evidence: Location - The "Scattered islands" (literal translation of "les Iles Éparses") stretch down the length of the Mozambique Channel, between the east coast of Africa and Madagascar. Glorieuses island (11.3°S) and Geyser bank, close to Mayotte, are in the north, Juan de Nova is in the center, adjacent to the Madagascar coast, and Bassas da India and Europa (22.4°S) are in the south. Description - They Iles Éparses are an administrative unit rather than a single geological unit, with the northern banks (Glorieuses and Geyser) likely being extensions of the Comoros archipelago, while the middle and southern islands are distinct geological features. Their geological history combines aspects of basaltic magma extruded through remnant fracture zones in the channel floor, as well as volcanic activity and the production of seamounts. In the north, Geyser and Glorieuses are likely extensions of the Comoros archipelago formed by a hotspot, and intermediate in age between Mayotte and volcanic activity in northern Madagascar (e.g. Montagne d’Ambre), about 10 my old. Oceanographically, the islands are bathed by the variable eddies of the Mozambique channel with resulting enhanced productivity driven by the eddies and their interactions with the continental slopes and island slopes, but there is strong differentiation from north to south. In the north, the "Glorioso Front" was christened for its proximity to Glorieuses island, and may mark the transition from the SEC to the waters of the channel.