Tectonic history of the Fiji plateau

The Fiji Plateau is a high, hot area of young oceanic crust. It is bounded on the north by a Cretaceous Pacific archipelago, and to the east and west by the Tonga and New Hebrides island arcs which go back to the Eocene. The Fiji Islands are an Eocene and younger continental mass formed within the ocean basin. Plate tectonics provides the key for understanding the area. Marine geological and geophysical data from Scripps Institution of Oceanography expeditions, especially Nova, and published seismic, gravity, and island geologic information provide the basis for the interpretation.