Volcanic plateau up by foundering of the Earth's crust to form the present ocean basin. The Earth features numerous subaerial and submarine volcanic plateaus such as the Columbia River Plateau (subaerial) and the vast Ontong Java Plateau (submarine). Pyroclastic plateaus are produced by massive pyroclastic flows and they are underlain by pyroclastic rocks: agglomerates, tephra, volcanic ashes cemented into tuffs, mafic or felsic. Examples include Shirasu-Daichi which covers almost all of Southern Kyūshū, Japan and the North Island Volcanic Plateau in New Zealand. Volcanic plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus
Archean felsic volcanic rocks violent pyroclastic flows. Coarse breccia would be formed as a result. Submarine sediments would subsequently be deposited along the steep flank of the volcano. Submarine landslides would occur to form turbidites. Archean felsic volcanic rocks is important to deduce absolute age of the rock units in greenstone belts. Felsic eruptions are episodic so that the felsic volcanic layers are distinctive stratigraphic units. Also, felsic volcanic rocks are distributed vastly across long distances because of its extensive deposition. However, the rock sequences of greenstone belts are commonly disputed by later deformation, such as regional folding or intrusion of granitoids. By identifying