ONTONG-JAVA AND KERGUELEN PLATEAUS - CRETACEOUS ICELAND

Together with Iceland, the two giant oceanic plateaux, Ontong Java in the western Pacific and Kerguelen/Broken Ridge in the Indian Ocean, ar e accumulations of mafic igneous rock which were not formed by 'normal ' seafloor spreading. We compare published geochronological, crustal s tructure, and subsidence results with tectonic fabric highlighted in n ew satellite-derived free-air gravity data from the three igneous prov inces, and conclude that existing evidence weighs lightly against the Ontong Java and Kerguelen plateaux originating at a seafloor spreading centre.