Lithosphere thickness variation across the Deccan Volcanic Province–Eastern Dharwar Craton, South India: Insight into evolution of the Deccan Volcanic Province

The Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP), which is one of the largest flood basalt regions in the world, together with Dharwar Craton constitutes a large portion of the Precambrian South Indian shield. To understand the evolutionary nature of the DVP, we determine the lithosphere structure across the DVP–Eastern Dharwar Craton (EDC), using seismological waveforms recorded at 18 seismological stations. We use joint modelling of teleseismic receiver functions and surface wave dispersion data as well as teleseismic relative residuals. The calculated thickness of the lithosphere shows a significant difference between the DVP and EDC; it is ~50–60 km thinner in the DVP compared to that in the EDC. Through interrelation of these results with available data, we find that the DVP may have an intimate relationship with the break-up of the Gondwanaland.