Symposium on ophiolite genesis and evolution of oceanic lithosphere

Abstract

The recently published Special Publication No 49 of the Geological Society of London The Geology and Tectorlics of the Oman Region edited by A. H. F. Robertson, M. P. Searle and A. C. Ries (Feb. 1990) resulted largely from a six year AMOCO-funded project concentrating mainly on the structure, strat atigraphy and sedimentology of the platform margin and basin sediments beneath the Semail ophiolite. This study, and more particularly the BRGM-French project (1982–1990) formed the basis of the ophiolite conference. It was held at the Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman, 7–18 January 1990, and was the first, major, international geological conference to be held in Oman. Over 300participants from 27 countries attended. Since the classic work of Glennie et al. (1974) and the Shell team, the Semail ophiolite in the Oman Mountains has been widely regarded as the largest, best exposed and most spectacular example of an obducted ophiolite complex anywhere in the world. Subsequent field projects, including the Open University Oman Ophiolite project (1975–1985) summarized by Lippard et al. (1986) and the University of California-USGS project (1977–1979) published in a special issue of Journal of Geophysical Research (1981) vol. 86 , concentrated mainly on the Semail ophiolite complex. Since 1982, the Bureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM) have remapped large areas of the central and southern mountains and 13 maps at 1: 100,OOO scale have been published. Together with new detailed studies of the Semail ophiolite, some of the French teams’ results have been published in a