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Large igneous provinces (LIPs) represent some of the greatest volcanic events in Earth history with significant impacts on ecosystems, including mass extinctions. However, some fundamental questions related to the eruption rate, eruption style, and vent locations for LIP lava flows remain unanswered. In this review, we use the Cretaceous–Paleogene Deccan Traps as an archetype to address these questions because they are one of the best-preserved large continental flood basalt provinces. We describe the volcanological features of the Deccan flows and the potential temporal and regional variations as well as the spatial characteristics of potential feeder dikes. Along with estimates of mean long-term eruption rates for individual Deccan lavas from paleomagnetism and Hg proxy records of ∼50–250 km3/year (erupting for tens to hundreds of years), the Deccan volcanic characteristics suggest a unified conceptual model for eruption of voluminous (>1,000 km3) LIP lavas with large spatial extent (>40,000 km2). We conclude by highlighting a few key open questions and challenges that can help improve our understanding of how the Deccan flows, as well as LIP flows in general, erupted and the mechanisms by which the lavas may have flowed over distances up to 1,000 km. The Deccan Traps are an archetype for addressing fundamental volcanological questions related to eruption rate, eruption style, and vent locations for large igneous province lava flows. Deccan subprovinces likely evolved as separate volcanic systems; thus, long-distance/interprovince flow correlations must be carefully assessed. The earliest eruptions came through the Narmada-Tapi rift zone followed by the establishment of a separate magmatic plumbing system by mantle plume–associated magmas. Typical Deccan eruption rates were ∼50–250 km3/year of lava. Individual eruptions lasted for a few hundred to 1,000 years and were separated by hiatuses of 3,000–6,000 years. The conspicuous absence of dikes in the Central Deccan region strongly implies long-distance surface transport of lavas in the form of flows hundreds of kilometers long. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental flood basalts intruded and erupted millions of km3 of magma over ∼1–5 Ma. Previous work proposed the presence of large (>105 $ > {\mathrm{10}}^{5}$–106 km3) crustal magma reservoirs to feed these eruptions. However, in Paper I, we illustrated that this model is inconsistent with observations, by combining eruptive rate constraints with geochemical and geophysical observations from the Deccan Traps and other Continental flood basalt provinces (CFBs). Here, we use a new mechanical magma reservoir model to calculate the variation of eruptive fluxes (km3/year) and volumes for different magmatic architectures. We find that a single magma reservoir cannot explain the eruptive rate and duration constraints for CFBs. Using a 1D thermal model and characteristic timescales for magma reservoirs, we conclude that CFB eruptions were likely fed by a number of interconnected small‐medium (∼102–103 km3) magma reservoirs. It is unlikely that each individual magma reservoir participated in every eruption, thus permitting the occasional formation of large xenocrysts (e.g., megacrystic plagioclase). This magmatic architecture permits (a) large volume eruptive episodes with 10–100s of years duration, and (b) relatively short time‐periods separating eruptive episodes (1000s of years) since multiple mechanisms can trigger eruptions (via magma recharge or volatile exsolution, as opposed to long term (105–106 year) accumulation of buoyancy overpressure), and (c) lack of large upper‐crustal intrusive bodies in various geophysical datasets. Our new proposed magmatic architecture has significant implications for the tempo of CFB volatile release (CO2 and SO2), potentially helping explain the pre‐K‐Pg warming associated with Deccan Traps. Plain Language Summary: Continental flood basalts represent some of the largest volcanic events in Earth's history with a significant impact on the terrestrial environment. However, the nature of the magmatic system associated with the eruption of millions of cubic km of basaltic lavas remains an open question. In this study, we developed a set of new mechanical and thermal models to analyze what sized magma chambers can feed the CFB lavas and what is the dominant physical process leading to eruptions. We find that flood basalt lavas were most likely erupted from a set of interconnected medium (∼102–103 km3) sized magma chambers. In addition, eruptions were most likely initiated by magma recharge instead of magma buoyancy associated overpressure. Using these results, we develop a new conceptual model for continental flood basalt volcanism and show that it can help explain the key observational characteristics. Our results also have implications for the CO2 flux from flood basalts and the consequent environmental impact. Key Points: Mechanical magma reservoir model demonstrates that individual continental flood basalt province (CFB) eruptive episodes cannot be fed by a single large crustal magma bodyCFB eruptions are likely fed from a number of small‐medium sized (∼102–103 km3) interconnected magma reservoirsOur new transcrustal magmatic plumbing model explains the primary geophysical and geochemical characteristics for continental flood basalts [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flood basalts are some of the largest magmatic events in Earth history, with intrusion and eruption of millions of km3 of basaltic magma over a short time period (∼1–5 Ma). A typical continental flood basalt (CFB) is emplaced in hundreds of individual eruptive episodes lasting decades to centuries with lava flow volumes of 103–104 km3. These large volumes have logically led to CFB models invoking large magma reservoirs (>104 $ > {\mathrm{10}}^{4}$–105 km3) within the crust or at Moho depth. Since there are currently no active CFB provinces, we must rely on observations of past CFBs with varying degrees of surface exposure to develop and test models. In the last few decades, significant improvements in geochronological, geochemical, paleomagnetic, volcanological, and paleo‐proxy measurements have provided high‐resolution constraints on CFB eruptive tempo ‐ the volume, duration, and frequency of individual eruptive episodes. Using the well‐studied Deccan Traps as an archetype for CFB systems, we compile multiple lines of evidence–geochronology, eruption tempo, dike spatial distribution, intrusive‐extrusive ratio, geochemical variations, and volcanological observations–to assess the viability of previous models. We find that the presence of just a few large crustal magma reservoirs is inconsistent with these constraints. Although observations from the Deccan Traps primarily motivate our model, we discuss constraints from other CFBs to illustrate that this conclusion may be broadly applicable for CFB magmatic systems in general. Plain Language Summary: Flood basalt eruptions are among the largest volcanic events in Earth history, erupting millions of cubic kilometers of lava over a geologically short time interval (∼1–5 Ma). Typically, continental flood basalt (CFB) eruptive sequences have hundreds of individual eruptions, each with a volume of thousands of km3 of lavas. This is significantly larger than any volcanic eruption within human history. Because of the large size of the eruptions, it is usually assumed that the magma reservoir(s) feeding the eruption are also very large (>104 $ > {\mathrm{10}}^{4}$–105 km3). In this study, we use the size, duration, and frequency of individual eruptions as known from several lines of evidence (geochronological, geochemical, paleomagnetic, volcanological, and paleo‐proxy measurements) to investigate the properties of CFB magmatic systems. We find that the dynamics of these eruptions are inconsistent with just a few large magma reservoirs and instead require a network of smaller magma bodies feeding each eruption. Key Points: We compile diverse observations from geochronology, geochemistry, volcanology for the Deccan Traps to constrain magmatic architectureThese different datasets consistently suggest large, frequent eruptions for Deccan Traps (and potentially other CFBs)Constraints from Deccan eruptive tempo, geophysics, and geochemistry are inconsistent with the large crustal magma reservoir model [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deccan Traps flood basalt volcanism affected ecosystems spanning the end-Cretaceous mass extinction, with the most significant environmental effects hypothesized to be a consequence of the largest eruptions. The Rajahmundry Traps are the farthest exposures (~1,000 km) of Deccan basalt from the putative eruptive centers in the Western Ghats and hence represent some of the largest volume Deccan eruptions. Although the three subaerial Rajahmundry lava flows have been geochemically correlated to the Wai Subgroup of the Deccan Traps, poor precision associated with previous radioisotopic age constraints has prevented detailed comparison with potential climate effects. In this study, we use new 40Ar/39Ar dates, paleomagnetic and volcanological analyses, and biostratigraphic constraints for the Rajahmundry lava flows to ascertain the timing and style of their emplacement. We find that the lower and middle flows (65.92 ± 0.25 and 65.67 ± 0.08 Ma, ±1σ systematic uncertainty) were erupted within magnetochron C29r and were a part of the Ambenali Formation of the Deccan Traps. By contrast, the uppermost flow (65.27 ± 0.08 Ma) was erupted in C29n as part of the Mahabaleshwar Formation. Given these age constraints, the Rajahmundry flows were not involved in the end-Cretaceous extinction as previously hypothesized. To determine whether the emplacement of the Rajahmundry flows could have affected global climate, we estimated their eruptive CO2 release and corresponding climate change using scalings from the LOSCAR carbon cycle model. We find that the eruptive gas emissions of these flows were insufficient to directly cause multi-degree warming; hence, a causal relationship with significant climate warming requires additional Earth system feedbacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deccan Traps continental flood basalt eruptions spanned the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction, erupting over a million cubic kilometers of basalt over a total duration of approximately a million years. The environmental consequences of flood basalt eruptions depend on the timing and amount of volatile release; eruption rates are thus needed to evaluate their potential to cause climate change. Radioisotopic dates are not currently sufficient to resolve sub-ten thousand year eruptive tempos, necessary for constraining the effects of short-lifetime volatiles including sulfur dioxide. Recent studies have demonstrated that increases in mercury concentration in sedimentary records correlate with flood basalt eruptions under some circumstances. However, mercury concentrations have primarily been used to show the presence or absence of flood basalt eruptions. We show that this proxy can be used to quantitatively estimate eruptive rates using a mercury geochemical cycle framework. We illustrate this using new mercury chemostratigraphic records from terrestrial Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary sections in eastern Montana, USA, with multiple high-resolution chronologic constraints. We estimate that Deccan eruptions lasted on the order of centuries and released 500–3000 megagrams (Mg) of mercury per year, corresponding to ∼50–250 km3/a of lava. The box model framework highlights the importance of carefully accounting for differences in sedimentation rate and sampling resolution when comparing mercury records from different locations and depositional environments. While there are uncertainties in the box model estimates due to possible variation in flood basalt mercury emissions and sedimentation rates, they provide a useful framework to quantitatively evaluate the global mercury budget change indicated by changing concentration in sedimentary records. Eruptions of the estimated size would have released enough SO 2 , if it reached the stratosphere, to cause significant cooling for the duration of the eruption. However, given our constraints on the duration of individual eruptions, these colder periods are likely too brief to be clearly visible in most existing paleoclimate records. • First use of an environmental mercury box model to constrain eruption size. • New high-resolution mercury record from a terrestrial sedimentary locality. • Deccan eruptions within 10 thousand years of Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary. • Deccan eruptions each lasted 100–500 yr and erupted ∼40–240 km3/a basalt [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late Cretaceous records of environmental change suggest that Deccan Traps (DT) volcanism contributed to the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (KPB) ecosystem crisis. However, testing this hypothesis requires identification of the KPB in the DT. We constrain the location of the KPB with high-precision argon-40/argon-39 data to be coincident with changes in the magmatic plumbing system. We also found that the DT did not erupt in three discrete large pulses and that 90% of DT volume erupted in 1 million years, with ~75% emplaced post-KPB. Late Cretaceous records of climate change coincide temporally with the eruption of the smallest DT phases, suggesting that either the release of climate-modifying gases is not directly related to eruptive volume or DT volcanism was not the source of Late Cretaceous climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]