Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 32 Issue 01

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Volume 32, No. 1
Pages 138 - 149

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What Lies Beneath: The Formation and Evolution of Oceanic Lithosphere

By Katsuyoshi Michibayashi , Masako Tominaga, Benoît Ildefonse, and Damon A.H. Teagle 
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Article Abstract

Sampling the upper mantle via scientific ocean drilling remains elusive. Although the technologies required for drilling to the Moho still don’t exist, we have made significant progress over the last five decades in piecing together the complex geology of the oceanic crust. Here, we highlight key findings that reveal the architecture of oceanic crust and the thermal, physical, and chemical processes that are responsible for the growth and structure of the oceanic lithosphere. These advances result from enduring efforts to drill and collect downhole geophysical logs of oceanic crust near both slow and fast spreading ridges.

Citation

Michibayashi, K., M. Tominaga, B. Ildefonse, and D.A.H. Teagle. 2019. What lies beneath: The formation and evolution of oceanic lithosphere. Oceanography 32(1):138–149, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2019.136.

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