Origin of the Naturaliste Plateau

Abstract

LYING off the south-west coast of Australia (Fig. 1) some 2,500 m below sea level is the broad, rectangular Naturaliste Plateau, which forms a relatively flat ledge half way between sea level and the abyssal plain. How the plateau came to be in this position, and whether its origin is continental or oceanic, are two questions relevant to the evolution of the south-east Indian Ocean.