Internal Structure of Uppermost Oceanic Crust Exposed on Macquarie Island: Implications for Seafloor Spreading Processes

Project aim

This project will exploit the unique exposures of the uppermost oceanic crust found on Macquarie Island as a window into the internal structure of the oceanic crust. The form of rock units and the way in which they are arranged on the Island will provide a means of understanding how they were assembled. This assembly occurred beneath a mid-ocean ridge spreading center, an area that can probably never be directly investigated. The general process by which this crust has formed is responsible for the creation of about 60% of the bedrock geology of the Earth. So, this investigation may yield insights into a first-order process on a planetary scale.