Sheeted dyke complex

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. 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.

See also

Dike swarm

References

  1. Condie,K.C. 1997, Plate tectonics and crustal evolution.(4th edition),Butterworth-Heinamann 288p.
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