| Abstract: | Recent crustal movements have been observed and studied in several parts of India including the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions, the Precambrian shield of peninsular India and also the coastal tracts. The results of studies of Holocene deformation and crustal movements in two type areas are presented, one in the extreme southeastern part of the peninsula and the other in northeastern India.The Precambrian shield in the extreme southeastern part is characterised by a major NE—SW trending fault zone in the Tirupattur—Mattur areas of Tamil Nadu with some major extended faults, one of which apparently cuts through the entire crust and Moho as indicated by gravity data and which is associated with occurrences of alkaline and basic intrusions and carbonatite complex. Evidence of Recent crustal movements in this zone is afforded by geomorphic features and recent and current seismicity of a mild nature which is apparently to be attributed to slow movements along the fault plane.The Shillong plateau in northeastern India occurs as block-uplifted horst, comprising for the most part Archaean crystalline rocks with plateau basalts and Cretaceous and Tertiary sediments occurring on its southern margin. The plateau is bounded by major faults and is located in a zone of high seismicity lying astride and parallel to the eastern Himalayas intervened by the alluvium of the Brahmaputra Valley. Geomorphic features such as raised terraces, straight-edged scarps, etc., provide evidence for Recent crustal movements with dominant vertical movements along the fault planes which have continued through Tertiary and Recent times. Repeated precision levelling measurements conducted by the Survey of India indicate a rate of uplift of 4–5 cm per 100 years during the period 1910–1975.The gravity data pertaining to this region are also discussed in relation to the crustal movements. |
