Pattern of Uplifted Islands in the Main Ocean Basins.
Most uplifted islands lie in one of three types of tectonic location: on mid-ocean ridges; between 200 and 750 km on the convex side of island arcs; and along a great circle across the southern Pacific, which may be a fault. Since the usual habit of islands is to subside, these islands may owe their uplift to their special tectonic positions. The regularity of this pattern of uplift supports the view that in the earth an elastic surface layer rests upon a plastic or viscous substratum.
Wilson
J T
JT