A Smaller Greater India and a Middle-Early Eocene Collision With Asia

When and how the collision between India-Asia occurred continue to be debated. We report new paleomagnetic data (D-s = 158.8 degrees, I-s = 7.8 degrees, k(s) = 81.3, alpha(95) = 5.1 degrees, N = 11 sites) from limestone of the Zongpu Formation Member I in the Tingri, which indicate that the Tethyan Himalaya was situated at 3.9 +/- 2.6 degrees S during 62-59 Ma. This implies that Greater India was similar to 900 km and that Tethyan Himalaya did not break off from India, which left a similar to 2,000 km Neo-Tethys Ocean that challenges the prevailing hypothesis that the initial collision of India-Asia occurred during this period. The drift rate of the India plate, with an average rate of 160 +/- 28 mm/a during 60-50 Ma, implies that the northern margin (e.g., the Tingri, Gyangze, Gamba, and Zanskar areas) of Greater India almost simultaneously collided with Asia at similar to 50 Ma, quasi-synchronously, and closing the Neo-Tethys Ocean.