South Kermadec Ridge Seamounts

Description

The South Kermadec Ridge Seamounts are a continuation of the volcanic island arc, formed at the convergent boundary where the Pacific Plate subducts under the Indo-Australian Plate. The subducting Pacific Plate created the Kermadec Trench, the second deepest submarine trench, to the east of the islands. The seamounts lie along the western aspect of the undersea Kermadec Ridge, which runs southwest from the Kermadec Islands towards the North Island of New Zealand and northeast towards Tonga.