Re: Deccan Traps

[art@acc.com (Art Berggreen)]

>
>If this is not too far off base, can someone explain what the Deccan 
>Traps are in laymans terms.  I've been lurking for awhile and have seen 
>mention of this before.

The Deccan Traps are one of the largest flood basalt formations in
the world.  Sometimes  when the crust is stretched thin, basaltic
magmas find their way to the surface through a series of fissures
and spread out over very large areas.  Basalt lavas can be very
fluid, and travel many miles before they solidify.  Flood basalts
also tend to flow out on top of earlier flows creating huge
accumulations of basalt.  Since the vulcanism of the Deccan Traps 
occured at the end of the Cretacious, it has been considered as
another of the environmental stresses that may have contributed
to the K/T extinctions.

Art