The ophiolite rock suite, a characteristic sequence of ultramafic and mafic rocks (peridotite, gabbro, sheeted dikes, and pillow basalts capped by deep-sea sediments) representing obducted (thrust onto continental crust) fragments of oceanic lithosphere and upper mantle, is a diagnostic marker of ancient plate boundaries, specifically marking the location of former ocean basins that have been consumed by subduction and the suture zones where continental blocks subsequently collided.
Ophiolites represent slices of oceanic crust and upper mantle that have been tectonically emplaced (obducted) onto continental margins during subduction and continental collision processes, rather...
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