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The process of super-continent formation and destruction via repeated cycles of creation and destruction of oceanic crust is known as the Wilson Cycle. The oldest large-scale oceanic crust is in the west Pacific and north-west Atlantic — both are about up to 180-200 million years old.
Surface map of oceanic crust showing the generation of younger (red) crust and eventual destruction of older (blue) crust. This demonstrates the crustal spatial evolution at the Earth's surface dictated by plate tectonics. Earth's crustal evolution involves the formation, destruction and renewal of the rocky outer shell at that planet's surface.
Ordovician ophiolite in Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland Chromitic serpentinite, Bay of Islands Ophiolite, Lewis Hills, Newfoundland. An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed, and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks.
This geological phenomenon, known as obduction, makes it a site for studying the processes of oceanic crust formation, subduction, and obduction. It covers an area of around 100,000 square kilometers, [3] and is a complete and well-preserved stratigraphic section. This includes layers from the Earth's upper mantle, along with cumulate rocks ...
The Zambales Ophiolite Complex (also called Zambales Ophiolite) is a large, well-preserved exposure of oceanic crust located in the western portion of Luzon Island, Philippines. [1] It is considered one of the best-preserved and most studied ophiolites , offering valuable insights into the formation and evolution of oceanic crust and the ...
Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust because it has less silicon and more of the heavier elements than continental crust. [11] [12] As a result of this density difference, oceanic crust generally lies below sea level, while continental crust buoyantly projects above sea level. Average oceanic lithosphere is typically 100 km (62 mi ...
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center The roughly 60,000-square-mile piece of crust has been hiding below the eastern Mediterranean Sea for about 340 million years (give or take 30 million years).
Magma rises through oceanic crust at mid-ocean ridges. Sheeted dyke complexes are most commonly found at divergent plate boundaries marked by the presence of mid-ocean ridges. These subaqueous mountain ranges are made up of newly created oceanic crust due to tectonic plates moving away from each other.