---
title: "Deccan Traps: Volcanic Basalt Plateau of India"
description: "The Deccan Trap is a vast igneous province in India, significant for its link to volcanism and the mass extinction event 66 million years ago."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/deccan-trap"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The Deccan Traps are a large igneous province of layered basaltic lava flows covering western and central India, formed by massive volcanic eruptions near the end of the Cretaceous period.
- Why are the Deccan Traps called 'traps'?
- How are the Deccan Traps linked to the dinosaur extinction?
- What kind of soil do the Deccan Traps produce?
- Which mantle source produced the Deccan Traps?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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In 2019, geologists from Princeton University and the Indian Institute of Science published high-precision dating of Deccan Trap lava flows, arguing that eruption rates surged within tens of thousands of years of the Chicxulub asteroid impact 66 million years ago.

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