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An #ophiolite is a rock with a secret: it tells the story of an ocean that lived and died.
Ophiolites are pieces of crust and mantle that formed at #spreadingcenters below an ocean. Why do we find these rocks (black dots) in mountain belts (red)? 🧵
doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.…
Ophiolites are pieces of crust and mantle that formed at #spreadingcenters below an ocean. Why do we find these rocks (black dots) in mountain belts (red)? 🧵
doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.…
The #WilsonCycle describes how tectonic plates break apart, forming an ocean basin that grows around a spreading center. But the oceanic lithosphere is dense, and it eventually breaks and sink into the mantle. #Subduction closes the basin and the plates on either side collide.
Rocks that form at a #spreadingcenter have a distinctive sequence: sediments on top, then basalts that erupted underwater, then denser rocks crystallized from melted mantle, grading into mantle. You might find this sequence on land (an #ophiolite), but it formed under the ocean.
