SEYCHELLES-MAURITIUS PLATEAU

also called Mascarene Plateau, submarine plateau, a very shallow, extensive ridge in the Indian Ocean forming a crescent through the Seychelles and Amirante islands. The ridge extends from 4 S to 21 S and from 54 E to 63 E. It is believed to be a small continental outlier similar to Madagascar and separated from the continent. The granitic Seychelles islands, which rise from the ridge, are considered anomalous in an ocean basin because most oceanic rocks are basaltic.