It came from the abyss! Studying the formation of our oceans in an unlikely place

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The GeoTalks webinar series is suitable for a diverse audience including the public, secondary school pupils and professionals.

Abstract
Hidden at the bottom of the oceans are the longest mountain ranges on Earth: a volcanic chain tens of thousands of kilometres long known as the mid-ocean ridges. These ridges are constantly creating new oceanic crust as the tectonic plates spread, and in the process are responsible for the formation of roughly two-thirds of the Earth's surface. Because they are so difficult to get to, we actually still know surprisingly little about these volcanic systems. Sometimes fragments of detached oceanic crust, known as ophiolites, are preserved on land and can give us clues about what is going on in the abyss. In this talk, I will explain what ophiolites are and what they can and can't tell us about the oceans.

Speaker
Maximiliaan Jansen

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