Geodynamics of gondwanaland

Abstract

Similar lithological characteristics and fossil content of the coal-bearing, Late Paleozoic sedimentary rock strata of central India and the strata of similar age found in a number of different continents of southern hemisphere perpetuated the idea that these landmasses, now separated by oceans, were joined together in the geological past, constituting the supercontinent called Gondwanaland. These observations laid the cornerstones for the concepts of continental drift and plate tectonic theory. Studies of plate movement, supplemented with the paleontological and geochronological lines of evidence, have helped in understanding the chronology and mode of this assembly; connections with the other supercontinent, Laurasia; and the subsequent breakup of Pangea in Jurassic. The studies of stratigraphy and paleontology of the Indian Gondwana strata have revealed that the accumulation of sediments took place in several discrete basins in the peninsula. The formation of these intercratonic basins and their characteristics are closely linked to the tectonics related of the continental breakup. The sedimentation in the Indian basins commenced from the Late Carboniferous and continued till the later part of the Triassic Period and, in places, even till the Early Jurassic. These few kilometers thick, fossiliferous, mostly continental deposits are an invaluable record of paleoenvironments, biotic evolution, climate change, and paleogeographic configuration, among others.