Sheeted dyke complex

Sheeted dyke complex of the Lizard ophiolite in Cornwall, England

A sheeted dyke complex or sheeted dike complex is a normal component of an ophiolite, a piece of oceanic crust that has been emplaced within a sequence of continental rocks.[1] In the original formation environment below the sea floor the dykes acted as feeders for the overlying sequence of extrusive rocks, typically pillow lavas forming a layer of the oceanic crust [2]. As each injection of a dyke represents one increment of seafloor spreading, each dyke was normally intruded into earlier dykes. The dykes are typically dolerites but plagiogranites (trondhjemites) often form a significant part of the complex.

Sheeted dykes have taken form in the crack of continental crust.

See also

Dike swarm

References

  1. ^ Condie,K.C. 1997, Plate tectonics and crustal evolution.(4th edition),Butterworth-Heinamann 288p.
  2. ^ Karson, Jeffrey A. (2019), Srivastava, Rajesh K.; Ernst, Richard E.; Peng, Peng (eds.), "From Ophiolites to Oceanic Crust: Sheeted Dike Complexes and Seafloor Spreading", Dyke Swarms of the World: A Modern Perspective, Springer Geology, Springer Singapore, pp. 459–492, doi:10.1007/978-981-13-1666-1_13, ISBN 9789811316661, retrieved 2019-09-24

This page was last updated at 2019-11-16 04:24 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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