Movement of the Indian plate

The Indian plate's boundaries:

• It includes Peninsular India and the Australian continental parts.
• North: the subduction zone along the Himalayas, a continent-continent convergence.
• East: through the Arakan Yoma mountains of Myanmar to the island arc along the Java Trench; further east, a spreading site (an ocean ridge) east of Australia in the south-west Pacific.
• West: along the Kirthar mountains of Pakistan and the Makran coast, joining the spreading site from the Red Sea rift south-east along the Chagos Archipelago.
• South: an oceanic ridge (divergent boundary) with the Antarctic plate, running roughly west-east.

India's journey:

• India was a large island off Australia, in a vast ocean, separated from Asia by the Tethys Sea.
• It began moving north about 200 million years ago, when Pangaea broke.
• About 140 million years ago, the subcontinent lay as far south as 50° S.
• Around 60 million years ago, lava poured out to form the Deccan Traps, while India was still near the equator.
• India collided with Asia about 40-50 million years ago, causing the rapid uplift of the Himalayas. The process continues, and the Himalayas are still rising.

Example (new): if India moved north at about 15 cm a year for the 10 million years before it met Asia, it would have travelled 15 × 10,000,000 cm = 1,500 km in that time alone.