Editing Paleogene (section)

=== Alpine–Himalayan orogeny ===

==== Alpine orogeny ====
The [[Alpine orogeny]] developed in response to the collision between the African and Eurasian plates during the closing of the [[Tethys Ocean|Neotethys Ocean]] and the opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean. The result was a series of arcuate mountain ranges, from the [[Tell Atlas|Tell]]-[[Rif]]-[[Baetic System|Betic]] cordillera in the western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] through the [[Alps]], [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]], [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], [[Dinaric Alps|Dinarides]] and [[Pindus|Hellenides]] to the [[Taurus Mountains|Taurides]] in the east.<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Royden |first1=Leigh |last2=Faccenna |first2=Claudio |date=2018-05-30 |title=Subduction Orogeny and the Late Cenozoic Evolution of the Mediterranean Arcs |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012419 |journal=Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences |language=en |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=261–289 |doi=10.1146/annurev-earth-060115-012419 |bibcode=2018AREPS..46..261R |issn=0084-6597}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

From the Late Cretaceous into the early Paleocene, Africa began to converge with Eurasia. The irregular outlines of the continental margins, including the [[Adriatic plate|Adriatic promontory (Adria)]] that extended north from the African plate, led to the development of several short [[subduction]] zones, rather than one long system.<ref name=":2" /> In the western Mediterranean, the European plate was subducted southwards beneath the African plate, whilst in the eastern Mediterranean, Africa was subducted beneath Eurasia along a northward dipping subduction zone.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Martín-Martín |first1=Manuel |last2=Perri |first2=Francesco |last3=Critelli |first3=Salvatore |date=2023-08-01 |title=Cenozoic detrital suites from the Internal Betic-Rif Cordilleras (S Spain and N Morocco): implications for paleogeography and paleotectonics |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825223001873#s0085 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=243 |pages=104498 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2023.104498 |bibcode=2023ESRv..24304498M |issn=0012-8252|hdl=10045/136199 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Convergence between the [[Iberian plate|Iberian]] and European plates led to the [[Pyrenees|Pyrenean orogeny]]<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Brunsmann |first1=Quentin |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Claudio Luca |last3=Bellahsen |first3=Nicolas |date=2024 |title=The Western Alpine arc: a review and new kinematic model |journal=Comptes Rendus. Géoscience |language=fr |volume=356 |issue=S2 |pages=231–263 |doi=10.5802/crgeos.253 |issn=1778-7025|doi-access=free }}</ref> and, as Adria pushed northwards the Alps and Carpathian orogens began to develop.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last1=Stephenson |first1=Randell |last2=Schiffer |first2=Christian |last3=Peace |first3=Alexander |last4=Nielsen |first4=Søren Bom |last5=Jess |first5=Scott |date=2020-11-01 |title=Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic basin inversion and palaeostress fields in the North Atlantic-western Alpine-Tethys realm: Implications for intraplate tectonics |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825220302981 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=210 |pages=103252 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2020.103252 |bibcode=2020ESRv..21003252S |hdl=2164/16706 |issn=0012-8252|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref name=":3" />

[[File:Tectonic map Mediterranean EN.svg|alt=Map shows the location of subduction zones and extensional features of the western Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt.|thumb|Present day tectonic map of southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, showing structures of the western Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt. ]]

The collision of Adria with Eurasia in the early Palaeocene was followed by a c.10 million year pause in the convergence of Africa and Eurasia, connected with the onset of the opening of the North Atlantic Ocean as [[Greenland plate|Greenland]] rifted from the Eurasian plate in the Palaeocene.<ref name=":5" /> Convergence rates between Africa and Eurasia increased again in the early Eocene and the remaining oceanic basins between Adria and Europe closed.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brombin |first1=Valentina |last2=Bonadiman |first2=Costanza |last3=Jourdan |first3=Fred |last4=Roghi |first4=Guido |last5=Coltorti |first5=Massimo |last6=Webb |first6=Laura E. |last7=Callegaro |first7=Sara |last8=Bellieni |first8=Giuliano |last9=De Vecchi |first9=Giampaolo |last10=Sedea |first10=Roberto |last11=Marzoli |first11=Andrea |date=2019-05-01 |title=Intraplate magmatism at a convergent plate boundary: The case of the Cenozoic northern Adria magmatism |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825218305440 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=192 |pages=355–378 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2019.03.016 |bibcode=2019ESRv..192..355B |hdl=11392/2403525 |issn=0012-8252 |hdl-access=free |access-date=2024-08-19 |archive-date=2024-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240417162108/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825218305440 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between about 40 and 30 Ma, subduction began along the western Mediterranean arc of the Tell, Rif, Betic and Apennine mountain chains. The rate of convergence was less than the subduction rate of the dense [[lithosphere]] of the western Mediterranean and [[Subduction|roll-back]] of the subducting slab led to the arcuate structure of these mountain ranges.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />

In the eastern Mediterranean, c. 35 Ma, the Anatolide-Tauride platform (northern part of Adria) began to enter the [[Subduction|trench]] leading to the development of the Dinarides, Hellenides and Tauride mountain chains as the [[passive margin]] [[Sediment|sediments]] of Adria were scrapped off onto the Eurasia [[Crust (geology)|crust]] during subduction.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Schmid |first1=Stefan M. |last2=Fügenschuh |first2=Bernhard |last3=Kounov |first3=Alexandre |last4=Maţenco |first4=Liviu |last5=Nievergelt |first5=Peter |last6=Oberhänsli |first6=Roland |last7=Pleuger |first7=Jan |last8=Schefer |first8=Senecio |last9=Schuster |first9=Ralf |last10=Tomljenović |first10=Bruno |last11=Ustaszewski |first11=Kamil |last12=van Hinsbergen |first12=Douwe J. J. |date=2020-02-01 |title=Tectonic units of the Alpine collision zone between Eastern Alps and western Turkey |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X19302199 |journal=Gondwana Research |volume=78 |pages=308–374 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2019.07.005 |bibcode=2020GondR..78..308S |hdl=1874/394073 |issn=1342-937X |hdl-access=free |access-date=2024-08-19 |archive-date=2024-04-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240414212948/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X19302199 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==== Zagros Mountains ====
The [[Zagros Mountains|Zagros mountain]] belt stretches for c. 2000 km from the eastern border of [[Iraq]] to the [[Makran]] coast in southern [[Iran]]. It formed as a result of the convergence and collision of the [[Arabian plate|Arabian]] and Eurasian plates as the Neotethys Ocean closed and is composed sediments scrapped from the descending Arabian Plate.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last1=Koshnaw |first1=Renas I. |last2=Schlunegger |first2=Fritz |last3=Stockli |first3=Daniel F. |date=2021-11-03 |title=Detrital zircon provenance record of the Zagros mountain building from the Neotethys obduction to the Arabia–Eurasia collision, NW Zagros fold–thrust belt, Kurdistan region of Iraq |url=https://se.copernicus.org/articles/12/2479/2021/#section6 |journal=Solid Earth |language=English |volume=12 |issue=11 |pages=2479–2501 |doi=10.5194/se-12-2479-2021 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021SolE...12.2479K |issn=1869-9510 |access-date=2024-08-19 |archive-date=2024-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240819143651/https://se.copernicus.org/articles/12/2479/2021/#section6 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last1=Fu |first1=Xiaofei |last2=Feng |first2=Zhiqiang |last3=Zhang |first3=Faqiang |last4=Zhang |first4=Zhongmin |last5=Guo |first5=Jinrui |last6=Cao |first6=Zhe |last7=Kor |first7=Ting |last8=Cheng |first8=Ming |last9=Yan |first9=Jianzhao |last10=Zhou |first10=Yu |date=2024-03-01 |title=Wilson cycles of the Zagros fold and thrust belt: A comprehensive review |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1367912023004546 |journal=Journal of Asian Earth Sciences |volume=262 |pages=105993 |doi=10.1016/j.jseaes.2023.105993 |bibcode=2024JAESc.26205993F |issn=1367-9120}}</ref>

From the Late Cretaceous, a [[volcanic arc]] developed on the Eurasia margin as the Neotethys crust was subducted beneath it. A separate intra-oceanic subduction zone in the Neotethys resulted in the [[Obduction|obuction]] of ocean crust onto the Arabian margin in the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene, with break-off of the subducted oceanic plate close to the Arabian margin occurring during the Eocene.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Continental collision began during the Eocene c. 35 Ma and continued into the Oligocene to c. 26 Ma.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" />

==== Himalayan orogeny ====
[[File:India 71-0 Ma.gif|alt=Map showing the outline of the Indian continent as it drifted north from close to Madagascar to its present day position. |thumb|Map showing the northwards drift of the Indian continent between 71 and 0 Ma. The leading edge of Greater India (not shown on the map) collided with the Eurasian plate c. 55 Ma, whilst India itself still lay to the south. (From: Dèzes, 1999)]]
The Indian continent rifted from [[Madagascar]] at c. 83 Ma and drifted rapidly (c. 18 cm/yr in the Paleocene) northwards towards the southern margin of Eurasia. A rapid decrease in velocity to c. 5 cm/yr in the early Eocene records the collision of the Tethyan (Tibetan) [[Himalayas]], the leading edge of Greater India, with the [[Lhasa terrane]] of [[Tibet]] (southern Eurasian margin), along the [[Indus-Yarlung suture zone|Indus-Yarling-Zangbo suture zone]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Metcalfe |first=Ian |date=2021-12-01 |title=Multiple Tethyan ocean basins and orogenic belts in Asia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X21000307 |journal=Gondwana Research |series=SPECIAL ISSUE: GR-100 |volume=100 |pages=87–130 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2021.01.012 |bibcode=2021GondR.100...87M |issn=1342-937X}}</ref> To the south of this zone, the Himalaya are composed of [[Metasedimentary rock|metasedimentary]] rocks scraped off the now subducted Indian continental crust and [[Mantle (geology)|mantle]] lithosphere as the collision progressed.<ref name=":1" />

[[Paleomagnetism|Palaeomagnetic]] data place the present day Indian continent further south at the time of collision and decrease in plate velocity, indicating the presence of a large region to the north of India that has now been subducted beneath the Eurasian plate or incorporated into the mountain belt. This region, known as Greater India, formed by [[Extensional tectonics|extension]] along the northern margin of India during the opening of the Neotethys. The Tethyan Himalaya block lay along its northern edge, with the Neotethys Ocean lying between it and southern Eurasia.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last1=Martin |first1=Craig R. |last2=Jagoutz |first2=Oliver |last3=Upadhyay |first3=Rajeev |last4=Royden |first4=Leigh H. |last5=Eddy |first5=Michael P. |last6=Bailey |first6=Elizabeth |last7=Nichols |first7=Claire I. O. |last8=Weiss |first8=Benjamin P. |date=2020-11-24 |title=Paleocene latitude of the Kohistan–Ladakh arc indicates multistage India–Eurasia collision |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=117 |issue=47 |pages=29487–29494 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2009039117 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=7703637 |pmid=33148806|bibcode=2020PNAS..11729487M }}</ref>

Debate about the amount of deformation seen in the geological record in the India–Eurasia collision zone versus the size of Greater India, the timing and nature of the collision relative to the decrease in plate velocity, and explanations for the unusually high velocity of the Indian plate have led to several models for Greater India: 1) A Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene subduction zone may have lain between India and Eurasia in the Neotethys, dividing the region into two plates, subduction was followed by collision of India with Eurasia in the middle Eocene. In this model Greater India would have been less than 900 km wide;<ref name=":8" /> 2) Greater India may have formed a single plate, several thousand kilometres wide, with the Tethyan Himalaya microcontinent separated from the Indian continent by an [[oceanic basin]]. The microcontinent collided with southern Eurasia c. 58 Ma (late Paleocene), whilst the velocity of the plate did not decrease until c. 50 Ma when subduction rates dropped as young, oceanic crust entered the subduction zone;<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=van Hinsbergen |first1=Douwe J. J. |last2=Lippert |first2=Peter C. |last3=Li |first3=Shihu |last4=Huang |first4=Wentao |last5=Advokaat |first5=Eldert L. |last6=Spakman |first6=Wim |date=2019-06-05 |title=Reconstructing Greater India: Paleogeographic, kinematic, and geodynamic perspectives |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195118301331 |journal=Tectonophysics |series=Linking Plate Tectonics and Volcanism to Deep Earth Dynamics – a tribute to Trond H. Torsvik |volume=760 |pages=69–94 |doi=10.1016/j.tecto.2018.04.006 |bibcode=2019Tectp.760...69V |hdl=1874/380963 |issn=0040-1951 |hdl-access=free |access-date=2024-08-19 |archive-date=2024-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240415030023/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0040195118301331 |url-status=live }}</ref> 3) This model assigns older dates to parts of Greater India, which changes its paleogeographic position relative to Eurasia and creates a Greater India formed of extended continental crust 2000–3000 km wide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Meng |first1=Jun |last2=Gilder |first2=Stuart A. |last3=Tan |first3=Xiaodong |last4=Li |first4=Xin |last5=Li |first5=Yalin |last6=Luo |first6=Hui |last7=Suzuki |first7=Noritoshi |last8=Wang |first8=Zihao |last9=Chi |first9=Yuchen |last10=Zhang |first10=Chunyang |last11=Wang |first11=Chengshan |date=2023-08-15 |title=Strengthening the argument for a large Greater India |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=120 |issue=33 |pages=e2305928120 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2305928120 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=10433724 |pmid=37552758|bibcode=2023PNAS..12005928M }}</ref>

==== South East Asia ====
The Alpine-Himalayan Orogenic Belt in [[Southeast Asia]] extends from the Himalayas in India through [[Myanmar]] ([[Burma terrane|West Burma block]]) [[Sumatra]], [[Java]] to [[West Sulawesi]].<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal |last=Metcalfe |first=Ian |date=2021-12-01 |title=Multiple Tethyan ocean basins and orogenic belts in Asia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X21000307 |journal=Gondwana Research |series=SPECIAL ISSUE: GR-100 |volume=100 |pages=87–130 |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2021.01.012 |bibcode=2021GondR.100...87M |issn=1342-937X |access-date=2024-08-19 |archive-date=2024-04-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240418160526/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1342937X21000307 |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the Late Cretaceous to Paleogene, the northward movement of the Indian plate led to the highly oblique subduction of the Neotethys along the edge of the West Burma block and the development of a major north-south [[transform fault]] along the margin of Southeast Asia to the south.<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |last=Morley |first=C. K. |date=2012-10-01 |title=Late Cretaceous–Early Palaeogene tectonic development of SE Asia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0012825212000992 |journal=Earth-Science Reviews |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=37–75 |doi=10.1016/j.earscirev.2012.08.002 |bibcode=2012ESRv..115...37M |issn=0012-8252}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> Between c. 60 and 50 Ma, the leading northeastern edge of Greater India collided with the West Burma block resulting in [[Deformation (geology)|deformation]] and [[metamorphism]].<ref name=":10" /> During the middle Eocene, north-dipping subduction resumed along the southern edge of Southeast Asia, from west Sumatra to West Sulawesi, as the Australian plate drifted slowly northwards.<ref name=":9" />

Collision between India and the West Burma block was complete by the late Oligocene. As the India-Eurasia collision continued, movement of material away from the collision zone was accommodated along, and extended, the already existing major [[Strike-slip tectonics|strike slip]] systems of the region.<ref name=":10" />