Heard Island is a subantarctic volcanic island in the southern Indian Ocean and includes Australia’s only active volcano, Big Ben (2813 m high, 18 km diameter). The most recent eruption of lava at Big Ben occurred in November 2020. Heard Island is the southernmost subaerial exposure of the Kerguelen Plateau, a mainly submerged large igneous province formed as a result of the activity of the Kerguelen plume over the last 130 Myrs. Using published and unpublished data and reports, modern satellite images, and private and public rock collections, we produced a new geological map of Heard Island supplemented by new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar isotopic ages. The volcanoes on Heard Island have been constructed on a ~ 300-m-thick platform of 10–5-Myr-old submarine volcaniclastic rocks known as the Drygalski Formation, now exposed above sea level. The Drygalski Formation is underlain by the Oligocene Laurens Peninsula Limestones. Exposed Big Ben lavas are dominated by basanite, basalt, and trachybasalt compositions. Two Big Ben lavas were dated at 11.1 ± 1.1 ka and 23.9 ± 2.1 ka, expanding the range of ages previously reported for nonhistorical lavas from Big Ben (356 ± 51–33 ± 52 ka). Sector collapse occurred on Big Ben prior to the formation of the current eruptive centre, Mawson Peak (likely after 23 ± 16 ka). Laurens Peninsula lies to the west of Big Ben and consists of trachyte and basanite lavas and domes. Laurens Peninsula lavas have ages in the range 5.1 ± 3.5 to 76.6 ± 5.5 ka. Young basaltic cones are located around the coast of Heard Island and range in age from 1.9 ± 3.8 to 13.3 ± 4.1 ka. Heard Island is a relatively small volcanic edifice with a low average magma discharge rate (~0.0002 km³/yr) when compared with other intraplate basaltic volcanic islands.

希尔德岛是印度洋南部的一个亚极南极火山岛，包括澳大利亚唯一的活火山大本钟（高2813 m，直径18 km）。大本钟的熔岩最近一次喷发发生在2020年11月。希尔德岛是克格伦高原最南端的海底曝露，这是一个主要被淹没的大火成岩省，这是由于最近130迈尔山脉上的克格伦羽流活动而形成的。利用已发布和未发布的数据和报告，现代卫星图像以及私人和公共岩石收藏，我们绘制了希德岛的新地质图，并添加了新的⁴⁰ Ar / ³⁹Ar同位素年龄。希尔德岛上的火山建在厚约300米的10-5年前的海底火山碎屑岩石上，该岩石被称为Drygalski组，现已暴露在海平面以上。Drygalski地层由渐新世的Laurens半岛石灰岩支撑。裸露的大笨钟熔岩主要由玄武岩，玄武岩和曲折玄武岩组成。两次大本钟熔岩的年代分别为11.1±1.1 ka和23.9±2.1 ka，扩大了以前报道的大本钟非历史性熔岩的年龄范围（356±51–33±52 ka）。在大本钟形成当前的火山爆发中心莫森峰之前，曾发生部门崩溃（可能在23±16 ka之后）。劳伦斯半岛（Laurens Peninsula）位于大本钟（Big Ben）的西部，由曲奇和玄武岩熔岩和圆顶组成。劳伦斯半岛熔岩的年龄范围为5.1±3.5至76.6±5.5 ka。年轻的玄武岩锥位于希德岛（Heard Island）海岸附近，年龄范围从1.9±3.8到13.3±4.1 ka。希尔德岛是一个相对较小的火山大厦，平均岩浆排放率较低（〜0.0002 km³ / yr）与其他板内玄武岩火山岛相比。