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India's only coral atolls — rings of reef and sand strung along a drowned volcanic ridge.

Lakshadweep sits atop the Chagos–Laccadive Ridge, a submarine rise left by the Reunion hotspot as the Indian plate drifted over it — the same track that produced the Deccan Traps. As the ridge subsided, coral reefs grew upward and built classic atolls: rings of reef enclosing shallow lagoons.

They are the only coral atolls in India, entirely built of living and fossil reef, and among the most sensitive ecosystems to warming and rising seas.

Sources

• Geological Survey of India

A short reference note: this summary draws on third-party sources such as the Geological Survey of India and Wikipedia. In time I plan to give every geological feature its own learning-oriented write-up — with custom diagrams, graphs, and study pointers — as I’ve already done for the 11 locations that have an Instagram reel.