| Session Description |
Mantle plumes and their surface manifestations (called hot spots) are commonly associated with continental break-up and are now generally recognized as one of the principal causes of LIP-formation including continental flood basalts (Morgan, 1972; Richards et. al., 1989; Campbell and Griffiths, 1990; White and McKenzie, 1995; Mahoney and Coffin, 1997). The combination of rifting and plume development results in exceptionally high thermal output which probably generates CFB. Tholeiitic basalts are the dominant magma type of CFB volcanism but more evolved differentiates and alkaline types have also been recorded (Cox and Mitchell, 1988).CFB magmas have variable isotopic signatures and the geochemical variations in continental flood basalt magmas are the results of differences in the degree of partial melting, polybaric fractional crystallization, magma mixing, crustal contamination and different source characteristics (Zindler and Hart, 1986). To constrain the inherent lava- petrogenesis, therefore recognition of lava flows using suitable criteria is utmost needed which would in turn help the scientists to understand nature of lava eruption in a flood basalt scenario. |
