Sri Lanka - India Intraplate Tectonics - Precambrian to Present

The tectonic history of Sri Lanka - India can be traced from the Precambrian to the present. On the basis of the geological record, plate tectonic processes have operated for example, the Highland Group of Sri Lanka may have represented a Precambrian plate tectonic suture. Tectonic models of these Precambrian events may be presented by spreading, collision, subduction, shearing or in situ jostling. The recent tectonic history of Sri Lanka and India relates to the evolution of the Indian Ocean since at least the Cretaceous. Although Sri Lanka is considered to be a part of the larger Indo - Australian plate, it may have had a local independent history as a block within the larger crustal unit of India. There is evidence that the separation of Sri Lanka from India was in part controlled by Precambrian structures and a history of translational, rotational and vertical adjustments to the Indian Ocean developmental plate tectonic stresses still operating.