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Deccan Trapps

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Definition

The Deccan Trapps (or Traps) are a volcanic plateau or a large igneous province located in west-central India. They are a thick (500–3,000 m) and large (1.5 × 106 km3) sequence of basaltic lava flows that erupted subaerially and rapidly onto the Indian continent about 67–64 Ma ago. The combined effects of large amount of sulfur gases released from these volcanic eruptions and the impact of an asteroid in the Yucatan peninsula (the Chicxulub crater) probably caused the Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction that included the dinosaurs. It is generally believed that the traps formed through melting of a large mantle plume beneath the Indian continent.

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  1. Maison des Géosciences, LGCA, Université J. Fourier, 1381, rue de la Piscine, 38400, St-Martin d’Hères, France

    Nicholas Arndt

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  1. Nicholas Arndt
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Correspondence to Nicholas Arndt .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Biología Molecular, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ricardo Amils

  2. Labo. d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB), Observatoire Aquitain des Sciences de l'Univers (OASU), Floirac CX, France

    Muriel Gargaud

  3. Centro de Astrobiología (CAB), Inst. Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial, Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain

    José Cernicharo Quintanilla

  4. Geophysical Lab., Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

    Henderson James Cleaves

  5. Astronomy Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, USA

    William M. Irvine

  6. Dépt. Sc. de la Terre et de l’Atmosphère, Université du Québec, Montréal, Montreal, Québec, Canada

    Daniele Pinti

  7. Centre National d'Etudes Spatiale (CNES) DPI/E2U, Paris CX, France

    Michel Viso

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Arndt, N. (2014). Deccan Trapps. In: Amils, R., et al. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_399-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_399-3

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-27833-4

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  1. Latest

    Deccan Trapps
    Published:
    28 December 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_399-4

  2. Original

    Deccan Trapps
    Published:
    28 April 2015

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-27833-4_399-3

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