Biggest Lava Plateaus Under Indian Ocean Discovered.

From the website:

The plateau is located in the so-called Mid Ridge in the Indian Ocean below a point 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of Mauritius, said Professor Tamaki Ura, director of the University of Tokyo’s Underwater Technology Research Center.

“This is presumed to be not only the biggest lava plateau in the Indian Ocean but also one of the biggest in the world,” Ura said.

“The vehicle [unmanned undersea probe r2D4] also spotted hydrothermal eruptions on the northern part.” The flat plateau measures about 14 kilometers (8.8 miles) in length and 2.7 kilometers (1.7 miles) in width at a depth of about 2,700 meters (8,860 feet), according to the team from the university.

Ura said the plateau was covered with lava some 300 meters (980 feet) thick.

Links to Physorg or Xinhua