The Réunion hotspot is a volcanic hotspot which presently lies under the Island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The hot spot is believed to have been active for over 65 million years. A huge eruption of this hot spot 65 million years ago (MYA) is thought to have laid down the Deccan Traps, a vast bed of basalt lava that covers part of central India, and opened a rift which separated India from the Seychelles plateau. The Deccan Traps eruption coincided with the extinction of the dinosaurs, and there is considerable speculation that the two events were related. As the Indian plate drifted north, the hot spot continued to punch through the plate, creating a string of volcanic islands and undersea plateaus. The Laccadive Islands, the Maldives, and the Chagos Archipelago are atolls resting on former volcanoes created 60-45 MYA that subsequently submerged below sea level. About 45 MYA the mid-ocean rift crossed over the hot spot, and the hot spot passed under the African Plate. This article is about volcanoes in geology. ... In geology, a hotspot is a location on the Earths surface that has experienced active vulcanism for a long period of time. ... Réunion is an island, as well as an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. ... The Indian Ocean is the third-largest body of water in the world, covering about 20% of the Earths water surface. ... The Deccan Traps is located in west-central India and is one of the largest volcanic features on Earth. ... Basalt Basalt is an extrusive igneous rock, sometimes porphyritic, and is often both fine-grained and dense. ... The Republic of India is the second most populous country in the world, with a population of more than one billion, and is the seventh largest country by geographical area. ... The Republic of Seychelles (Creole: Repiblik Sesel) is an island nation in the Indian Ocean, some 1,600 km east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. ... Orders Saurischia    Sauropodomorpha    Theropoda Ornithischia Dinosaurs are reptiles that dominated the terrestrial ecosystem for most of their 165-million year existence. ... Lakshadweep is a Union Territory of India. ... The Republic of Maldives is a country consisting territorially of a group of atolls in the Indian Ocean, south-southwest of India. ... islands in the Indian Ocean, lying 500 km south of the Maldives. ... Atoll in the western pacific ocean For the programming language, see ATOLL programming language. ... In geology, a rift is a place where the Earths lithosphere is expanding. ... The African Plate is a continental tectonic plate covering the continent of Africa and extending westward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. ...

The hotspot appears to have been relatively quiet from 45-10 MYA, when activity resumed, creating the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius, Réunion, and Rodrigues. Mauritius and Rodrigues ridge were created 8-10 MYA, and Rodrigues and Réunion islands in the last two million years. Piton de la Fournaise, a shield volcano on the southeastern corner of Réunion, is one of the most active volcanoes in the world, erupting last on August 13, 2004. The Mascarene Islands (or Mascarenhas Archipelago) is the collective title of a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar, which include Mauritius, Réunion, Rodrigues and Cargados Carajos. ... The Republic of Mauritius is an island country in the southwest Indian Ocean, about 900 km east of Madagascar. ... Réunion is an island, as well as an overseas département (département doutre-mer, or DOM) of France, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. ... Rodrigues (or Rodriguez) is an island in the Indian Ocean. ... Categories: Stub | Shield volcanoes | Hotspot volcanoes | Volcanoes of France | Volcanoes of the Indian Ocean ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ...