Recent geochemical, petrological and geophysical data have revised our picture of how the oceanic lithosphere is formed and what it represents for the solid earth.
The most recent developments and results in these different fields have underlined the strong heterogeneities in the structure and composition of the oceanic lithosphere, and have invoked processes such as melt/rock interactions at the asthenosphere- lithosphere transition, asthenospheric rejuvenation of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM), large scale movements of lithospheric fragments subducted and recycled in the convective mantle and the preservation of the geochemical characteristics of such fragments over long periods of time, in addition to the well-established process of depletion of the oceanic mantle lithosphere after MORB extraction.
In this session, we encourage contributions which investigate mantle xenoliths from oceanic islands, ophiolitic complexes and dredged and drilled material from the oceanic lithosphere (i.e. IODP) and cover the entire spectrum of geological sciences, from petrology, geochemistry, geophysical measurements to physical and thermodynamic modelling, mineral physics, experimental petrology and rock deformation studies.