  Observations suggest that impactors and volcanism are connected, but the
mechanism that links these events is unknown. This research proposes the impact
exsolution hypothesis to explain how planetary scale collisions trigger
volcanism. This hypothesis says that when large objects such as asteroids or
comets hit planets, they generate seismic waves that cause exsolution in magma,
which initiates eruptions. Observations of the Chicxulub impact and Deccan
volcanism support this hypothesis. These observations include changes in feeder
dike orientations, changes in isotope geochemistry, and changes in lava flow
dynamics following the Chicxulub impact.
