The breakup of Eastern Gondwana commenced in the Jurassic, and the first stage of the breakup occurred as the Greater Indian plate separated from the western margin of Australia during the Early Cretaceous. The breakup on the Australian southern margin is thought to have started in the Late Cretaceous, but it took a long time before seafloor spreading, that led to separation between the Antarctic and Australian plates began in the early Eocene. Since the breakup commencement and dispersal of the Eastern Gondwana fragments, extensive volcanism on land and along rifting plates also occurred, attributed by some to mantle plumes or hotspots. Moreover, the tectonic settings have changed in response to the different stages and timing of the breakup and the various phases of volcanism, which strongly influenced regional environments and geological settings. The northward drift of the Greater Indian and Australian plates led to significant climatic and environmental transitions all over the continents and the southern oceans, and further affected global climate system. Within this session, therefore, we look into the regional and global changes based on multidisciplinary approaches to advance our understanding of the interaction among tectonics, volcanism, paleoclimate and paleoenvironment. In the last decades, there had been a variety of research projects to investigate the breakup and its implications, and onshore and offshore drilling projects have collected valuable data around the Indian Ocean. For our better understanding of the breakup and subsequent evolution in the Eastern Gondwana region, we aim to invite various studies with regional and global views, and provide a forum to discuss and build an integrated picture of this important event in the Earth’s long history.
We welcome contributions in all related fields of Earth science, and in particular, we encourage studies that address the interactions and coupling between tectonics, volcanism, paleoclimate and paleoenvironment at a range of spatial and temporal scales.