What is the decan trap theory?

Answer 1

The Deccan Traps are an area of extensive volcanic activity located in what is now India. This volcanic province was active around the end of the Mesozoic Era (Late Cretaceous Period) approximately 60-70 million years ago. The Deccan Traps were probably one of the largest volcanic complexes to occur on Earth since it's initial formation, spanning nearly half the current area of the country of India at it's peak.

The timing of the Deccan Traps should ring bells in the minds of dinosaur enthusiasts: the K/T extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs occurred 65-66 million years ago, right when the Deccan Traps were active. Although it is generally accepted that a large asteroid or comet is largely responsible for this mass extinction, some question as to whether the impact had sufficient aftereffects to cause such widespread damage to the Earth's biosphere. As a consequence, some have proposed that the massive amounts of volcanic and greenhouse gases released during the eruption of the Deccan Traps also played a role in this extinction event.

There is also another large volcanic complex known as the Siberian Traps of northern Russia. Unrelated to the Deccan Traps, and much older (~250 million years), the Siberian Traps have been linked to an earlier mass extinction event at the end of the Permian Period.

Answer 2

The decan trap theory is a hypothesis in astronomy that suggests some nearby open clusters could be remnants of disrupted small satellite galaxies or star clusters that were pulled into the Milky Way due to its gravitational forces. These disrupted objects could have left behind a trail or "trap" of stars in the form of open clusters within the Milky Way. The theory aims to explain the presence of certain open clusters that exhibit similar properties and origins.