Geology, petrography and geochemistry of basaltic rock in Central India / Геология, петрография и геохимия базальтовых пород в Центральной Индии

The state of Maharashtra is located in the country’s peninsular shield region, with hard rock formations covering around 94% of the total geographical area and sedimentary and alluvial deposits covering the remaining 6%. Basaltic lava flows cover around 80% of the state, with overlying alluvium confined to places near major rivers and streams. Alluvial deposits of shallow thickness, consisting of gravely, sandy, and clayey mixtures, are found in abundance along stream courses. With an estimated extent of 5,18,000 sq. km, Deccan Traps is one of the world’s largest accumulations of continental flood basalt. The Deccan Traps are a massive stack of volcanic rocks covering over 500,000 square kilometers (200,000 square miles) in west-central India, with a thickness of more than 2 km (1.2 miles). They were created 60–65  million years ago by a major volcanic eruption that ejected enough lava to blanket the Earth 3 m (10 ft) deep. The emitted gases may have influenced global climate and contributed to dinosaur extinction. Scientists blame the super-sized eruption on a hot spot, a stationary plume of super-hot buoyant rock in the Earth’s interior that forms a volcano when it reaches the surface. Hot spots create island chains as the rock plates forming the Earth’s surface move over them. <...>