The Oceanic Crust, from Accretion to Mantle Recycling

This text focuses on the oceanic crust and describes a number of well-studied oceanic areas. It discusses the models and hypotheses proposed to explain the formation of the ocean crust and its progression through hydrothermal evolution, ageing and subduction, with an emphasis on magmatic processes.

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The last 30 years have been marked by a huge international effort to explore the deep sea floor, especially the mid-ocean ridge system. Thanks to the continuous development of new technologies and tools such as high-resolution multibeam sonar systems, sid e-scan sonars, deep submersibles and high-performance geophysical tools, these efforts have resulted in a much better knowledge of the prominent immersed part of the Earth's crust. This book focuses on the oceanic crust of the present-day oceans and describes a number of well-studied oceanic areas, presenting examples from recent scientific studies. It also discusses the models and hypotheses proposed to explain the formation of the ocean crust and its progression through hydrothermal evolution, ageing and subduction, with deliberate emphasis on magmatic processes.