The Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) basalts are plagioclase-rich, while olivine and pyroxene are very few. The analyses of 41 samples reveal high FeO sup(T) (approx. 10-18 wt percent) and TiO sub(2) (approx. 1.4-2.7 wt percent) indicating a ferrobasaltic composition. The basalts have high incompatible elements (Zr 63-228 ppm; Nb approx. 1-5 ppm; Ba approx. 15-78 ppm; La approx. 3-16 ppm), a similar U/Pb (0.02-0.4) ratio as the normal mid-oceanic basalt (0.16 plus or minus 0.07) but the Ba/Nb (12.5-53) ratio is much larger than that of the normal mid-oceanic ridge basalt (approx. 5.7) and Primitive Mantle (9.56). Interestingly almost all of the basalts have a significant negative Eu anomaly (Eu/Eu*=0.78-1.00) that may have been a result of the removal of feldspar and pyroxene during crystal fractionation. These compositional variations suggest that the basalts were derived through fractional crystallization together with low partial melting of a shallow seated magma.