| Abstract: | If ophiolite complexes originate as oceanic crust and mantle generated by sea-floor spreading at oceanic ridges or in marginal basins, the tectonic emplacement (obduction) of ophiolite sheets and slices must involve some form of decoupling of oceanic lithosphere prior to emplacement and the expulsion of relatively dense oceanic rocks onto lighter continental rocks. The major problems are the mechanism by which this decoupling takes place, the extent to which the decoupling fractures penetrate the entire lithosphere, and the mechanism and geometry of the tectonic emplacement process, that is — the extent to which compressional versus gravity-sliding mechanisms predominate. Several writers (Coleman, 1971; Stevens, 1970; Church and Stevens, 1971; Temple and Zimmerman, 1969; Dewey and Bird, 1970, 1971; Williams, 1971) have discussed these obduction problems and offered various kinds of solution. These solutions, among others, are discussed in this paper. It is concluded that several convergent plate-margin mechanisms may be responsible for ophiolite obduction, none of which involve gravity sliding. |
