Ever since the inception of Wegener’s Continental Drift and ensuing plate tectonics, the Earth’s crust has been described using a bimodal classification: oceanic versus continental. However, after decades of advances in subsurface imaging, it is clear this is an over-simplification. The crust offshore may be hyperextended and/or extensively intruded continental crust, and continental microplates may be common.
Recent advances in geophysical imaging, dredging and drilling-based exploration have evidenced features like dykes, sills, and Seaward-Dipping Reflectors and tectonic structures such as folds, brittle faults, and shear zones, revealing details of large crustal transects offshore.
We welcome contributions from all fields of geoscience that relate to the extent of continental, oceanic, and hybrid crust beneath continental shelves and in the oceans. Contributions may be based on observations, numerical modelling or theory, and may derive from any part of the world. We also welcome contributions focusing on the long-term processes from orogenesis to rifting and transform faulting, and bring new perspectives to disputed areas.