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Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, Deacon Laboratory, Brook Road, Wormley, Godalming, Surrey GU8 SUB, UK
Conventional studies of oceanis structure and evolution are inevitably hampered by the difficulties with sampling the crust in the third dimension. Remote sensing of surficial structure, topography and morphotectonics has become easier and of higher resolution with the advent of more sophisticated techniques such as GLORIA long range sidescan sonar, as well as multibeam swath bathymetric mapping systems. Subsurface studies, however, have enjoyed less of this progress, and although deep drilling, electromagnetic surveys and deep seismic techniques still provide some measure of understanding below the seafloor, these data are few and relatively widely spaced. The integration of studies of ophiolite, therefore, can offer the marine community the benefits of a vast body of knowledge with regard to deeper structure and crustal compositions, which is unattainable in the deep sea. In turn, many of the regional and detailed structures which have been recently identified in active mid-ocean spreading systems, such as ridge segmentation patterns and ridge axis discontinuities, now form a significant contribution to recent studies of ophiolite complexes. The complementary work of the two schools is clear and ripe for development.
