[8][9] Over several decades analyses of geoid, MAGSAT, gravitational, and magnetic anomalies data collected across the plateau were used as arguments for both an oceanic and a continental origin.

[3] Uenzelmann-Neben, Gohl and Ehrhardt could finally present seismic evidence that showed that the Agulhas Plateau was a large igneous province (LIP) made entirely of oceanic crust.

[10] The Agulhas Plateau is the remaining core of a large-scale volcanism that started in the Lazarev Sea (today off Antarctica) with the emplacement of the Karoo basalts 184 Ma.

[11] This process continued with the formation of the Mozambique Ridge (MOZR)-Agulhas Plateau LIP which was active in phases between 140 and 95 Ma.

[5] The South Atlantic Ocean started to open-up 130 Ma when the Falkland Plateau moved westwards along what was becoming the Agulhas-Falkland fracture zone (AFFZ).

In the wake of the Falkland Plateau, during the Cretaceous quiet interval, first the Natal Valley formed, then the Transkei Basin, a process completed 90 Ma.

About 94 Ma the main eruption ended and seafloor spreading detached the NEGR and MR from the AP.