Based on the scientific results of ODP and focus on two typical examples, Ontong Java Plateau and Kerguelen Plateau, this paper summarizes the fundamental characteristics of oceanic plateaus, the role of mantle plumes in the formation of oceanic plateaus and some unresolved issues. As a major component of oceanic crust, oceanic plateaus are large regions of anomalously thick oceanic crust. Oceanic plateaus usually  occupy  large areas and erupt in an oceanic setting. They are composed predominantly of mafic to ultramafic rocks, and the rock types are mainly tholeiitic basalts. Most of these oceanic plateaus have homogeneous rock composition and erupted during one or two major pulses, which is attributed to melting in the large head of a starting mantle plume. Because of this close relationship between oceanic plateaus and mantle plume, oceanic plateaus has became the windows to the Earth's interior.