What is the significance of Heard Island & McDonald Islands?

Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, with the Kerguelen Islands, are exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, possibly the largest submarine plateau on earth, and provide geochemical and isotopic insights into the formation of oceanic plateaux, mantle plume development and the separation of Australia, India and Africa from Antarctica.

Are heard and McDonald Islands volcanoes?

Heard and the McDonald Islands are young oceanic-island volcanoes which, together with the Kerguelen Islands 466 km to the northwest, are the only subaerial expressions of the dominantly volcanic and relatively shallow northern part of the submarine Kerguelen Plateau which has a geological history extending over 115 Ma (Davies et al. 1989).

What is the difference between heard and McDonald Islands?

The geological histories of Heard and the Kerguelen Islands extend over the last 50 Ma while the McDonald Islands are very young, perhaps having formed within the last 100 000 years.

What causes McDonald Islands emissions?

The McDonald Islands emissions may be linked to either faults or submarine extensions of subaerial geothermal systems, such as those observed subaerially on the islands (McIvor, 2007; Quilty & Wheller, 2000; Stephenson et al., 2005).

How big is Heard Island & McDonald Islands?

The group's overall land area is 372 km 2 (144 sq mi) and it has 101.9 km (63 mi) of coastline. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the islands lie on the Kerguelen Plateau in the Indian Ocean and have been an Australian territory since 1947. Heard Island and McDonald Islands contain Australia's only two active volcanoes.

Where are Heard Island and McDonald Islands located?

The islands are a territory (Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands) of Australia administered from Hobart by the Australian Antarctic Division of the Australian Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.