Due to plate tectonics the hotspot was under different parts of the seabed in the past. It was initially centred under what is now the southern Coral Sea about 60 million years ago somewhere close to where the present Louisiade Plateau is located, so it has been suggested that the Louisiade Plateau might be a large igneous province created by the hotspot.[5] At the southern boundary of the plateau are volcanic rocks that appear in age and type to be able to be assigned to a Tasmantid volcano.[1] As the Indo-Australian Plate continued to drift northwards the hotspot became positioned in the northern Tasman Sea 20 million years ago, eventually reaching its current location east of Tasmania in response to ongoing northward plate motion.[3]
^Kalnins, L. M.; Cohen, B. E.; Fitton, J. G.; Mark, D. F.; Richards, F. D.; Barfod, D. N. (2015). "The East Australian, Tasmantid, and Lord Howe Volcanic Chains: Possible mechanisms behind a trio of hotspot trails". AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 2015. American Geophysical Union: DI41A–2591. Bibcode:2015AGUFMDI41A2591K.