Oceanic plateaus are the most remarkable large igneous provinces in deep sea basins. They document massive magmatism in the oceans, and are important for better understanding crustal structure, plate tectonics, mantle geodynamics and Earth's evolution history. Oceanic plateaus are most developed in west Pacific Ocean, providing the optimal place to study their internal structure and formation. This paper selects six representative oceanic plateaus within west Pacific Ocean:Shatsky Rise, Hess Rise, Magellan Rise, Ontong Java Plateau, Manihiki Plateau and Hikurangi Plateau. We present brief geologic overview of each plateau and summarize major geophysical and geochemical observations. Based on the common characteristics of these plateaus, including massive topographic uplift, abnormally thick crust, negative mantle gravity anomaly, and formation on or near the mid-ocean ridge; the formation mechanisms are discussed, and the future investigations are suggested, i. e., interaction between mantle plume and mid-ocean ridge may be the main origin of oceanic plateaus.

large igneous province  /  oceanic plateau  /  mantle plume  /  mid-ocean ridge  /  west Pacific Ocean