Nature and timing of extinctions in Cretaceous-Tertiary planktic foraminifera preserved in Deccan intertrappean sediments of the Krishna–Godavari Basin, India

In C29r below the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary (KTB) massive Deccan Trap eruptions in India covered an area the size of France or Texas and produced the world’s largest and longest lava megaflows 1500 km across India through the Krishna–Godavari (K–G) Basin into the Bay of Bengal. Investigation of ten deep wells from the K–G Basin revealed four lava megaflows separated by sand, silt and shale with the last megaflow ending at or near the KTB. The biologic response in India was swift and devastating. During Deccan eruptions prior to the first megaflow, planktic foraminifera suffered 50% species extinctions. Survivors suffered another 50% extinctions after the first megaflow leaving just 7–8 species. No recovery occurred between the next three megaflows and the mass extinction was complete with the last mega-flow at or near the KTB. The last phase of Deccan volcanism occurred in the early Danian C29n with deposition of another four megaflows accompanied by delayed biotic recovery of marine plankton. Correlative with these intense volcanic phases, climate changed from humid/tropical to arid conditions and returned to normal tropical humidity after the last phase of volcanism. The global climatic and biotic effects attributable to Deccan volcanism have yet to be fully investigated. However, preliminary studies from India to Texas reveal extreme climate changes associated with high-stress environmental conditions among planktic foraminifera leading to blooms of the disaster opportunist Guembelitria cretacea during the late Maastrichtian.