Editing Flood basalt (section)

{{Short description|Very large volume eruption of basalt lava}}
[[Image:3-Devils-grade-Moses-Coulee-Cattle-Feed-Lot-PB110016.JPG|thumb|[[Moses Coulee]] in the US showing multiple flood basalt flows of the [[Columbia River Basalt Group]]. The upper basalt is Roza Member, while the lower [[canyon]] exposes Frenchmen Springs Member basalt]]

A '''flood basalt''' (or '''plateau basalt'''<ref name=Jackson1997fb>{{cite book |editor1-last=Jackson |editor1-first=Julia A. |title=Glossary of geology. |date=1997 |publisher=American Geological Institute |location=Alexandria, Virginia |isbn=0922152349 |edition=Fourth |chapter=flood basalt}}</ref>) is the result of a giant [[volcanic eruption]] or series of [[eruption]]s that covers large stretches of land or the [[ocean]] floor with [[basalt]] [[lava]]. Many flood basalts have been attributed to the onset of a [[hotspot (geology)|hotspot]] reaching the surface of the Earth via a [[mantle plume]].<ref name="RichardsDucan1989">{{Cite journal |author=Mark A. Richards |author2=Robert A. Duncan |author3=Vincent E. Courtillot |year=1989 |title=Flood Basalts and Hot-Spot Tracks: Plume Heads and Tails |journal=Science Magazine |volume=246 |issue=4926 |pages=103–107 |bibcode=1989Sci...246..103R |doi=10.1126/science.246.4926.103 |pmid=17837768 |s2cid=9147772}}</ref> [[List of flood basalt provinces|Flood basalt provinces]] such as the [[Deccan Traps]] of India are often called ''[[Trap rock|traps]]'', after the Swedish word ''trappa'' (meaning "staircase"), due to the characteristic stairstep [[geomorphology]] of many associated landscapes.

[[Michael R. Rampino]] and [[Richard Stothers]] (1988) cited eleven distinct flood basalt episodes occurring in the past 250 million years, creating [[large igneous province]]s, [[lava plateau]]s, and [[mountain range]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Michael R. Rampino |author2=Richard B. Stothers|title=Flood Basalt Volcanism During the Past 250 Million Years|doi=10.1126/science.241.4866.663|year=1988|journal=Science|volume=241|issue=4866|pages=663–668|pmid=17839077|bibcode=1988Sci...241..663R|s2cid=33327812|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1230982}} [http://pubs.giss.nasa.gov/docs/1988/1988_Rampino_Stothers_1.pdf PDF via NASA]{{dead link|date=June 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> However, more have been recognized such as the large [[Ontong Java Plateau]],<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Ontong Java Plateau|author1=Neal, C.|author2=Mahoney, J.|author3=Kroenke, L.|url=http://www3.nd.edu/~icpmslab/pdfs/OJP_Paper.pdf|year=1997|journal=Large Igneous Provinces: Continental, Oceanic, and Planetary Flood Volcanism, Geophysical Monograph 100|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170101204714/http://www3.nd.edu/~icpmslab/pdfs/OJP_Paper.pdf|archive-date=2017-01-01}}</ref> and the [[Chilcotin Group]], though the latter may be linked to the [[Columbia River Basalt Group]].

Large igneous provinces have been connected to five [[mass extinction]] events,<ref name="VolumeRateCO2">{{cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Qiang |last2=Jourdan |first2=Fred |last3=Olierook |first3=Hugo K. H. |last4=Merle |first4=Renaud E. |last5=Bourdet |first5=Julien |last6=Fougerouse |first6=Denis |last7=Godel |first7=Belinda |last8=Walker |first8=Alex T. |date=25 July 2022 |title=Volume and rate of volcanic {{CO2}} emissions governed the severity of past environmental crises |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=119 |issue=31 |pages=e2202039119 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2202039119 |doi-access=free |pmid=35878029 |pmc=9351498 |bibcode=2022PNAS..11902039J }}</ref> and may be associated with [[bolide]] impacts.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1016/0031-9201(93)90011-W| title = A possible K-T boundary bolide impact site offshore near Bombay and triggering of rapid Deccan volcanism| journal = Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors| volume = 76| issue = 3–4| pages = 189| year = 1993| last1 = Negi | first1 = J. G. | last2 = Agrawal | first2 = P. K. | last3 = Pandey | first3 = O. P. | last4 = Singh | first4 = A. P. |bibcode = 1993PEPI...76..189N }}</ref>