A flood basalt is the result of a giant volcanic eruption or series of eruptions that coats large stretches of land or the ocean floor with basalt lava. Flood basalt provinces such as the Deccan Traps of India are often called traps, which derives from the characteristic stairstep geomorphology of many associated landscapes. Eleven distinct flood basalt episodes occurred in the past 250 million years, resulting in large volcanic provinces, creating plateaus and mountain ranges on Earth. Large igneous provinces have been connected to five mass extinction events, and may be associated with bolide impacts.