Lameta Formation

Lameta Formation
Lameta Formation as it appears in the first segment of Badlands
Location
Supercontinent	Gondwanaland
Continent	Asia
Country	India
Region	Gujarat State, Deccan Traps
Temporal Range	70 - 66 million years ago, Maastrichtian Stage, Late Cretaceous Period
Episodes	Badlands (Segments 1 and 5) Were Dinosaurs Good Parents? Encounter Dinosaurs
Filmed In	Fagradalsfjall Volcano, Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest Iceland Námafjall Geothermal Area, northeast Iceland Hverfjall Crater, northern Iceland
Characteristics
Climate	Semi-arid, Tropical
Environment	Badlands, Fluvial, Forest, Lacustrine, Volcanic
Annual Precipitation (Rainfall) of 1,760 - 1,860 millimeters (69.3 - 73.3 inches)

“ This is the largest expansive lava to flood the Earth for 100 million years. The Deccan in Central India, a hellish place, and certainly not where you'd expect to find dinosaurs. And yet, giants risk their lives traveling here. Isisaurs, and all are females. Lava has been flowing in The Deccan for so long, that in places, it is a mile thick. ”

― David Attenborough, Badlands

The Lameta Formation (also known as the Infratrappean Beds) is a formation located in the Gujarat state of west-central India, being one of the most known and most heavily-studied Late Cretaceous formations of the country.

Paleoenvironment

“ In addition to the steam, a deadly mixture of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide spews from volcanic vents. In the cool, pre-dawn air, these heavy gases sink to create a barely-visible suffocating blanket. Just a few lungfuls can kill. ”

― David Attenborough, Badlands

Buried under thick layers of basalt, the Lameta Formation is usually associated with a large igneous province known as the Deccan Traps (with a name that means "Southern Stairs", given its landscape of step-like hills), one of the most massive volcanic features on Earth. Even so, the Lameta Formation is also interpreted as a semi-arid landscape, though later, more recent studies suggest that it is more of a tropical humid region with rivers, lakes, and, as shown on Prehistoric Planet, forests past the jagged terrain of the central Indian badlands, the destination of the Isisaurus babies in the fifth segment of Badlands.

“ In badlands, conditions can change with astonishing speed. Rising summer temperatures fuel electric storms hundreds of miles wide. Here in the Deccan, these seasonal storms cause a shift in the wind direction. And around the caldera where the Isisaur females laid their eggs months ago, the poisonous gases have blown away, providing a critical window of opportunity. ”

― David Attenborough, Badlands

The intense volcanic activity of the Deccan Traps by that time, combined with the tropical climate of the area, subjected Late Cretaceous central India to rainfall of around 1,760 - 1,860 millimeters (69.3 - 73.3 inches) per year, higher than the annual precipitation of modern-day India during a monsoon, around 1,200 millimeters (47.2 inches).

“ A volcanic island in the sky, rising high above these treacherous badlands. The huge crater, a caldera, provides a safe, communal nesting ground. The surrounding sea of poisonous gases helps to keep predators away. And the in-built geothermal heating makes it an ideal incubator. ”

― David Attenborough, Badlands

These events and conditions, though hostile and threatening, also provide opportunities for predator and prey alike. For Isisaurus and India's other titanosaurs, the Deccan provides heated sand where they can lay their eggs in, just as iguanas of the volcanic Galapagos Islands do today, with the toxic gases acting as a natural barrier that temporarily protects their eggs and young, at least, until the monsoon winds clear the gases away. For Rajasaurus and India's other theropods, the formation of the volcanic terrain sets up a treacherous area that some prey animals may not be able to easily traverse, and the region provides plenty of cover for small prey and nimble ambush predators to hide in.

“ They're entering a low-lying area where the deadly gases are particularly thick, and for these females, something is already wrong. And worse, as the sun rises and warms the air, the gases swirl even higher. Long necks can no longer protect the herd. They must escape to higher ground, and quickly. The climb is steep, but should bring fresher air. ”

― David Attenborough, Badlands

At least one study theorizes that, 350,000 years before the arrival of the asteroid that wiped out the remaining non-avian dinosaurs, all the Indian dinosaurs may have already been killed off by a massive eruption in the Deccan Traps.

Paleofauna

Isisaurus colberti

Rajasaurus narmadensis

Appearances

The Lameta Formation serves as the setting of the first and last segments of Badlands. It is also given special attention in the Uncovered Segment, "Were Dinosaurs Good Parents?," showing direct evidence of the Deccan Traps being used by dinosaurs as suitably-warm nesting grounds for centuries.

Trivia

• There were plans to represent the Deccan Traps (the setting of the first and fifth segments of Badlands) with locations in Hawaii, but this was made problematic by COVID-19 restrictions.
• One of the filming locations that the staff did secure to represent the Deccan Traps is the Fagradalsfjall Volcano of the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland, which was inactive for 6,000 years, and just so happened to erupt in 2021 and 2022, while the second season of Prehistoric Planet was being worked on. Unfortunately, it stopped erupting just when the production team arrived to film in that area, so the team had to rely on eruption footage that they recorded while they were still scoping out and reviewing the location. Ironically, Fagradalsfjall would resume volcanic activity on the 4th of July 2023.