Geology of the British Indian Ocean Territory carbonates, which are present in the Seychelles for reasons that are not clear—hypothesized to include local storm erosion. The offshore waters around the archipelago contain deep-sea ferromanganese nodules, with globular, dendritic and laminated microstructures formed from iron-manganese oxide. Due to the US military presence on the island the US Geological Survey has conducted water resource analysis since 1984. Geology of the British Indian Ocean Territory The geology of the British Indian Ocean Territory comprises the Chagos Archipelago—the above water portion of the Chagos Bank. Formed from hotspot volcanism, the Chagos Bank was separated from the Nazareth Bank 36 million years
Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean ( or "Îles Éparses de l'océan Indien") consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) since February 2007. They have never had a permanent population. Two of the islands—Juan de Nova and Europa—and the Bassas da India atoll lie in the Mozambique Channel west of Madagascar, while a third island, Tromelin, lies about east of Madagascar and the Glorioso Islands lies about northwest of Madagascar. Also