Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 28, 2026

Oceanisation

Oceanisation, or oceanization, is the process of formation of an ocean after continental rifting. The oceanisation is marked by the accretion of oceanic basalts between the drifting continental blocks and the incursion of marine waters and species in the rift basin. According to John Frederick Dewey in the 1960s the idea of continental drift was different to that of oceanisation which was "the mysterious metasomatism or transformation of continental crust into oceanic crust".

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Stages of the oceanisation process through continental rifting source ↗

Oceanisation, or oceanization, is the process of formation of an ocean after continental rifting. The oceanisation is marked by the accretion of oceanic basalts between the drifting continental blocks and the incursion of marine waters and species in the rift basin.12 According to John Frederick Dewey in the 1960s the idea of continental drift was different to that of oceanisation which was "the mysterious metasomatism or transformation of continental crust into oceanic crust".3

References

References

  1. Abbate, Ernesto. Oceanisation processes and sedimentary evolution of the Northern Apennine ophiolite suite: a discussion. 1994.
  2. Brunn, J. H. "Ophiolites, origins of orogens and oceanisation." Ophiolites Proceedings of the International Symposium, Cyprus. 1979.
  3. Dewey, John F. (2003). "Plate tectonics and geology, 1960 to today". In Oreskes, Naomi; Le Grand, Homer (eds.). Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth. p. 231.