Large Igneous Provinces

Earth history is punctuated by events during which large volumes of mafic magmas were generated and emplaced by processes unrelated to normal sea-floor spreading and subduction. These Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) are best preserved in the Mesozoic and Cenozoic where they occur as continental flood basalts, volcanic rifted margins, oceanic plateaus, ocean basin flood basalts, submarine ridges, and seamount chains.