Fossil oceanic core complexes recognized in the blueschist metaophiolites of Western Alps and Corsica

Tethyan ophiolites show an apparent poorly organized association of ultramafic and mafic rocks. By contrast to the complete mantle-crustal sections of Semail-type ophiolite sheets, Tethyan ophiolites are characterized by a smaller amount of mafic rocks (gabbros and basalts), by the absence of any sheeted dyke complex and by the frequent occurrence of oceanic sediments stratigraphically overlying mantle-derived peridotites and associated gabbroic...