Karoo and Ferrar denote a major geologic province consisting of flood basalt, which mostly covers South Africa and Antarctica, although portions extend further into southern Africa and into South America, India, Australia and New Zealand.[1] It formed just prior to the breakup of Gondwana in the Lower Jurassic epoch, about 183 million years ago; this timing corresponds to the early Toarcian anoxic event and the Pliensbachian-Toarcian extinction. The total original volume of the flow, which extends over a distance in excess of 6000 km (4000 km in Antarctica alone), was in excess of 2.5 x 106 km³.[2]
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