Ophiolites

Ophiolites are tectonically emplaced successions of mafic and

ultramafic rocks that are considered to represent fragments of oceanic or
back-arc basin crust (Coleman, 1977; Moores, 1982).

An ideal ophiolite includes from bottom to top the following units (Figure):
1 ultramafic tectonite (generally harzburgites)
2 layered cumulate gabbros and ultramafic rocks
3 non-cumulate gabbros, diorites and plagiogranites
4 sheeted diabase dykes
5 pillowed basalts.

Overlying this succession in many ophiolites are abyssal or/and pelagic

sediments or arc-related volcaniclastic sediments. Due to faulting or other
causes, the idealized ophiolite succession is rarely found in the geologic
record.
Instead, one or more of the ophiolite units are missing or they have been
dismembered by faulting and occur as blocks in a tectonic melange.
Ophiolites are emplaced in arcs or collisional orogens by three major mechanisms
(Figure 3.4) (Dewey and Kidd, 1977; Cawood and Suhr, 1992):

1 Obduction or thrusting of oceanic lithosphere onto a passive continental margin

during a continental collision

2 splitting of the upper part of a descending slab and obduction of a thrust sheet onto
a former arc

3 addition of a slab of oceanic crust to an accretionary prism in an arc system.

 Characteristic features of granitoids
Features Mantle-type Igneous-type Meta-Sedimentary Anorogenic and/or
Sources-type Alkaline-type
Average chemical composition of continental
and oceanic crust
Mineral and energy deposits

Plate tectonics provides a basis for understanding the distribution and origin of
mineral and energy resources in space and time (Rona, 1977; Sawkins, 1990).

The occurrence of energy and mineral deposits can be related to plate tectonics in
three ways:

1. Geological processes driven by energy liberated at plate boundaries control the

formation of energy and mineral deposits,

2. Deposits form in specific tectonic settings, which are controlled by plate

tectonics, and

3. Reconstruction of fragmented supercontinents can be used in exploration for new

mineral and energy deposits.
Summary of major mineral and
energy deposits by tectonic setting