For years, researchers have worked hard to describe that how India might have drifted northward so rapidly. Now, geologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have uncovered India's rapid move toward Eurasia 80 million years ago that later resulted in the rise in the Himalayan region.

The geologists said that India was pulled northward by the combination of two subduction zones. According to the researchers, two subduction zones are the regions in mantle of the Earth where the edge of one tectonic plate sinks under another plate.

From sampling and dating rocks from the Himalayan region, the team found relics of what may have been two subduction zones. A model for a double subduction system has been developed by the researchers.

According to the researchers, ancient drift velocity of India might have depended on two factors within the system. The two factors are the width of the subducting plates and the distance between them.

The researchers said if the plates are comparatively narrow and far apart, they would possibly cause India to drift at a quicker rate. The measurements that were obtained from the Himalayas were incorporated into new model. According to the researchers, it has been found that a double subduction system might indeed have driven India to drift at high speed toward Eurasia some 80 million years ago.

"In the Earth science, it is hard to be completely sure of anything. But there are so many pieces of evidence that all fit together here that we are pretty convinced", said Leigh Royden, professor of geology and geophysics in MIT's department of earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences.