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Updated: Nov 14, 2025

Kinematic History of a Salient-recess Junction Explored through a Combined Approach of Field Data and Analog Sandbox Modeling
Published on: August 5, 2016
Extrusion of subducted crust explains the emplacement of far-travelled ophiolites
Kristóf Porkoláb1, Thibault Duretz2, Philippe Yamato2,3
1Faculty of Geoscience, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands. kristof.porkolab@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Continental subduction below oceanic plates and associated emplacement of ophiolite sheets remain enigmatic chapters in global plate tectonics. Numerous ophiolite belts on Earth exhibit a far-travelled ophiolite sheet that is separated from its oceanic root by tectonic windows exposing continental crust, which experienced subduction-related high pressure-low temperature metamorphism during obduction. However, the link between continental subduction-exhumation dynamics and far-travelled ophiolite emplacement remains poorly understood. Here we combine data collected from ophiolite belts worldwide with thermo-mechanical simulations of continental subduction dynamics to show the causal link between the extrusion of subducted continental crust and the emplacement of far-travelled ophiolites. Our results reveal that buoyancy-driven extrusion of subducted crust triggers necking and breaking of the overriding oceanic upper plate. The broken-off piece of oceanic lithosphere is then transported on top of the continent along a flat thrust segment and becomes a far-travelled ophiolite sheet separated from its root by the extruded continental crust. Our results indicate that the extrusion of the subducted continental crust and the emplacement of far-travelled ophiolite sheets are inseparable processes.
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