Geologic and seismic velocity structure of the crust/ mantle transition in the Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex ( Canada).

Geological investigations of the Bay of Islands Ophiolite Complex show that while a typical layered ophiolite suite is present, the thickness of major lithologic units is extremely variable from place to place. The composition and internal structure of map-sale (km across) lithologic units as well as the contacts that bound them are laterally variable. Inferred velocity-depth functions of the crust/mantle ("Moho') transition reconstructed for this terrane as oceanic lithosphere suggest an extremely complex internal seismic structure. Although the types of geological features described are striking in ophiolites and are significant to the understanding of crustal accretion processes, many of them occur on such a small scale that they might go undetected in different types of seismic experiments in contemporary oceanic lithosphere.-from Authors