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Indian Crust

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Geodynamic Evolution of the Indian Shield: Geophysical Aspects

Part of the book series: Society of Earth Scientists Series ((SESS))

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Abstract

Perceptions about the nature of the Earth’s crust in general and the continental crust in particular, is of critical importance to our understanding of its time-bound evolution, as well as interpretation of acquired geological and geophysical data. Structural fabric and composition of the crust have undergone considerable changes since Archean era. Almost 5 to 20 km thick upper portion of the crust is eroded away from several Archean-Proterozoic terrains of India and possibly other global shields and platforms as well. The bulk of the continental crust in stable shields now appear to be made up of mainly metamorphic-grade rocks. Based on recent geological, geophysical and borehole petrophysical studies, Indian crust can be sub-divided into as many as seven distinct layers e.g., (i) sediments, (ii) upper crust, (iii) middle crust, (iv) lower crust, (v) lowermost high velocity crust, (vi) magmatic lower crust and (vii) Differentiated mantle magma layer over the normal ultramafic mantle. These seven layers are characterized by Vp of <5.70, 5.7–6.3, 6.3–6.6, 6.6–6.9, 6.9–7.0, 7.0–7.6 and 7.6–8.0 km/s respectively.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-National Geophysical Research Institute, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, 500007, India

    Om Prakash Pandey

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  1. Om Prakash Pandey
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Pandey, O.P. (2020). Indian Crust. In: Geodynamic Evolution of the Indian Shield: Geophysical Aspects. Society of Earth Scientists Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40597-7_10

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