The Dharwar craton, southern India, and its Late Archaean plate tectonic setting: current interpretations and controversies

In spite of detailed geological investigations of the Dharwar craton since the 1890s, its principal lithological units, structure and chronology remain contentious. Important new work on lithostratigraphy, basin development, structure, geochemistry and geochronology has led to wide-ranging speculation on the Late Archaean plate tectonic setting. Much of the speculation is based on uniformitarian models which contrast with a recent proposal that the evolution of the craton was controlled by gravity-driven processes with no crustal shortening.