Abstract
The Kerguelen Plateau in the southern Indian Ocean stands 2–4 km above the adjacent sea floor and is ∼2,500 km long (Fig. 1)1,2. Seasat provided a unique data set for deriving the free-air gravity field of the region (Fig. 2)3–5. Here we report the results of a new analysis of the plateau province's structure employing both Seasat and newly-acquired multichannel seismic (MCS) data6,7 for ground truth. The northern sector is characterized by volcanism and a sedimentary basin; the southern sector by a broad anticlinal arch, major faulting, and a sedimentary basin; and the eastern sector by an abyssal basin (Labuan) and bounding ridge (William's). The three sectors argue for a more complex tectonic evolution of the feature than has been previously proposed.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Houtz, R. E., Hayes, D. E. & Markl, R. G. Mar. Geol. 25, 95–130 (1977).
Schlich, R. in The Ocean Basins and Margins 6: the Indian Ocean 51–148 (Plenum, New York, 1982).
Tapley, B. D., Born, G. H. & Parke, M. E. J. geophys. Res. 87, 3179–3188 (1982).
Haxby, W. F., Karner, G. D., LaBrecque, J. L. & Weissel, J. K. Eos 64, 995–1004 (1983).
Haxby, W. F. & Weissel, J. K. J. geophys. Res. 91, 3507–3520 (1986).
Ramsay, D. C. et al. Bur. Miner. Resour. Aust. Rep. 270, (1986).
Ramsay, D. C. et al. Geology 14, 589–593 (1986).
Upton, B. J. G. in The Ocean Basins and Margins 6: the Indian Ocean 585–648 (Plenum, New York, 1982).
Wicquart, E. thesis, Univ. Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris (1983).
Schlich, R., Delteil, J., Moulin, J., Patriat, P. & Guillaume, R. C. r. hebd Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 272, 2060–2063 (1971).
Fröhlich, F. et al. C. r. hebd Séanc. Acad. Sci., Paris 297, 153–156 (1983).
Okal, E. A. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 52, 397–409 (1981).
Adams, R. D. & Zhang, B. M. Geophys. J. R. astr. Soc. 79, 697–703 (1984).
Mutter, J. C. & Cande, S. C. Earth planet. Sci. Lett. 65, 369–376 (1983).
Mutter, J. C., Hegarty, K. A., Cande, S. C. & Weissel, J. K. Tectonophysics 114, 255–279 (1985).
Mammerickx, J. & Sandwell, D. J. geophys. Res. 91, 1975–1988 (1986).
Duncan, R. A. Tectonophysics 74, 29–42 (1981).
Goslin, J. & Patriat, P. Tectonophysics 101, 221–244 (1984).
Crough, S. T. A. Rev. Earth planet. Sci. 11, 165–193 (1983).
Tingey, R. J., McDougall, I. & Gleadow, A. J. W. J. geol. Soc. Austr. 30, 241–246 (1983).
Hayes, D. E. & Vogel, M. General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans 5. 13 (GEBCO) scale 1:10,000,000 (Canadian Hydrographic Service, Ottawa, 1981).
Fisher, R. L., Jantsch, M. Z. & Comer, R. L. General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans 5.09 (GEBCO) scale 1:10,000,000 (Canadian Hydrographic Service, Ottawa, 1982).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Coffin, M., Davies, H. & Haxby, W. Structure of the Kerguelen Plateau province from Seasat altimetry and seismic reflection data. Nature 324, 134–136 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324134a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324134a0
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
Oceanic mafic granulite xenoliths from the Kerguelen archipelago
Nature (1994)
-
A preliminary tectonic fabric chart of the Indian Ocean
Journal of Earth System Science (1989)
-
Basalt basement from the Kerguelen Plateau and the trail of a Dupal plume
Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (1989)
-
Lower cretaceous basalt and sediments from the Kerguelen Plateau
Geo-Marine Letters (1987)