OMAN DRILLING

Two-thirds of Earth's surface is made up of oceanic crust, which forms at mid-ocean ridges and is recycled into the underlying mantle via subduction at convergent plate boundaries. During each phase of its 200 million year lifecycle the oceanic crust plays a key role in global geochemical cycles, including the carbon cycle. The inaccessibility of the present-day seafloor makes it logistically difficult to study. However, fragments of ancient oceanic lithosphere (crust + uppermost mantle) that have been tectonically emplaced on continental margins provide access to complete cross-sections of seafloor. These exposed sections of oceanic lithosphere are called ophiolites. The Samail Ophiolite, in Oman and the United Arab Emirates, is the largest, best-exposed section of oceanic lithosphere in the World... The Oman Drilling Project (OmanDP) is an international scientific research project in collaboration with Sultan Qaboos University, Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources..

Primary location: United Kingdom