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Deccan flood basalts and the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary

Nature volume 333, pages 843–846 (1988)Cite this article

Abstract

Courtillot et al.1 have presented palaeomagnetic, palaeontological and K–Ar data for the Deccan flood basalts which suggest that > 106 km3 of basalt may have been erupted in < 1 Myr, mostly in a reversed magnetic chron. This chron is argued to be 29R, the one which contains the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Here we aim to test the hypothesis1–5 that the Deccan basalts could be responsible for events observed at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary by studying the 40Ar/39Ar ages of samples with a wide geographic distribution. Many samples have been altered too extensively to yield plateau ages, but we have made five successful determinations. Considered with earlier6 and concurrent7 results, our data confirm that the bulk of the Deccan eruptions occurred in a short time, between 65 and 69 Myr, probably coincident with the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe, Géomagnétisme et Paléomagnétisme (UA CNRS 729), Laboratoire de Paléomagnétisme et Géodynamique, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris, Cedex 05, France

    V. Courtillot, D. Vandamme, M. G. Moreau & J. Besse

  2. Université de Nice, Laboratoire de Géologic et Géochimie (UA CNRS 725), Pare Valrose, 06034, Nice Cedex, France

    G. Féraud

  3. Université de Montpellier, Département de Géologic Structurale, Place Bataillon, 34060, Montpellier Cedex, France

    H. Maluski

Authors
  1. V. Courtillot
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  2. G. Féraud
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  3. H. Maluski
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  4. D. Vandamme
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  5. M. G. Moreau
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  6. J. Besse
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Courtillot, V., Féraud, G., Maluski, H. et al. Deccan flood basalts and the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary. Nature 333, 843–846 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/333843a0

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