists of peninsular grass with
scattered charnokite and khondalite rocks embedded. Further
east, it is mostly alluvial and includes the Chilka Lake. The
two former blocks are characterized by a gravity low, and
the third by a relative gravity high. This third block is
separated from the former by a prominent fault. Geophysical
work has clearly indicated that this block is a northward
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THE TECTONIC MAP OF INDIA AND CONTIGUOUS AREAS

extension of the 85E Ridge of the Bay of Bengal. It can be

traced up to the Sukinda Thrust, which shears it eastwards
up to the Ganga River near Bhagalpur. On its east it is
bounded by the Bengal Basin Margin Fault.
East of the Singbhum craton, this north-south ridge is
overlapped by the extension of the Satpura Mobile Belt,
which continues south as the Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt. It
would appear that the Singbhum craton extends southwards
under the mobile belt as far as the Godavari Gondwana
Graben. This subsurface craton is separated from the
Chattisgarh craton by the Sileru Fault.
The Southern Peninsula

The CITZ is succeeded to the south by the Dharwar,

Chhattisgarh and Singhbum cratons. In the northern part of
the Dharwar craton, a large area is covered by the Deccan
Trap flows, which stretch north-south from the Tapti River
to Hyderabad. It is followed by the Bhima Depression, the
Sangola Ridge and the Krishna depression in succession.
Much of these are also covered by Deccan Trap. In the
southeast, the Krishna River separates it from the Cuddapah
Basin. The Krishna depression is bounded on its southwest
by the Closepet Granitic Zone, which in turn is terminated
at the Chitradurga Fault. The type Dharwar Basin follows.
The western boundary of the Dharwar craton is occupied
by the Western Ghats. This is terminated on its west by a
major scarp beyond which lie the narrow coastal plains. The
West Coast Fault lies within this zone characterized by a
region of high gravity gradients.
The limit of the upper crust along the west coast is
marked by string of major gravity highs which together form
the Pratap Ridge from Surat in the north to Kanyakumari in
the south.
The Southern Granulite Terrain (SGT)

The SGT is situated south of the main Dharwar

craton, and extends up to the southern end of the peninsula.
Its northern boundary is the Fermor Line extending eastwest from Chennai to south of Bangalore, and up to
Mangalore coast. The next line is the E-W MoyarBhavani-Salem-Attur Fault. Geophysical data extends this
eastwards up to the east coast and the shelf edge. South of
this line is the Palghat-Kaveri shear zone, which in turn is
terminated in the south by the Palghat-Kaveri Shear. The
Madurai block comes next, succeeded by the KeralaKhondalite belt. Currently, the area south of the PalghatKaveri Shear is called the Pandyan Mobile Belt. The area
to the north of this shear is stated to be the granulitic terrain
of the Dharwar craton.
The gravity picture tells a different story. Along the coast
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.74, AUGUST 2009

167

of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, is a zone of crustal

thinning, which extends right up to the southern tip of the
peninsula. In Andhra Pradesh, this lies to the east of the
Cuddapah Basin, and is part of the Eastern Ghats Mobile
Belt. South of Chennai, this follows west of the Cauvery
Basin Margin Fault. Adjacent and west of this zone of
thinning is a NE-SW trending gravity low between the Palar
and Kaveri Rivers. This low continues southwards from
Karur. From this description it would appear that the area
east of this low represents the southern continuation of the
Eastern Ghats Mobile Belt. The Dharwar craton proper lies
to the north of this low. The Moyar-Bhavani-Salem-Attur
Fault possibly cuts across this low. To its west lie the
Biligirirangan Hills and the Ootacamund horst. As
mentioned earlier, all these areas are supposed to be
granulites of Dharwar craton.
The Ootacamund horst has a gravity anomaly of about
-80 mgals, while the Anamalai Hills to the south (across
the Palghat Gap) has an anomaly of -100 mgals. At first, it
would appear that both belong to the same craton. The rock
composition of the Nilgiris is charkonite, while that of
Anamalai is granitic. There is, however, a possibility that
the Anamalai Hills also form part of the Dharwar craton,
leaving precious little for the Pandyan Mobile Belt!
The magnetic picture tells another story. The entire area
south of the Moyar-Bhavani shear zone has a strong eastwest strike. However, the frequencies of the anomalies
suggest a shallow source, and thus it is no wonder that it
differs from the gravity view which reflects a much deeper
source.
The Chhattisgarh craton is separated from Dharwar
craton by the NW-SE trending Godavari Gondwana Graben.
To the north of this craton is the Central Indian Suture. On
the east, it is separated from the Eastern Ghats Block by the
Sileru Fault.
The Singhbum craton is separated from the Chhattisgarh
craton by the Mahanadi Gondwana graben. In the east it
terminates against the Bengal Basin Margin Fault, and in
the north it is enveloped by the Singbhum Thrusts which
form part of the CIS. In the south it is separated from the
Eastern Ghats block by the Sukhinda Thrust.
The Eastern Ghats block lies between the Chhattisgarh
craton and the eastern coast line. To its south is the southeast
extension of the Godavari Graben. To the north it is separated
from the Singbhum craton by the Sukhinda Thrust.
The island of Sri Lanka also forms part of the SGT. It is
separated from the mainland of India by the India-Sri Lanka
Rift. This rift appears to be a continuation of the West Coast
Rift across the southern tip of India. Immediately to the
southeast of this rift is a north-south gravity high axis which

168

T. S. BALAKRISHNAN AND OTHERS

represents the mantle swell that is responsible for the splitting

of Sri Lanka from Indian mainland.
East Coast

The East Coast basins lie at the edge of the SGT, Dharwar
craton, Eastern Ghats block, the Singbhum Block and the
Bengal Basin Margin Fault. It is the site of the deposition of
coastal Gondwanas. The block is terminated on the east
largely by the shelf edge (except in the Bengal Basin). In
the north it is bounded by the Dauki Fault. It is a zone of
crustal thinning, and abuts against the Continental-OceanBoundary (COB). The COB is very close to the shelf edge
all the way up to the Swatch of No Ground. From there it
proceeds landwards north of the Hatia Trough and south
of Barisal and Tripura Highs until it abuts against the
Arakan-Yoma.
The components of the thinning zone in the north are
the Kolkata High, and the Faridpur and Sylhet Troughs. The
Barisal and Tripura Highs form a local thickening of the
crust. It is presumed that much of the upper crust in these
areas has been attenuated and the basement is essentially
made up of continental basalts. The situation is similar to
that in the west coast Lakshadweep areas. The attenuation
has occurred in the course of separation from Antarctica.
In the south, the zone of crustal thinning shows physical
continuity with the corresponding zone in the SGT
(immediately north of the Palakkad-Kaveri shear). It also
ties up with the Pratap Ridge on the west coast, which is
also a thinning zone. The West Bengal Basin is a rifted basin
with Gondwana and Cretaceous sediments. The northward
continuation of the rift separates the Malda High from the
Bengal Basin Margin Fault and forms part of the RajmahalGaro Gap, where the Rajmahal Traps and Gondwanas are
exposed. The Gondwanas extend further north into the
Purnea Basin and are exposed beneath the Himalayan
foothills all the way from south of Kathmandu up to the
eastern syntaxis. This Gondwana Basin is cut off in the west
by the Pamir-Karakoram Fault. The Teesta lineament extends
southwards to form the western limit of the folded zone of
the Tripura-Chittagong Hills. Further south it projects into
the Bay of Bengal to form the western border of the Sunda
Trench. The subduction zone lies east of this long line-up.
Bay of Bengal

Immediately to the east of the Eastern Continental Shelf

in South India there is a deep negative gravity trough. This
is very narrow and has very high gradients. It strikes in a
north-south direction from the mouth of Krishna River to
Point Calimere, circumvents Sri Lanka on the east and south,
turns north along the west coast of Sri Lanka. This trough is

considered to be the dividing boundary between the

continental crust of Indian peninsula and the oceanic crust
of Bay of Bengal. This trough apparently connects with
the coastal Gondwana Graben of the onland Godavari
coastal basin. It then turns landward to form the Godavari
Gondwana Graben.
In the offshore area north of the Krishna River mouth
the graben is not visible any more. The COB is, however,
recognized from the sudden transition of the gravity
gradients from high to low. It more or less follows the shelf
edge up to the Swatch of No Ground in the Bengal Shelf. It
is then traced inland as the line separating the Hatia Trough
from the Barisal-Tripura High up to Arakan-Yoma. The last
portion is buried under the thrust from Myanmar, and is
terminated at the Myanmar plate. This is assumed to be the
Benioff zone of the subduction of the Indian plate below
Myanmar. The low underlies the Arakan-Yoma and emerges
in the south as the Sunda Trench. It may be noted that the
Sunda Trench connects with the Hatia Trough and Sylhet
Trough, and also has a northeast branch to the east of
Shillong plateau. It is seen to terminate in the eastern
syntaxial bend where the tertiary is exposed as a window in
the Siang area.
As a whole, the Bay of Bengal subducts under the
Myanmar-Andaman line. The toe of the subduction is the
Myanmar plate. The entire subduction zone is the scene of
a very large number of earthquakes. Two prominent ridges
are present in the Bay of Bengal. The Ninetyeast Ridge is
the highest line from which the eastward subduction starts.
The Sunda Trench lies to the east of the Ninetyeast Ridge.
The 85E Ridge divides the Bay of Bengal into two large
north-south trending lobes. These are the western lobe and
the central lobe of the Ganga Fan. A third lobe east of the
Ninetyeast Ridge is often called the Nicobar lobe of the
Ganga Fan. As mentioned earlier, the 85E Ridge continues
northwards in the subsurface until it meets the coast near
Chilka Lake. It is then sheared eastwards, and extends north
as a long finger west of the Bengal Basin Margin Fault.
Myanmar Plate

The Sunda Trench and the Arakan-Yoma form the eastern

boundary of the Indian plate. The Indian plate dips steeply
below Myanmar as a subducting unit and abuts against the
Myanmar plate. The Myanmar plate has a north-pointing
finger which controls the shape of the eastern syntaxis. In
its middle course it more or less follows the ChindwinIrrawady alignment up to the Gulf of Martaban. In the
offshore area it envelopes the sea-floor spreading zone of
the Andaman Sea and is terminated north of Sumatra. The
volcanic arc is situated close to the western edge of the
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THE TECTONIC MAP OF INDIA AND CONTIGUOUS AREAS

Myanmar plate. This plate is separated from the Southeast

Asian plate by the Sagaing Fault, which is a strike-slip fault.
General Tectonic Setting

As mentioned in the introduction, the Indian plate

consists of the following major components:
1. The Arabian Sea bounded on the southwest by the
Carlsberg Ridge, on the west and north by the Owen
Fracture, and on the east by the line running from the
Gulf of Kutch southwards. The last forms the COB,
2. The Bay of Bengal bounded on the west by the
continental shelf, on the east by the Andaman Islands
and the Myanmar shelf, and in the north by the Hatia
Trough,
3. The Myanmar sub-plate bounded on the east by the
Sagaing Fault,
4. South Tibet between the Himalaya and the IndusTsangpo Suture, and
5. The main peninsula including the continental shelves.
The western limit of the Indian continent is the COB
stretching from west of Chagos up to the Gulf of Kutch
mentioned above. East of Chagos-Lakshadweep Ridge, the
Kerala-Konkan basin (which lies west of the shelf up to
16N latitude), overlies an upwarp of the mantle involving
crustal thinning. The Kori Ridge sits astride the shelf edge
up to the Gulf of Kutch, and is terminated by the Owen
Fracture. West of this zone lies the COB, also terminated by
the Owen Fracture.
The thinning zone enters land west of Karachi and
proceeds northwards as the Jacobabad High and Suleiman
High. To the west of this alignment lie the extensive outcrops
of ophiolites right up to Kabul. Between the zone of thinning
and the ophiolitic outcrops lies the Sind-Baluchistan
Geosyncline. This is transversely cut across by the Zhob
Thrust.
The zone of crustal thinning has a gravity high axis as
its signature. It is covered by Mesozoic sediments in the
Suleiman Mountains, a formation that also underlies the
alluvium and Tertiaries of the Indus Rift. At the northern
end the gravity high axis takes a sharp eastward turn in the
region of the Khyber Pass. It is also accompanied by a similar
eastward turn of the Mesozoic outcrops which are observed
up to the Indus River.
In the area to the north of the Potwar Plateau, the gravity
anomaly steadily decreases in the wake of the High
Himalaya. The Indian Plate is terminated in the north by the
Main Mantle Thrust (MMT). The region of the MMT forms

JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.74, AUGUST 2009

169

a narrow east-west gravity high axis of about 40 km width

and a length of over 300 km. This cuts across the High
Himalaya, and is seen as a topographic low, termed IndusKohistan. The Indus River traverses the eastern part of this
axis. The area contains thick sequences of basic and
ultrabasic rocks sandwiched between the Indian and Asian
plates.
In a regional view the north-south gravity high axis of
Jacobabad and Suleiman area which represents a great
upwelling of the mantle has turned east-west in the north.
Thus the Kohistan block is an extension of the western
upwelling and represents the boundary between the Indian
and Asian plates. The gravity high axis intersects the Indus
Suture at right angle at its eastern end. The Suture zone also
consists of a normal and a counter thrust very close to each
other much like the basic/ultrabasic zone in Kohistan. It can,
therefore, be considered to be continuation of the separation
zone of the Indian and Asian plates. This is in consonance
with the traditional view. In south Tibet, near the Tsang Po
River, the gravity gradient also becomes negligible, and the
Tsang Po Suture is again a junction of the Indian and Asian
plates. This situation continues up to the eastern end of the
Indian plate.
The above is a broad description of the boundaries of
the Indian Peninsula mass and its adjacent areas.
The bulk of the peninsula is occupied by the large
cratons, namely, Dharwar, Bastar, Singhbum, Bundelkhand,
Marwar, NE cratons, and the SGT and Eastern Ghats. As
mentioned earlier, the dividing elements between these
cratons are the Godavari and Mahanadi Grabens, the North
and South Vindhyan Basins, and the Bengal Basin. Some
are just separated by faults.
The Aravalli system lies between the east-west trending
Bundelkhand craton and north-south trending Marwar
craton. It has a core axis in the region of Udaipur, and has
long fingers radiating northwards as the extension of the
Delhi deposits; eastwards as the Moradabad and Lakhimpur
Ridges; and southwards as the South Bundelkhand and
Malwa Ridges. These ancient ridges control the
sedimentation in the northern part of the peninsula.
The Himalayan thrusts are also controlled by elements
of the Aravalli system. A north-south branch of the Aravalli
underlies the Lesser Himalaya of Himachal Pradesh.
Similarly the east-west Lakhimpur Ridge lies at the base of
the Nepal and Bhutan Himalaya. The Garhwal Nappe has a
ridge under it stretching from the Shimla Hills to the Nepal
border in the east.

170

T. S. BALAKRISHNAN AND OTHERS

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Processes in the Bay of Bengal Deep-Sea Fan and Geosyncline.
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Continental Margins. Springer-Verlag, N.Y., pp.617-627.
GANSSER, A. (1964) Geology of the Himalayas. John Wiley & Sons
Ltd., 289p.
GEOLOGICAL MAP OF INDIA (1962) Geological Survey of India,
Kolkata, India.
H ILLER , K. and E LAHI , K. (1988) Structural Growth and
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Petroleum Resources of China and Related Subjects. CircumPacific Council for Energy and Mineral Resources, Earth
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HIRN, A., LEPINE, J., JOBERT, G., SAPIN, M., WITTLINGER, G., XIN,
X.Z., YUAN, G.E., JING, W.X., WEN, T.J., BAI, X.S., PANDEY,
M.R. and TATER, J.M. (1984) Crustal Structure and Variability
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KAILA, K.L. (1981) Structure and Seismotectonics of the Himalaya
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H.K. Gupta and F.M. Delany (Eds.), Zagros, Hindukush,

Himalaya: Geodynamic Evolution. Geodynamics Ser. v.3,
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(Received: 29 August 2008; Revised form accepted: 24 February 2009)

Faults and Thrusts
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28

Owen Fracture
Sukhinda Thrust
COB (West)
SW Extension of Gujarat Margin Fault
West Coast Fault
Western Edge of Palitana High
Jacobabad Fault
Sulaiman Fault
Chaman Fault
West Fault of Gujarat Rift
Eastern Fault of Gujarat Rift
Kutch mainland Fault
Northern Edge of Peninsula
Hazara Thrust
Western Limit of Aravalli
Eastern Aravalli Fault
Moradabad Fault
Contact of Monocline with Vindhyan Folds
South Bundelkhand Fault
Narmada Fault
Sone Fault
SW Fault of Godavari Graben
NE Fault of Godavari Graben
Gawilgarh Fault
Mahanadi Fault
Kadam Fault
Latur Fault
Krishna-Tungabhadra Fault

29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56

Bhima Shear
Panjim Shear
Eastern Edge of Dharwar Craton
Chitradurga Fault
North Cauvery Fault
Bhavani Shear
Mercara Shear
SE Limit of Peninsular Block
Eastern Edge of Bastar Block
Teesta Lineament
Dauki Fault
Brahmaputra Fault
Naga Thrust
Disang Thrust
Bengal Basin Margin Fault
West Bengal Hinge Zone
Bengal Shelf Edge
Second Hinge Zone
East Andaman Fault
Sagaing Fault
Western Edge of Andaman Arc
NE Edge of Indian Plate
Main Central Thrust (MCT)
Main Boundary Fault (MBF)
Tsang Po Suture
Indus Suture
Pamir-Karakoram Fault
Karakoram Thrust

57. Main Mantle Thrust

58. Also, note the new fault line in
the Bay of Bengal shown as a
red line. The western side has
a steep slope, but the eastern
side has a gentle slope.

(The numbers in the above list correspond to those on the Tectonic Map)
JOUR.GEOL.SOC.INDIA, VOL.74, AUGUST 2009