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When did India begin moving north after separating from Australia and Antarctica?
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Cretaceous Period
Distribution of landmasses, mountainous regions, shallow seas, and deep ocean basins during the late Cretaceous Period. Included in the paleogeographic reconstruction are the locations of the interval's subduction zones.
India began its northward journey after separating from Australia and Antarctica during the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous times.1
While India remained attached to Madagascar for a period, it had effectively detached from the Australian and Antarctic landmasses by the Early Cretaceous, at which point it commenced its northward movement toward Asia. This journey eventually culminated in the collision with the Asian continent during the Cenozoic Era, which resulted in the formation of the Himalayan mountains.21