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Science 9 September 1994:
Vol. 265. no. 5178, pp. 1563 - 1565
DOI: 10.1126/science.265.5178.1563
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Articles

Rapid Emplacement of Young Oceanic Lithosphere: Argon Geochronology of the Oman Ophiolite

Bradley R. Hacker 1

1 Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

40Ar/39Ar dates of emplacement-related metamorphic rocks beneath the Samail ophiolite in Oman show that cooling to <525°C occurred within sim1 million years of igneous crystallization of the ophiolite. This unexpectedly short time span and rapid cooling means that old, cold continental or oceanic lithosphere must have been adjacent to the ophiolite during spreading and then been thrust beneath the ophiolite almost immediately afterward.

Submitted on April 22, 1994
Accepted on July 21, 1994


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Eye-to-eye with a mega-sheath fold: A case study from Wadi Mayh, northern Oman Mountains.
M.P. Searle and G.I. Alsop (2007)
Geology 35, 1043-1046
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Contrasting Cooling Rates in the Lower Oceanic Crust at Fast- and Slow-spreading Ridges Revealed by Geospeedometry.
L. A. Coogan, G. R. T. Jenkin, and R. N. Wilson (2007)
J. Petrology 48, 2211-2231
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Timing of subduction zone metamorphism during the formation and emplacement of Troodos and Baer Bassit ophiolites: insights from 40Ar 39Ar geochronology.
G. H.-N. CHAN, J. MALPAS, C. XENOPHONTOS, and C.-H. LO (2007)
Geological Magazine 144, 797-810
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Deep and High-temperature Hydrothermal Circulation in the Oman Ophiolite--Petrological and Isotopic Evidence.
D. BOSCH, M. JAMAIS, F. BOUDIER, A. NICOLAS, J.-M. DAUTRIA, and P. AGRINIER (2004)
J. Petrology 45, 1181-1208
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Dating the subduction of the Arabian continental margin beneath the Semail ophiolite, Oman.
C. J. Warren, R. R. Parrish, M. P. Searle, and D. J. Waters (2003)
Geology 31, 889-892
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Ophiolite obduction and the Samail Ophiolite: the behaviour of the underlying margin.
D. R. Gray and R. T. Gregory (2003)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 218, 449-465
   Abstract »    PDF »
Subduction zone polarity in the Oman Mountains: implications for ophiolite emplacement.
M. P. Searle, C. J. Warren, D. J. Waters, and R. R. Parrish (2003)
Geological Society, London, Special Publications 218, 467-480
   Abstract »    PDF »
Subduction zone metamorphism during formation and emplacement of the Semail ophiolite in the Oman Mountains.
M. P. Searle, M. P. SEARLE, and J. COX (2002)
Geological Magazine 139, 241-255
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
U-Pb zircon ages from the Spontang Ophiolite, Ladakh Himalaya.
R. B. Pedersen, R. B. PEDERSEN, M. P. SEARLE, and R. I. CORFIELD (2001)
Journal of the Geological Society 158, 513-520
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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