The granite outcrops of the Seychelles Islands in the central Indian Ocean were amongst the earliest examples cited by Alfred Wegener as evidence for his continental drift theory.
At that time, East Gondwana, comprising Antarctica, Madagascar, India, and Australia, began to separate from Africa.
[5] Around 84 million years ago, oceanic crust started to form in the Mascarene Basin,[7] causing a rotation of the Seychelles/India land mass.
This continued until 66 million years ago when new rifting severed the Seychelles from India, forming the currently active Carlsberg Ridge.
The rift jump coincided with the maximum output of the Deccan Traps,[8] and volcanics found on the Seychelles Plateau have also been linked with this event.