Dr. Nilotpal Ghosh co-authors publication in EPSL
Geochemistry lab specialist Dr Nilotpal Ghosh co-authored a publication titled “Widespread silicic and alkaline magmatism synchronous with the Deccan Traps flood basalts, India” in the journal Earth & Planetary Science Letters (EPSL). The paper presented the first U-Pb ages of the understudied silicic and alkalic rocks of Deccan flood basalt volcanism and showed that these acidic rocks erupted synchronously with the trap basalts. Using a combination of geochronology, whole rock geochemistry and Hf-Nd-Sr isotopic data, the study constrained the timing and origin of this evolved magmatism and also elucidated its potential link to the Cretaceous-Paleogene climate catastrophe that witnessed the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The whole rock geochemical analysis and Nd-Sr isotopic measurements of these volcanic rocks were performed in the department’s Analytical Geochemistry labs using the ICP-ES (Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry), ICP-MS (Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry) and the TIMS (Thermal Ionization Mass Spectrometry) facilities. The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from the University of Texas at Arlington, Princeton University, University of Rochester, NY and Trent University, Canada. Here is the link to the paper.