Kerguelen Plateau

Regional Setting

Kerguelen Plateau is one of the largest volcanic plateaus in the world and the largest in the Southern Ocean. It lies about 3000 km to the southwest of Fremantle (Western Australia) and is nearly three times the size of Japan or four times the size of the British Isles. It extends for more than 2200 km in a northwest-southeast direction and lies in deep water (1000 to 4000 metres). Geological sampling and scientific drilling shows that it was emergent or under shallow water for up to 40 million years of its history. Wood fragments and coal found in Late Cretaceous sediments indicate that the plateau may have been covered with forests.