Expanse of Greater India in the late Cretaceous

Knowing the original size of Greater India is a fundamental parameter to quantify the amount of continental lithosphere that was subducted to help form the Tibetan Plateau and to constrain the tectonic evolution of the India-Asia collision. Here, we report paleomagnetic data from Upper Cretaceous rocks of the western Tethyan Himalaya that are consistent with a model that Greater India extended ∼2700 km farther north from its present northern margin at the longitude of 79.6°E before collision with Asia. Our result further suggests that the Indian plate, together with Greater India, acted as a single entity since at least the Early Cretaceous. The pre-collision geometry of Greater India's leading margin helped shape the India-Asia plate boundary. The proposed configuration produced right lateral shear east of the indenter, thereby accounting for the clockwise vertical axis block rotations observed there. •Western Tethyan Himalaya was at a paleolatitude of 5.0±1.6°N at 70 Ma.•Greater India extended ∼2700 km farther north from the present-day margin of India.•Greater India acted as a single entity together with India since the Early Cretaceous.•India began colliding with Asia at 55±5 Ma in the western Himalayas.•Greater India's leading margin shaped the present India-Asia plate boundary.