The Ligurian Ophiolites: a journey through the building and evolution of slow spreading oceanic lithosphere
Goldschmidt Conference - Florence, 2013
The ligurian ophiolites constitute an accessible and unique window to track the opening and evolution of slow-spreading oceanic lithosphere. The internal ligurian ophiolites consist of km-scale gabbroic bodies intruded into depleted mantle peridotites and bear remarkable structural and compositional similarities to oceanic lithosphere from slow and ultra-slow spreading ridges. The external ligurian ophiolites are associated with continental crust material and include mantle sequences retaining a subcontinental lithospheric origin. This field trip explores two gabbro-peridotite associations from the internal ligurian ophiolites: i) the Bracco-Levanto ophiolite, which includes a km-scale gabbroic body recalling the oceanic core complexes from modern spreading centres (e.g. the Atlantis Massif, Atlantic Ocean); ii) the Scogna-Rocchetta Vara ophiolite, which lacks the basalt layer similar to the nonvolcanic sections from Atlantic and Indian oceans. The peridotites and the gabbros from both these ophiolites record a composite history involving deformation and alteration from high temperature to seafloor conditions. The field excursion also explores peridotite bodies from the external ligurian ophiolites, representing a nice example of MORB-type pyroxenite-bearing mantle.
DOI 10.3301/GFT.2014.06