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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1984; v. 13; p. 255-268;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1984.013.01.21
© 1984 Geological Society of London

Ophiolite Emplacement and Obduction

Possible causes and consequences of upper mantle decoupling and ophiolite displacement

J. G. Spray

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EQ

The possible causes and consequences of tectonic decoupling within the oceanic upper mantle and the subsequent displacement of ophiolites are considered with specific reference to the petrology, chemistry and structure of the basal mantle tectonites of ophiolites and their metamorphic soles. Investigations of the basal peridotites provide information on high temperature-high pressure events that have occurred in the upper mantle and on its mechanical properties at depths <15 km, while metamorphic soles reveal the pressure-temperature regimes operating during and as a direct result of overthrusting. Currently available age data from several well-documented ophiolites reveal that ophiolite igneous crystallization and basal metamorphism are broadly contemporaneous, in keeping with the localized occurrence of granulite-facies sole assemblages. Theories on the formation of sub-ophiolite metamorphic rocks are reviewed and the process of ophiolite inception is reappraised. It is concluded that many ophiolites are tectonically decoupled along the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary and initially displaced as complete slices of hot, thin, immature lithosphere in close proximity to spreading centres.





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