Coordinates: 18°51′N 73°43′E

Deccan Traps
The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province located on the Deccan Plateau
of west-central India (17–24°N, 73–74°E). They are one of the largest volcanic
features on Earth. They consist of multiple layers of solidified flood basalt that
together are more than 2,000 m (6,600 ft) thick, cover an area of c. 500,000 km2
(200,000 sq mi),[1] and have a volume of c. 1,000,000 km3 (200,000 cu mi).[2]
Originally, the Deccan Traps may have covered c. 1,500,000 km2
(600,000 sq mi),[3] with a correspondingly larger original volume.

The Western Ghats at Matheran in

Contents Maharashtra

Etymology
History
Effect on mass extinctions and climate
Petrology
Fossils
Theories of formation
Suggested link to impact events
Chicxulub crater
Oblique satellite view of the Deccan
Shiva crater
Traps
See also
References
External links

Etymology
The term "trap" has been used in geology since 1785–1795 for such rock formations. It is derived from the Swedish word for
stairs ("trappa") and refers to the step-like hills forming the landscape of the region.[4]

History
The Deccan Traps began forming 66.25 million years ago,[3] at the end of the Cretaceous period. The bulk of the volcanic
eruption occurred at the Western Ghats some 66 million years ago. This series of eruptions may have lasted fewer than
30,000 years.[5]

The original area covered by the lava flows is estimated to have been as large as 1.5 million km2 (0.58 million sq mi),
approximately half the size of modern India. The Deccan Traps region was reduced to its current size by erosion and plate
tectonics; the present area of directly observable lava flows is around 500,000 km2 (200,000 sq mi).

Effect on mass extinctions and climate

The release of volcanic gases, particularly sulfur dioxide, during the formation
of the traps contributed to climate change. Data point to an average drop in
temperature of about 2 °C (3.6 °F) in this period.[6]

Because of its magnitude, scientists have speculated that the gases released
during the formation of the Deccan Traps played a major role in the Cretaceous–
Paleogene (K–Pg) extinction event (also known as the Cretaceous–Tertiary or
K–T extinction).[7] It has been theorized that sudden cooling due to sulfurous
volcanic gases released by the formation of the traps and toxic gas emissions
may have contributed significantly to the K–Pg, as well as other, mass
extinctions.[8] However, the current consensus among the scientific community
is that the extinction was primarily triggered by the Chicxulub impact event in
North America, which would have produced a sunlight-blocking dust cloud that
killed much of the plant life and reduced global temperature (this cooling is
called an impact winter).[9]
Deccan Traps at Ajanta Caves
Work published in 2014 by geologist Gerta Keller and others on the timing of
the Deccan volcanism suggests the extinction may have been caused by both the
volcanism and the impact event.[10][11] This was followed by a similar study in 2015, both of which consider the hypothesis that
the impact exacerbated or induced the Deccan volcanism, since the events occur at antipodes.[12][13]

Petrology
Within the Deccan Traps at least 95% of the lavas are tholeiitic basalts.[14] Other
rock types present include: alkali basalt, nephelinite, lamprophyre, and
carbonatite.

Mantle xenoliths have been described from Kachchh (northwestern India) and
elsewhere in the western Deccan.[15]

The Deccan Traps shown as dark

Fossils purple spot on the geologic map of
India
The Deccan Traps are famous for the beds of fossils that have been found
between layers of lava. Particularly well known species include the frog
Oxyglossus pusillus (Owen) of the Eocene of India and the toothed frog
Indobatrachus, an early lineage of modern frogs, which is now placed in the
Australian family Myobatrachidae.[16][17] The Infratrappean Beds and
Intertrappean Beds also contain fossil freshwater molluscs.[18]

Theories of formation
It is postulated that the Deccan Traps eruption was associated with a deep mantle
plume. The area of long-term eruption (the hotspot), known as the Réunion
Crystals of epistilbite and calcite in a
hotspot, is suspected of both causing the Deccan Traps eruption and opening the
vug in Deccan Traps basalt lava from
rift that once separated the Seychelles plateau from India. Seafloor spreading at Jalgaon District, Maharashtra
the boundary between the Indian and African Plates subsequently pushed India
north over the plume, which now lies under Réunion island in the Indian Ocean,
southwest of India. The mantle plume model has, however, been challenged.[19]
Data continue to emerge that support the plume model. The motion of the Indian tectonic plate and the eruptive history of the
Deccan traps show strong correlations. Based on data from marine magnetic profiles, a pulse of unusually rapid plate motion
began at the same time as the first pulse of Deccan flood basalts, which is dated at 67 million years ago. The spreading rate
rapidly increased and reached a maximum at the same time as the peak basaltic eruptions. The spreading rate then dropped off,
with the decrease occurring around 63 million years ago, by which time the main phase of Deccan volcanism ended. This
correlation is seen as driven by plume dynamics.[20]

The motions of the Indian and African plates have also been shown to be coupled, the common element being the position of
these plates relative to the location of the Réunion plume head. The onset of accelerated motion of India coincides with a large
slowing of the rate of counterclockwise rotation of Africa. The close correlations between the plate motions suggest that they
were both driven by the force of the Réunion plume.[20]

Suggested link to impact events

Chicxulub crater
There is some evidence to link the Deccan Traps eruption to the contemporaneous asteroid impact that created the nearly
antipodal Chicxulub crater in the Mexican state of Yucatán. Although the Deccan Traps began erupting well before the impact,
argon-argon dating suggests that the impact may have caused an increase in permeability that allowed magma to reach the surface
and produced the most voluminous flows, accounting for around 70% of the volume.[21] The combination of the asteroid impact
and the resulting increase in eruptive volume may have been responsible for the mass extinctions that occurred at the time that
separates the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods, known as the K–Pg boundary.[22][23]

Shiva crater
A geological structure that exists in the sea floor off the west coast of India has been suggested as a possible impact crater, in this
context called the Shiva crater. It has also been dated at approximately 66 million years ago, potentially matching the Deccan
traps. The researchers claiming that this feature is an impact crater suggest that the impact may have been the triggering event for
the Deccan Traps as well as contributing to the acceleration of the Indian plate in the early Paleogene.[24] However, the current
consensus in the Earth science community is that this feature is unlikely to be an actual impact crater.[25][26]

See also
Columbia River Basalt Group
Emeishan Traps
Geology of India
Krishna Godavari Basin
Lameta Formation
List of flood basalt provinces
List of volcanoes in India
Siberian Traps
Verneshot
Viluy Traps

References
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Govind; Bajpai, Sujit (2001). "Erosion of Deccan Traps determined by river geochemistry: impact on the global
climate and the 87Sr/86Sr ratio of seawater". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 188 (3–4): 459–474.
Bibcode:2001E&PSL.188..459D (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001E&PSL.188..459D). doi:10.1016/S0012-
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(11 December 2014). "U-Pb geochronology of the Deccan Traps and relation to the end-Cretaceous mass
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2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
14. Aramaki, S.; Fukuoka, T.; Deshmukh, S. S.; Fujii, T.; Sano, T. (1 December 2001). "Differentiation Processes of
Deccan Trap Basalts: Contribution from Geochemistry and Experimental Petrology". Journal of Petrology. 42
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induced by impact". Science. 350 (6256): 76–78. Bibcode:2015Sci...350...76R (https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/ab
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External links
"Animated simulation by the Geodynamics group at the Geological Survey of Norway illustrating the Indian plate
moving through the Indian Ocean" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110723122146/http://www.geodynamics.no/ind
exOld.htm). Archived from the original (http://www.geodynamics.no/indexOld.htm) on 23 July 2011.
Scientist argues that volcanoes, not meteorite, killed dinosaurs (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50119631/ns/technol
ogy_and_science-science/)
The Deccan Traps/Volcanism Theory (https://hoopermuseum.carleton.ca/saleem/volcanism.htm)

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