Crystallization History of Primitive Deccan Basalt from Pavagadh Hill,Gujarat, Western India

The ‘Three Phenocryst Basalts’ (TPB) from Pavagadh hill constitute one of the most primitive basalts in Deccan traps. Electron microprobe analyses of phenocryst minerals from the TPB reveal that the Fo % of olivine varies from 89 to 68, the clinopyroxene grains are diopside/salite or augite and the Cr# [Cr/(Cr+Al)] in spinel is about 0.65. The An content of feldspar varies from 63 to 67. The mineral chemical data allow us to infer that olivine and spinel crystallized early, and when olivine attained Fo76–73%, the crystallization of clinopyroxene was initiated. Plagioclase crystallization occurred at the late stage. It is indicated that the source region of the TPB may possibly be undepleted mantle (lherzolite zone) at about 85 km depth and 27 kbar pressure, where Cr# of spinel is about 0.47.     

Deccan basalts at Mahabaleshwar,India

Fortyone successive flows of the Deccan Traps have been investigated at Mahabaleshwar, India, and the rocks from the twenty two different flows have been newly analysed. All of these basalts are silica-saturated tholeiites; and the series shows minor gradual variation with the order of eruption. These seem to be a result of magmatic differentiation somewhat similar to that shown in the Skaergaard intrusion.     

Natural zeolites enhance groundwater quality: evidences from Deccan basalts in India

The zeolite minerals characterized with hydrated aluminosilicates, negative ionic charge and 3D framework structure are well known for purifying the groundwater occurring in basaltic aquifer systems. However, the filtering mechanism at in situ field conditions is a complex process, which is rarely studied, and hence, it needs to be demonstrated. This paper explores the mechanism of hydrochemical processes and evolution of natural zeolites associated with basaltic rock to enhance groundwater quality. We present the hydrochemical findings and evolution processes derived from 46 groundwater samples (N_t = 46) belong to zeolitic (N_z = 25) and non-zeolitic (N_nz = 21) zones of a micro-watershed (4.4 km²) beset over basaltic terrain, Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP), India. The groundwater samples collected for one hydrological cycle (pre- and post-monsoons) are examined for major ion chemistry to determine the aqueous solution mechanism and ion-exchange process occurred in zeolitic and non-zeolitic zones. Further, the hydrochemical parameters are appraised by means of dominancy of ions, rock–water interactions, silicate weathering, chloro-alkaline indices, cation-exchange bivariate plots and the mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry. The results show that: 1) the purifying efficiency of zeolites for total ionic strength is observed as 63.85 and 68.58% during pre- and post-monsoons, respectively, 2) the significant reduction (36.51%) in total hardness attributed to the positive trend of chloro-alkaline indices depicting the ion-exchange phenomenon between Na⁺ and K⁺ (alkalies) and Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ (alkali-earth) elements in the zeolitic zone, 3) Gibbs plot shows the rock–water interaction as the predominant mechanism controlling groundwater chemistry in the zeolitic zone, and 4) the groundwater quality parameters from zeolitic zone are found within the permissible limit of WHO drinking water standards.     

Picrite basalts and related lavas from the Deccan Traps of Western India

Detailed chemical and mineralogical data are given for three sequences of basalts and picrite basalts from bore-holes in Western India. The picrite basalts show bulk compositional variation generated by the fractionation of olivine and chromite. Evolved picrite basalt magma appears to have given rise to basalt by the fractionation of olivine+clinopyroxene, despite the presence of abundant plagioclase phenocrysts. It is suggested that a slow settling rate for plagioclase relative to clinopyroxene and olivine is sufficient to account for this feature. The high degree of equilibrium crystallisation which many of the lavas have apparently undergone is interpreted in terms of the mechanism of compensated crystal settling (Cox and Bell, 1972). Experimentally determined atmospheric pressure phase relations are used to model dyke-like magma chambers in some detail. Finally volumetric and age relationships are used to argue that the picrite basalts, despite their porphyritic nature, crystallised from ultramafic liquids containing in some cases at least 16% MgO.     

Petrogenesis of alkaline rocks from Murud-Janjira, in the Deccan Traps, Western India

A late-stage rift-related tholeiite-alkalic suite of igneous intrusions cut the Deccan Traps lavas at the western Indian continental margin. The suite comprises intrusives that can be grouped into ten lithotypes on the basis of their mutual relationships. Tholeiitic types predate the alkaline rocks and greatly predominate, however, the alkaline members exhibit more diversity in mineralogy and chemistry, and are amongst the rare magmatic rocks from the Deccan that host both mantle and lower crustal xenoliths. The mineralogy of most rock types is dominated by clinopyroxene. The diversity of the alkaline rocks could be mainly accounted for by fractional crystallization and mixing between evolved and primitive melts under varying P-T conditions. Sodic and potassic lamprophyres are amongst the most primitive samples with high Mg #, FeO/MgO < 1, high Cr and also with relatively high Ba, Sr, Zr and Nb. They are the most deeply derived magmas within the Deccan Traps as is evident from the mantle and lower crustal xenoliths entrained by them. They possibly represent low degree melts of incompatible element-enriched mantle source rocks. The nephelinites are strongly porphyritic and despite their high Mg #s can be regarded as evolved magmas that have been responsible for the formation of the tephriphonolite daughter. The nephelinites have undergone contamination by lower crustal granulites. The composite intrusions of microdiorites with their complexly zoned mineralogy dominated by plagioclase and amphiboles/micas represent hybrid rocks that have resulted from mixing between tholeiitic and trachytic melts partly at depth and partly at shallow crustal levels.     

Cones and craters on Mount Pavagadh,Deccan Traps: Rootless cones?

Rootless cones, also (erroneously) called pseudocraters, form due to explosions that ensue when a lava flow enters a surface water body, ice, or wet ground. They do not represent primary vents connected by vertical conduits to a subsurface magma source. Rootless cones in Iceland are well studied. Cones on Mars, morphologically very similar to Icelandic rootless cones, have also been suggested to be rootless cones formed by explosive interaction between surface lava flows and ground ice. We report here a group of gentle cones containing nearly circular craters from Mount Pavagadh, Deccan volcanic province, and suggest that they are rootless cones. They are very similar morphologically to the rootless cones of the type locality of Myvatn in northeastern Iceland. A group of three phreatomagmatic craters was reported in 1998 from near Jabalpur in the northeastern Deccan, and these were suggested to be eroded cinder cones. A recent geophysical study of the Jabalpur craters does not support the possibility that they are located over volcanic vents. They could also be rootless cones. Many more probably exist in the Deccan, and volcanological studies of the Deccan are clearly of value in understanding planetary basaltic volcanism.     

Siberian meimechites: origin and relation to flood basalts and kimberlites

Here we combine petrological-geochemical and thermomechanical modeling techniques to explain origin of primary magmas of both Maimecha–Kotui meimechites and the Gudchikhinskaya basalts of Norilsk region, which represent, respectively, the end and the beginning of flood magmatism in the Siberian Trap Province.We have analyzed the least altered samples of meimechites, their olivine phenocrysts, and melt inclusions in olivines, as well as samples of dunites and their olivines, from boreholes G-1 and G-3 within the Guli volcanoplutonic complex in the Maimecha–Kotui igneous province of the northern Siberian platform. The Mn/Fe and Ni/MgO ratios in olivines indicate a mantle peridotite source of meimechites. Meimechite parental magma that rose to shallow depths was rich in alkalis and highly magnesian (24 wt.% MgO), largely degassed, undersaturated by sulfide liquid and oxidized. At greater depths, it was, likely, high in CO₂ (6 wt.%) and H₂O (2 wt.%) and resulted from partial melting of initially highly depleted and later metasomatized harzburgite some 200 km below the surface. Trace-element abundances in primary meimechite magma suggest presence of garnet and K-clinopyroxene, in the mantle source and imply for genetic link to the sources of the early Siberian flood basalts (Gudchikhinskaya suite) and kimberlites. The analyzed dunite samples from the Guli complex have chemistry and mineralogy indicating their close relation to meimechites.We have also computed thermomechanical model of interaction of a hot mantle plume with the shield lithosphere of variable thickness, using realistic temperature- and stress-dependent visco-elasto-plastic rocks rheology and advanced finite element solution technique.Based on our experimental and modeling results we propose that a Permian–Triassic plume, with potential temperature of about 1650 °C transported a large amount of recycled ancient oceanic crust (up to 15%) as SiO₂-supersaturated carbonated eclogite. Low-degree partial melting of eclogite at depths of 250–300 km produced carbonate-silicate melt that metasomatized the lithospheric roots of the Siberian shield. Further rise of the plume under relatively attenuated lithosphere (Norilsk area) led to progressive melting of eclogite and formation of reaction pyroxenite, which then melted at depths of 130–180 km. Consequantly, a large volume of melt (Gudchikhinskaya suite) penetrated into the lithosphere and caused its destabilization and delamination. Delaminated lithosphere that included fragments of locally metasomatized depleted harzburgite subsided into the plume and was heated to the temperatures of the plume interior with subsequent generation of meimechite magma. Meimechites showed up at the surface only under thicker part of the lithosphere aside from major melting zone above because otherwise they were mixed up in more voluminous flood basalts. We further suggest that meimechites, uncontaminated Siberian flood basalts and kimberlites all shear the same source of strongly incompatible elements, the carbonated recycled oceanic crust carried up by hot mantle plume.     

印度德干高原砖红壤与玄武岩风化红土磁学性质及其成因分析

印度中西部德干高原是由白垩纪末期65Ma以前多次喷发的玄武岩形成的高原。喷发间歇期间玄武岩遭受风化,形成了多层玄武岩风化红层。德干高原就是由这样一层层的溢流喷发玄武岩和风化红层相间而成,厚度达千米以上。在德干高原和南方各地的顶部普遍发育着砖红壤,该砖红壤在德干高原发育约25m厚,被认为是从玄武岩母质基础上原地风化形成,但是实地观察发现,砖红壤与玄武岩风化红土在结构、构造以及物质组成等方面均存在明显差别。常见的玄武岩喷发间歇发育的风化层厚2~3m,存在从上到下风化程度由强到弱,最后过渡到玄武岩母岩的明显层次与颜色的变化。但是德干高原玄武岩之上的25m厚砖红壤缺乏这种渐变特征,而且平坦的砖红壤顶部洼地中还发现了风积黄土层。对德干高原砖红壤、玄武岩以及玄武岩风化红土层分别采样,测量其全样粒度和磁化率、饱和磁化强度、饱和等温剩磁、非磁滞剩磁等常温磁学参数,挑选代表性样品进行磁滞回线和热磁分析。实验结果表明：1）砖红壤样品主要的磁性矿物是赤铁矿,有些同时还含微量磁赤铁矿,粒径相对较粗的玄武岩风化红土层的主要磁性矿物是磁铁矿和磁赤铁矿;2）玄武岩只含磁铁矿,并无磁赤铁矿或者赤铁矿。因此,不论是玄武岩风化红土,还是砖红壤,它们所含的磁赤铁矿以及赤铁矿都是在风化成土过程中形成的。砖红壤以赤铁矿为主和少量针铁矿,偶有样品含微量磁赤铁矿,说明该磁赤铁矿可能是母岩中的磁铁矿风化为赤铁矿的中间产物;3）玄武岩风化红土层与砖红壤不仅在磁性矿物特征方面存在差别,而且在全样粒度组成方面也存在明显差别,前者以>100μm为主,而后者以 < 100μm为主。此外,25m厚层状砖红壤除了缺乏由上而下风化程度由强变弱的差异与层次的特征之外,也缺乏砖红壤中残留的玄武岩碎屑,难以支持巨厚砖红壤由顶层玄武岩就地风化形成的说法。砖红壤厚层均匀特征似乎需要自下而上形成过程,即不断加入物质不断地风化成土才能够形成均匀厚层砖红壤。目前刚刚发现了徳干高原黄土堆积,其西北方向分布着印度沙漠,每年都有沙尘暴发生,向德干高原提供着物质来源。因此,砖红壤由风积物加积形成或许是要考虑的重要可能性之一。

     

Review: Groundwater development and management in the Deccan Traps (basalts) of western India

The Deccan Traps or the basalts of western India are the largest exposure of basic lava flows covering about 500,000 km². Groundwater occurrence in the Deccan Traps is in phreatic condition in the weathered zone above the hard rock and in semi-confined condition in the fissures, fractures, joints, cooling cracks, lava flow junctions and in the inter-trappean beds between successive lava flows, within the hard rock. Dug wells, dug-cum-bored wells and boreholes or bore wells are commonly used for obtaining groundwater. The yield is small, usually in the range of 1–100 m³/day. The average land holding per farming family is only around 2 ha. Recently, due to the ever increasing number of dug wells and deep bore wells, the water table has been falling in several watersheds, especially in those lying in the semi-arid region of the traps, so that now the emphasis has shifted from development to sustainable management. Issues like climatic change, poverty mitigation in villages, sustainable development, rapid urbanization of the population, and resource pollution have invited the attention of politicians, policy makers, government agencies and non-governmental organizations towards watershed management, forestation, soil and water conservation, recharge augmentation and, above all, the voluntary control of groundwater abstraction in the Deccan Traps terrain.     

Pre‐Variscan metagabbro from NW Sardinia,Italy: evidence of an enriched asthenospheric mantle source for continental alkali basalts

Small metagabbro bodies are enclosed in the metasedimentary sequence of NW Sardinia. The metagabbros represent the last magmatic episode before the continent–continent collision that built up the Variscan chain of north Sardinia. The metagabbros are composed of variable proportions of plagioclase and pyroxene igneous relics and metamorphic minerals. Major and trace element data, specifically high TiO₂ and P₂O₅ and low K and Rb contents, as well as light rare‐earth elements, Nb and Ta enrichment, suggest an alkaline affinity for the gabbro and emplacement in a within‐plate tectonic setting. The gabbro was derived from an ocean island alkali basalt‐like asthenospheric mantle source enriched with incompatible elements and uncontaminated by crustal or subducted materials. Non‐modal modelling indicates a 5–7% partial melting of the asthenospheric mantle. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mineralogy and geochemistry of picro-dolerite dykes from the central Deccan Traps flood basaltic province,India, and their geodynamic significance

Mineralogy and Petrology - Constituent mineral compositions and whole rock major element geochemistry of picro-dolerite dykes from the central part of the Deccan flood basalt province are presented...     

A potassium-rich Alkalic Suite from the Deccan Traps,Rajpipla, India

The Rajpipla Alkalic Suite is the most potassium-enriched group of basaltic rocks so far described from the Deccan Traps. In the same area however early tholeiitic flows and late tholeiitic dykes show the potassium-poor nature characteristic of most Deccan Trap magmas. The rocks of the alkalic suite are highly porphyritic and their major element variation can be interpreted in terms of crystal fractionation dominated by clinopyroxene. Plagioclase, which is an important phenocryst phase, has fractionated only in relatively small amounts as a result of a lack of density contrast between it and the liquids. A dyke-like form for the magma chambers in which fractionation has taken place is postulated to account for the abundance of highly porphyritic types. The Rajpipla area is also notable as being one of the few Deccan localities where rhyolites are found.Abbreviations AB ankaramitic basalt - PB porphyritic basalt - PTB porphyritic trachybasalt - FPM feldsparphyric mugearite - M mugearite - TR trachyte - P. RHY potassic rhyolite - Th. B. tholeiitic basalt - Th. D. tholeiitic dolerite - Af alkali feldspar     

Eclogite nodules associated with alkaline olivine basalts,Kenya

Alkaline olivine basalts and associated eclogite nodules from southern Kenya are described and attention drawn to the chemical and mineralogical similarities between these rocks and other continental, inclusion-bearing olivine basalts. The possibility of deriving the basalts from spinel pyroxenite and eclogite at high temperatures and pressures is discussed.     

Hydrological-drainage analysis in watershed-programme planning: a case from the Deccan basalt,India

Watershed development in India is being adopted increasingly as an integrated mechanism of addressing ecological concerns, particularly in dryland areas. Increasing groundwater recharge constitutes one of the principal objectives of watershed-development programmes because many parts of India face acute shortages of groundwater resources on which rural livelihood depends. A combination of hydrogeological mapping and drainage analysis can form an important tool for planning of watershed-development programmes. Studies on the Kurzadi watershed from the Deccan volcanic province in west-central India illustrate how this technique is useful in selecting sites for artificial recharge of groundwater.The Kurzadi river basin includes three third-order sub-basins that are compared for relative variability in surface-material permeability. Domains of high surface permeability typically indicate relatively higher length ratios and lower drainage density and stream frequency. In the Kurzadi watershed, drainage parameters reveal areas for recharge-related measures and areas where surface-water augmentation measures can be undertaken, even on lower, second-order streams.

---

Resumen En la India, se está adoptando el desarrollo de cuenca de forma creciente como un mecanismo integrado para abordar las inquietudes ecológicas, particularmente en zonas áridas. El aumento de la recarga a los acuíferos constituye uno de los objetivos principales de los programas de desarrollo de cuenca, porque muchas zonas de la India deben afrontar períodos acusados de escasez de recursos de aguas subterráneas, de los que dependen los asentamientos rurales. La combinación de cartografía hidrogeológico y de análisis del drenaje puede significar una herramienta importante para la planificación de los programas de desarrollo de cuenca. Los estudios efectuados en la cuenca de Kurzadi, en la Provincia Volcánica de Deccan (región central-occidental de India) ilustran la utilidad de esta técnica con el objeto de seleccionar emplazamientos adecuados para la recarga artificial de acuíferos.La cuenca del río Kurzidi incluye tres subcuencas de tercer orden que han sido comparadas con respecto a la variabilidad relativa de la permeabilidad en superficie. Los dominios de alta permeabilidad superficial son indicadores típicos de relaciones de longitud relativamente mayores y de menor densidad de drenaje y frecuencia de curso fluvial. En la cuenca de Kurzadi, los parámetros de drenaje revelan áreas de medidas relacionadas con la recarga y áreas en las que se puede emprender medidas de aumento de agua superficial, incluso en cursos fluviales menores, de segundo orden.

---

Résumé En Inde, la mise en valeur de bassins versants est en train d'être pris en compte de plus en plus comme un mécanisme intégrateur de problèmes concernant l'écologie, en particulier dans les régions sèches. L'accroissement de la recharge des nappes constitue l'un des principaux objectifs des programmes de mise en valeur des bassins versants, parce que de nombreuses régions de l'Inde doivent faire face à une grave pénurie de ressources en eau souterraine, dont dépendent les moyens d'existence en zones rurales. Une combinaison de cartographie hydrogéologique et d'analyse du drainage peut constituer un outil important de planification des programmes de développement des bassins. Des études sur le bassin de Kurzadi, dans la province volcanique du Deccan, dans le centre-ouest de l'Inde, illustre combien cette technique est utile pour décider des sites de recharge artificielle de nappe.Le bassin de la rivière Kurzadi est formé de trois sous-bassins de troisième ordre dont on a comparé la variabilité relative de la perméabilité de surface. Des domaines de forte perméabilité de surface dénotent bien des rapports de longueurs relativement plus forts et une densité de drainage et une fréquence de cours d'eau plus faibles. Dans le bassin de la rivière Kurzadi, les paramètres du drainage révèlent des zones convenant à des mesures relatives à la recharge et des zones où des mesures d'augmentation de l'eau de surface peuvent être entreprises, même sur des cours d'eau plus petits, de second ordre.

     

Chemical evolution, petrogenesis, and regional chemical correlations of the flood basalt sequence in the central Deccan Traps, India

The lava sequence of the central-western Deccan Traps (from Jalgaon towards Mumbai) is formed by basalts and basaltic andesites having a significant variation in TiO₂ (from 1.2 to 3.3 wt%), Zr (from 84 to 253 ppm), Nb (from 5 to 16ppm) and Ba (from 63 to 407 ppm), at MgO ranging from 10 to 4.2 wt%. Most of these basalts follow a liquid line of descent dominated by low pressure fractionation of clinopyroxene, plagioclase and olivine, starting from the most mafic compositions, in a temperature range from 1220° to 1125°C. These rocks resemble those belonging to the lower-most formations of the Deccan Traps in the Western Ghats (Jawhar, Igatpuri and Thakurvadi) as well as those of the Poladpur formation. Samples analyzed for⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr give a range of initial ratios from 0.70558 to 0.70621. A group of flows of the Dhule area has low TiO₂ (1.2–1.5 wt%) and Zr (84–105 ppm) at moderate MgO (5.2–6.2 wt%), matching the composition of low-Ti basalts of Gujarat, low-Ti dykes of the Tapti swarm and Toranmal basalts, just north of the study area. This allows chemical correlations between the lavas of central Deccan, the Tapti dykes and the north-western outcrops. The mildly enriched high field strength element contents of the samples with TiO₂ > 1.5 wt% make them products of mantle sources broadly similar to those which generated the Ambenali basalts, but their high La/Nb and Ba/Nb, negative Nb anomalies in the mantle normalized diagrams, and relatively high⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, make evident a crustal input with crustally derived materials at less differentiated stages than those represented in this sample set, or even within the sub-Indian lithospheric mantle.     

Geochemistry of Flood Basalts of the Toranmal Section, Northern Deccan Traps, India: Implications for Regional Deccan Stratigraphy

Tholeiitic lavas forming a flood basalt sequence of 870 m thicknessat Toranmal in the northern Deccan Traps have a large rangein isotopic ratios [     

The northern Patagonia Somuncura plateau basalts: a product of slab‐induced,shallow asthenospheric upwelling?

The Meseta de Somuncura forms the largest basaltic plateau (20 000 km²) of southern Argentina (extra-Andean domain). Most of these tholeiitic to alkaline rocks were extruded at ˜ 25 Ma (late Oligocene). The absence of rifting–thinning processes, plume activity, or slab-window phenomena leaves only one major possibility for the generation of Somuncura: asthenospheric ('OIB-like') corner flow leading to a transient thermal anomaly above the subducting plate. It is suggested herein that the intake of hot asthenosphere was forced into a favourable topography (concave-up) of the subducting plate, when a major plate reorganization event (Farallon to Nazca) was taking place in late Oligocene to early Miocene time. The fast and vigorous intake of asthenosphere would have been induced by slab roll-back, leading to decoupling of the subducting plate. The Somuncura volcanic episode can be regarded as a marker of the passage from the extremely oblique subduction of Farallon, to the birth of the Nazca plate and roughly perpendicular convergence between South America and Nazca.     

Volcanology and lava flow morpho-types from the Koyna-Warna region,western Deccan Traps,India

Flow mapping and physical volcanology of 15 basaltic lavas exposed in three critical road pass sections (ghats) in the Koyna-Warna region of the western Deccan Traps is presented in this paper. Transitional lavas like rubbly pahoehoe are most common morpho-type exposed in these ghat sections. Sinking of rubbly breccia into flow interiors and formation of breccia-cored rosette are common in some lava flows. Few rubbly lavas exhibit slabby tendencies. The amount and nature of the associated rubble is variable and result from the mechanical fracturing and auto-brecciation of the upper vesicular crust in response to distinctive stages in the cooling, crystallization and emplacement history of individual lava flows. Occurrence of aa and pahoehoe morpho-types in the lava flow sequence is subordinate. Three prominent pahoehoe flows separated by red bole horizons are seen in the upper parts of the Kumbharli ghat. These are thick, P-type sheet pahoehoe. The pahoehoe lavas represent compound flow fields that grew by budding, endogenous lava transfer and inflation. Presence of pahoehoe lavas in the Koyna-Warna region hints at possible hitherto unrecorded southern extension of Bushe-like flow fields. This study reconfirms the existence of pahoehoe-slabby-rubbly-aa flow fields and transitions even in the upper echelons of the Deccan Trap stratigraphy. The study of morphology and internal structure of lava flows exposed at the ghat sections in the Koyna-Warna region could guide subsurface core-logging that is critical in deciphering the physical volcanology and emplacement dynamics of basaltic lava flows penetrated by drill holes sunk under the scientific deep drilling programme.     

The origin of the Naturaliste Plateau,SE Indian Ocean: Implications from dredged basalts

Although a 1972 dredging by USNS Eltanin from the submarine Naturaliste Plateau was reported to yield rocks of continental origin, a re‐examination of the dredge haul shows that the rock clasts are in fact altered tholeiitic basalts. They have affinities both with MOR basalts and, especially, within‐plate basalts. Petrographically they correlate most closely with the Bunbury Tholeiitic Suite on the Australian mainland to the east. The basalts are reworked cobbles in a manganiferous Quaternary slump mass, which contains a quartz‐rich, felsic, detrital mineral suite with a granite‐gneiss provenance. The basalt cobbles were part of a basal conglomerate, which covered large areas of the Plateau. It is suggested that this was laid down from nearby elevated volcanic structures formed during the inception of seafloor spreading and the separation of Greater India from Australia at about 122 Ma BP.