The Role of Reunion Mantle Plume in Resetting the Subductions and Drifts of the Indian Plate During Late Cretaceous

Abstract Re‐examining the paleomagnetic data from the Late Cretaceous Deccan volcanic sequence reveals an anomalous NNW drift and counterclockwise rotation within the NNE trajectory of India‐Eurasia convergence. This drift visible in the segmentation pattern of the Central Indian Ridge between 21°S–17°S is reflected in paleomagnetic signatures. Further, using seismic tomographic and marine magnetic anomaly data, we infer that this anomalous motion of the Indian subcontinent was an artifact of the closure of Xigaze and Baluchistan, as well as the reactivation of Sunda subduction systems. The collision of Greater India with the Xigaze interoceanic arc and subsequent slab breakoff initiated the NW drift. The collision of the Baluchistan arc with the mainland Indian subcontinent and the ensuing slab breakoff led to the cessation of this NW drift. Subduction initiation along the Sunda system to the east reinstated the NNE drift for the Indian plate. These events are coeval with impingement of the Reunion mantle plume during C30n–C29n anomalies. We propose that the Reunion plume had greater synergy of multiple dynamic events to induce; (a) the tilting of the Indian plate, (b) accelerated convergence, (c) slab break‐offs along Baluchistan and Xigaze subduction zones, (d) restoration of the subduction along Sunda system resulting a relatively steady NNE trajectory for the Indian subcontinent until its collision with Lhasa at ∼50 Ma.