Abstract
Flow mapping and physical volcanology of 15 basaltic lavas exposed in three critical road pass sections (ghats) in the Koyna-Warna region of the western Deccan Traps is presented in this paper. Transitional lavas like rubbly pahoehoe are most common morpho-type exposed in these ghat sections. Sinking of rubbly breccia into flow interiors and formation of breccia-cored rosette are common in some lava flows. Few rubbly lavas exhibit slabby tendencies. The amount and nature of the associated rubble is variable and result from the mechanical fracturing and auto-brecciation of the upper vesicular crust in response to distinctive stages in the cooling, crystallization and emplacement history of individual lava flows. Occurrence of aa and pahoehoe morpho-types in the lava flow sequence is subordinate. Three prominent pahoehoe flows separated by red bole horizons are seen in the upper parts of the Kumbharli ghat. These are thick, P-type sheet pahoehoe. The pahoehoe lavas represent compound flow fields that grew by budding, endogenous lava transfer and inflation. Presence of pahoehoe lavas in the Koyna-Warna region hints at possible hitherto unrecorded southern extension of Bushe-like flow fields. This study reconfirms the existence of pahoehoe-slabby-rubbly-aa flow fields and transitions even in the upper echelons of the Deccan Trap stratigraphy. The study of morphology and internal structure of lava flows exposed at the ghat sections in the Koyna-Warna region could guide subsurface core-logging that is critical in deciphering the physical volcanology and emplacement dynamics of basaltic lava flows penetrated by drill holes sunk under the scientific deep drilling programme.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bondre, N.R., Dole, G., Phadnis, V.M., Duraiswami, R.A. and Kale, V.S. (2000) Inflated pahoehoe lavas from western uplands of the Deccan Volcanic Province. Curr. Sci., v.78(8), pp.1004–1007.
Bondre, N.R., Duraiswami, R.A. and Dole, G. (2004) Morphology and emplacement of flows from the Deccan volcanic province, India. Bull. Volcanol., v.66, pp.29–45.
Brown, R.J., Blake, S., Bondre, N.R., Phadnis, V.M. and Self, S. (2011) Aa lava flows in Deccan Volcanic Province, India and their significance for the nature of continental flood basalt eruptions. Bull Volcanol., v.73(6), pp.737–752.
Catchings, R.D., Dixit, M.M., Goldman, M.R. and Kumar, S. (2015) Structure of the Koyna-Warna Seismic Zone, Maharashtra, India: A possible model for large induced earthquakes elsewhere. Jour. Geophys. Res.. Solid Earth, v.120, pp.3479–3506.
Devey, C.W. and Lightfoot, P.C. (1986) Volcanological and tectonic control of stratigraphy and structure in the western Deccan traps. Bull. Volcanol., v.48, pp.195–207.
Duraiswami, R.A. and Maskare, B. (2009) Landslide hazard along the Patan Plateau, Western Ghats, India. Gondwana Geol. Magz., v.24(2), pp.91–108.
Duraiswami, R.A., Bondre, N.R. and Managave, S. (2008) Morphology of rubbly pahoehoe (simple) flows from the Deccan Volcanic Province: implications for style of emplacement. Jour. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., v.177, pp.822–836.
Duraiswami, R.A., Dole, G. and Bondre, N.R. (2003) Slabby pahoehoe from the western Deccan volcanic province: evidence for incipient pahoehoeaa transitions. Jour. Volcanol. Geotherm. Res., v.121, pp.195–217.
Duraiswami, R.A., Purva Gadpallu, Shaikh, T.N. and Neha Cardin (2014) Pahoehoe-a’a transitions in the lava flow fields of the western Deccan Traps, India-implications for emplacement dynamics, flood basalt architecture and volcanic stratigraphy. Jour. Asian Earth Sci., v.84, pp.146–166.
G.S.I. (2000) Seismotectonic Atlas of India and its environs. P.L. Narula, S.K. Acharyya and J. Banerjee (Eds.). Geological Survey of India Publication, Calcutta.
Gupta, H. and Rastogi, B.K. (1976) Dams and earthquakes. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Gupta, H. (2002) A review of artificial reservoir triggered earthquakes with special emphasis on earthquakes in Koyna, India. Earth Sci. Rev., v.58, pp.279–310.
Gupta, H. (2011) Artificial water reservoir triggered earthquakes. In: Gupta, H. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of solid earth geophysics. Springer, Berlin, pp.15–24.
Gupta, H., Purnachandra Rao, N., Sukanta Roy, Kusumita Arora, Tiwari, V.M., Patro, P.K., Satyanarayana, H.V.S., Shashidhar, D., Mallika, K., Akkiraju, V.V., Deepjyoti Goswami, Vyas, D., Ravi, G., Srinivas, K.N.S.S.S., Srihari, M., Mishra, S., Dubey, C.P., Raju, D.Ch.V., Ujjal Borah, Chinna Reddy, K., Narendra Babu, Sunil Rohilla, Upasana Dhar, Mrinal Sen, Bhaskar Rao, Y.J., Bansal, B.K. and Shailesh Nayak (2014) Investigations related to scientific deep drilling to study reservoir triggered earthquakes at Koyna, India. Internat. Jour. Earth Sci. (Geol Rundsch), v.104(6), pp.1511–1522.
Gupta, H., Shashidhar, D., Mahato, C.R., Satyanarayana, H.V.S., Mallika, K., Purnachandra Rao, N., Maity, B.S. and Navitha K. (2017) Location of the pilot borehole for investigations of reservoir triggered seismicity at Koyna, India. Gondwana Res., v.42, pp.133–139.
Gupta, H.K. and Nayak, S. (2011) The Koyna Workshop Committee Deep scientific drilling to study reservoir-triggered Earthquakes in Koyna, Western India. Sci. Drill. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.12.07.
Jay, A.E., MacNiocaill, C., Widdowson, M., Self, S. and Turner, W. (2009) New palaeomagnetic data from the Mahabaleshwar Plateau, Deccan Flood Basalt Province, India: implications for the volcanostratigraphic architecture of continental flood basalt provinces. Jour. Geol. Soc. London, v.166, pp.13–24.
Jerram, D. (2002) Volcanology and facies architecture of flood basalts, Jour. Geol. Soc. Amer., v. 362, pp. 1–19.
Kaila, K.L., Reddy, P.R., Dixit, M.M. and Lazarenko, M.A. (1981) Deep crustal structure at Koyna, Maharashtra, indicated by deep seismic soundings. Jour. Geol. Soc. India, v.22, pp.1–16.
Murcia, H., Nemeth, K., Moufti, R.M., Lindsay, J.M., El-Masry, N., Cronin, S.J., Qaddah, A., Smith, I.E.M. (2014) Late Holocene lava flow morphotypes of northern Harrat Rahat, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Implications for the description of continental lava fields. Jour. Asian Earth Sci., v.84, pp.131–145.
Ollier, C.D. and Sheth, H.C. (2009) The high Deccan duricrusts of India, and their significance to the ‘laterite’ issue. Jour. Earth Sys. Sci., v.117, pp.537–551.
Powar, K.B. and Patil, D.N. (1980) Structural evolution of the Deccan Volcanic Province-a study based on LANDSAT-1 imageries. Proc. 3rd Indian Geol. Congress, Poona, pp.325–253.
Sarma, S.V.S., Prasanta, B., Patro, K., Harinarayana, T., Veeraswamy, K., Sastry, R.S. and Sarma, M.V.C. (2004) A magnetotelluric (MT) study across the Koyna seismic zone, western India: Evidence for block structure. Phys. Earth Planet. Inter., v.142, pp.23–26.
Sheth, H., Ishita Pal, Patel, V., Samant, H., D’souza, J. (2017) Breccia-cored columnar rosettes in a rubbly pahoehoe lava flow, Elephanta Island, Deccan Traps, and a model for their origin. Geoscience Frontiers, In Press, doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2016.12.004.
Sheth, H.C., Ray, J.S., Senthil Kumar, P., Duraiswami, R.A., Chatterjee, R.N. and Gurav, T. (2011) Recycling of flow top breccia crusts into molten interiors of flood basaltlava flows: field and geochemical evidence from the Deccan Traps. In: Ray, J., Sen, G., Ghosh, B. (Eds.), Topics in Igneous Petrology. Springer, pp.161–180.
Subbarao, K.V. and Hooper, P.R. (1988) Reconnaissance map of the Deccan Basalt Group in the Western Ghats. India. In: Subbarao KV (Ed.) Deccan flood basalts. Mem. Geol. Soc. India, no.10, (enclosure).
Talwani, P. (1997) Seismotectonics of the Koyna-Warna area, India. Pure Appl. Geophys., v.150, pp.511–550.
Vye-Brown, C.L., Self, S. and Barry, T.L. (2013) The architecture and emplacement of flood basalt flow fields: case studies from the Columbia River flood basalts, USA. Bull. Volcanol., v.75(3), pp.1–21.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Duraiswami, R.A., Gadpallu, P., Maskare, B. et al. Volcanology and lava flow morpho-types from the Koyna-Warna region, western Deccan Traps, India. J Geol Soc India 90, 742–747 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0785-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12594-017-0785-6