[6] With the help of seismic reflection and geodynamic reconstruction data, evidence was published to support the origin of the area back to the development of the lithospheric-scale Wallaby–Zenith Fracture Zone during the breakup of the two continental plates.
A recent study of the plateau conducted in 2008–2009 by Geoscience Australia surveyed 65,000 square kilometers of the area to gain a broader geologic understanding.
[7] A multibeam swath bathymetry along with 8000 line kilometers of high-resolution gravity, magnetic and Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler measurements were collected along with several rock and sediment samples.
[5] A total of eleven rock dredges, three sediment grabs, four box cores, one sea floor trawl, eight camera and temperature tows, conductivity (salinity) and depth profiles through the water column.
Rock samples collected during the survey were predominantly igneous and also siliceous in nature, thus supporting the notion once more of the volcanic origins of the Wallaby Plateau.