Structure of the Kerguelen Plateau province from Seasat altimetry and seismic reflection data

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. © 1986 Nature Publishing Group.