Stratigraphic response and mammalian dispersal during initial India-Asia collision: Evidence from the Ghazij Formation, Balochistan, Pakistan

Research Article| December 01, 2003 Stratigraphic response and mammalian dispersal during initial India-Asia collision: Evidence from the Ghazij Formation, Balochistan, Pakistan William C. Clyde; William C. Clyde 1Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 56 College Road, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Intizar H. Khan; Intizar H. Khan 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of New Hampshire, 56 College Road, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA, and Geological Survey of Pakistan, Sariab Road, Box 15, Quetta, Pakistan Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Philip D. Gingerich Philip D. Gingerich 3Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2003) 31 (12): 1097–1100. https://doi.org/10.1130/G19956.1 Article history received: 18 Jun 2003 rev-recd: 13 Aug 2003 accepted: 14 Aug 2003 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share MailTo Twitter LinkedIn Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation William C. Clyde, Intizar H. Khan, Philip D. Gingerich; Stratigraphic response and mammalian dispersal during initial India-Asia collision: Evidence from the Ghazij Formation, Balochistan, Pakistan. Geology 2003;; 31 (12): 1097–1100. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G19956.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Initial continental collision between India and Asia is thought to have caused significant changes to global climate and biota, yet its timing and biogeographic consequences are uncertain. Structural and geophysical evidence indicates initial collision during the early Paleogene, but sedimentary evidence of this has been controversial owing to the intense deformation and metamorphism along the suture zone. Modern orders of mammals that appeared abruptly on northern continents coincident with the global warming event marking the Paleocene-Eocene boundary are hypothesized to have originated on the Indian subcontinent, but no relevant paleontological information has been available to test this idea. Here we present new paleomagnetic, sedimentologic, and paleontologic evidence to show that the lower Eocene Ghazij Formation of western Pakistan records continental sedimentation and mammalian dispersal associated with initial India-Asia collision. Our results are consistent with the initial collision occurring near the Paleocene-Eocene boundary, but modern orders of mammals appeared later in Indo-Pakistan and thus did not likely originate on the Indian subcontinent. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.