the oldest oceanic crust can be found in the eastern mediterranean sea.
the oldest oceanic crust can be found in the eastern mediterranean sea.
where can the oldest oceanic crust be found?
the eastern mediterranean sea
the process of super-continent formation and destruction via repeated cycles of creation and destruction of oceanic crust is known as the wilson cycle.









































the oldest large-scale oceanic crust is in the west pacific and north-west atlantic — both are about up to 180-200 million years old. however, parts of the eastern mediterranean sea are remnants of the much older tethys ocean, at about 270 and up to 340 million years old.









































section::::magnetic anomalies.
oceanic crust
there are currently about 7 billion cubic kilometers of continental crust, but this quantity varies because of the nature of the forces involved. the relative permanence of continental crust contrasts with the short life of oceanic crust. because continental crust is less dense than oceanic crust, when active margins of the two meet in subduction zones, the oceanic crust is typically subducted back into the mantle. continental crust is rarely subducted (this may occur where continental crustal blocks collide and overthicken, causing deep melting under mountain belts such as the himalayas or the alps). for this reason the oldest rocks on earth are within the cratons or cores of the continents, rather than in repeatedly recycled oceanic crust; the oldest intact crustal fragment is the acasta gneiss at 4.01 ga, whereas the oldest oceanic crust (located on the pacific plate offshore of kamchatka) is from the jurassic (≈180 ma). continental crust and the rock layers that lie on and within it are thus the best archive of earth's history.
continental crust