The Kerguelen Plateau is a submerged microcontinent in the southern Indian Ocean. It is about to the southwest of Australia, and extends for more than in a northwest-southeast direction. It is under deep water, but a small part of the plateau is above sea level, forming the Australian Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and the French Kerguelen Islands. The islands are part of a large igneous province (LIP) which started when Gondwana started to break up, 130 million years ago in the Lower Cretaceous period. 