Evolution of the Continental Margin of Western India: New Evidence from Apatite Fission-Track Dating

Apatite fission-track dating in southwestern India yields Middle Triassic to Middle Jurassic ages that correlate with the breakup of eastern Gondwanaland and Africa. The later India-Madagascar split is not recorded in the apatite ages. The apatite ages are not a reflection of thermal events in the present location of this region but are associated with uplift and erosion in the Upper Paleozoic/Early Mesozoic eastern Gondwana-Africa separation. Track length measurements indicate that cooling through the 100°C isotherm began in the Upper Paleozoic. Time-temperature modeling suggests that a period of slow cooling during the Mesozoic was followed by relatively rapid cooling to the present.