Lithospheric structure beneath Laxmi Ridge and late Cretaceous geodynamic events

The geophysically unusual Laxmi Ridge (eastern basin, Arabian Sea) is associated with a prominent elongated negative gravity anomaly. A seismically and geodynamically constrained detailed 2D gravity modeling suggests an 11-km-thick normal oceanic crust and an asthenospheric upwarp to a depth of 35 km. We attribute the apparent thickening of the crust to a possible emplacement of an anomalous subcrustal low-density layer between 11 and 19 km depth. We hypothesize that a K-T boundary bolide impact near the Bombay offshore led to several geological events, including eruption of Deccan flood basalts. The spreading Carlsberg Ridge in the Indian Ocean and rifting associated with Deccan volcanism generated the compressive regime, which perhaps originated the Laxmi Ridge.