Geological History of the Kenn Plateau Continental Fragment

The Kenn Plateau is a submarine continental fragment covering 140,000 km² east of Queensland. It details the plateau's geological evolution from the Cretaceous to the present, including stretching, drifting, and volcanic activity. This description was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze sediment thickness and distribution in the plateau's basins to model depositional history.
• Study the plateau's 45-degree clockwise rotation and 2000 m subsidence since breakup for tectonic modeling.
• Map the locations of rift volcanics, the Tasmantid chain, and Lord Howe volcanic chain to understand hotspot activity.
• Identify regional unconformities, like the Late Paleocene to Early Eocene event, for stratigraphic correlation.

Strengths

• Describes a large geological feature with an area of 140,000 km².
• Provides a detailed multi-era timeline from the Cretaceous to the Neogene.

Limitations

• No raw observational data (e.g., seismic profiles, core samples) is directly provided, only a descriptive summary.
• Specific quantitative measurements like exact sediment volumes or precise fault locations are not enumerated.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

null

Time Range

Cretaceous to present

Freshness

null

Geography

Kenn Plateau, east of Queensland, Australia, Southwest Pacific Ocean