Siberian Traps

The Siberian Traps form a large igneous province in Siberia. They were formed during the Permian-Triassic extinction event in what was one of the largest known volcanic event in the last 500 million years of the geological history of the Earth. Vast volumes of basaltic lava paved over a large expanse of primeval Siberia. Today the area covered is about 2 x 10⁶ km² and estimates of the original volume of lava range from 1 to 4 million km³. The area covered lies between 50 and 75 degrees north latitude and 60 to 120 degrees east longitude. The volcanism continued for a million years and spanned the P-T Boundary. Whether the volcanic event actually contributed towards the Permian event is not well understood.

External links

• The Siberian Traps
• THE SIBERIAN TRAPS by Richard Cowen
• Mantle Plumes geology