Structure and Tectonic History of the Kerguelen Plateau

The Kerguelen Plateau in the Southern Indian Ocean is one of the largest submerged plateau in the world. The origin and subsequent geologic and tectonic history of the imposing feature have long been a matter of debate and speculation. These outstanding problems were the primary topics addressed by several French and Austra­ lian multichannel seismic reflection surveys carried out on the plateau between 1981 and 1991 and by deep sea drilling performed in 1988 by the Ocean Drilling Program (Barron, Larsen et al. 1989; Schlich, Wise et al. 1989).