Kamal Guha at 03:20, 31 July 2023

2023-07-31T03:20:50Z

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[[File:Indiahills.png|thumb|right|250px|Deccan Plateau]]
[[File:Dekánská krajina u Hajdarábádu.jpg|thumb|250px|Hills of granite boulders are a common feature of the landscape on Deccan Plateau. This is near [[Hyderabad, India|Hyderabad]] in [[Telangana State ]]]]

The '''Deccan Plateau''' is a large [[plateau]] that covers most of [[South India]]. It is triangular, surrounded by three [[mountain]] ranges. It extends over eight Indian states (principally, [[Telangana]], [[Maharashtra]], [[Andhra Pradesh]], [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]] and [[Tamil Nadu]]).

The plateau covers {{convert|422000|km2}}, 27.7 [[percent]] of India's landmass.<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/place/Deccan Encyc Brit]</ref>

The [[Highland (geography)|uplands]], areas of higher landmass, form a triangle that is nested in the familiar downward-pointing triangle of the Indian sub-continent's coastline. In the south of India, the plateau is largely over {{convert|1000|m}} above [[sea level]]. In the north it is mostly about {{convert|500|m}} above sea level.<ref name="rainwater">{{cite web|url=http://www.rainwaterharvesting.org/eco/dp.htm|title=The Deccan Plateau |publisher=rainwaterharvesting.org |access-date=2008-11-28}}</ref>
The plateau is extremely large, and there are many [[habitat]]s: different [[ecosystem]]s with different sorts of vegetation, [[climate]], [[geology]] and animals. The forests on the plateau are older than the [[Himalaya]]n mountains.

On the west of the plateau are the [[Western Ghats]] and in the east are the [[Eastern Ghats]]. These mountain ranges rise from their nearby coastal plains and nearly meet at the southern tip of India. The mountains make the southward-pointing [[vertex (geometry)|vertex]] of a triangle. The northern boundary of the triangle is made up by the [[Satpura Range]] and [[Vindhya Range]]. These northern ranges separate the plateau from the heavily populated [[river]]ine [[plain]]s of northern India.

== Origin of name ==
The name is an anglicised from the [[Prakrit]] word ''dakkhin'', which comes from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''dakṣiṇa-'' ({{lang-sa|दक्षिण}}), meaning 'South' or 'The South'.<ref>[http://www.ibiblio.org/sripedia/ebooks/mw/0400/mw__0498.html Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 498] (scanned image at ''SriPedia Initiative''): Sanskrit ''dakṣiṇa'' meaning 'right', 'southern'.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Deccan|title=Deccan {{!}} plateau, India|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref>

== The Deccan Traps ==
[[Image:Western-Ghats-Matheran.jpg|thumb|225px|Deccan Traps near [[Matheran]], east of [[Mumbai]]]]
[[Image:Kille Rajgad from Pabe Ghat.jpg|thumb|225px|The Deccan Traps near [[Pune]]]]

The '''Deccan Traps''' are a main cause of the special geography and geology of South India. They are a large [[igneous]] province on the Deccan Plateau of west-central [[India]] (between 17–24N, 73–74E) and one of the largest [[volcanic]] features on the planet. They consist of multiple layers of solidified [[flood basalt]] that are more than {{convert|2000|m|0|abbr=on}} thick and cover an area of {{convert|500000|km2}}. The term 'trap', used in [[geology]] for such [[Rock (geology)|rock]] formations, is derived from the Dutch word for stairs,<ref>The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Clarendon Press, 1993</ref> referring to the step-like hills forming the landscape of the region.

=== History ===
The Deccan Traps formed between 60 and 68 million years ago,<ref name="mantleplumes">Sheth, Hetu C. [http://www.mantleplumes.org/Deccan.html The Deccan beyond the plume hypothesis]. ''MantlePlumes.org,'' 2006.</ref> at the end of the [[Cretaceous]] period. The bulk of the volcanic eruption occurred at the [[Western Ghats]] (near present-day [[Mumbai]]) some 66 million years ago. This series of eruptions may have lasted fewer than 30,000 years in total.<ref>[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050810130729.htm India's smoking gun: Dino-killing eruptions]. ''ScienceDaily,'' 10 August 2005.</ref> The gases released in the process may have played a role in the [[Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event]], which included the [[extinction]] of the non-avian [[dinosaur]]s. The consensus among the scientific community is that the extinction was triggered by the [[Chicxulub crater|Chicxulub impact event]] in Central America but that the Deccan eruptions also disrupted the planet's climate.<ref name="science">{{cite journal|last=Schulte | display-authors = etal|first=Peter|date=5 March 2010|title=The Chicxulub asteroid impact and mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary|journal=Science|publisher=AAAS|volume=327|issue=5970|pages=1214–1218| doi = 10.1126/science.1177265| pmid = 20203042| bibcode = 2010Sci...327.1214S| s2cid = 2659741|issn=1095-9203 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/327/5970/1214|access-date=5 March 2010}}</ref>

Before the Deccan Traps region was reduced to its current size by [[erosion]] and [[plate tectonics]], it is estimated that the original area covered by the [[lava]] flows was as large as 1.5 million km², about half the size of modern India. The present area of directly observable lava flows is estimated to be around {{convert|512000|km2}}.

The release of volcanic gases, particularly [[sulfur dioxide]], during the formation of the traps contributed to contemporary [[climate change]]. Data point to an average fall in temperature of 2 °C (3.6 °F) during this period.<ref>Royer D.L. ''et al'' 2004. CO<sub>2</sub> as a primary driver of Phanerozoic climate". ''GSA Today'', '''14''', 4-10. {{ISSN|1052-5173}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Flood basalts]]
[[Category:Plateaus of India]]
[[Category:Volcanoes of Asia]]
[[Category:Mountains and Hills of India]]

Deccan Plateau - Revision history

Kamal Guha at 03:20, 31 July 2023