Oceanic crust Oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of a tectonic plate. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramafic cumulates. The crust overlies the solidified and uppermost layer of the mantle. The crust and the solid mantle layer together constitute oceanic lithosphere. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium. It is thinner than continental crust, or sial, generally less than 10 kilometers thick; however it is denser,
S-layer into regular monomolecular arrays in solution and at interfaces, such as solid supports, the air-water interface, lipid films, liposomes, emulsomes, nanocapsules, nanoparticles or micro beads. S-layer crystal growth follows a non-classical pathway in which a final refolding step of the S-layer protein is part of the lattice formation. Native S-layer proteins have already been used three decades ago in the development of biosensors and ultrafiltration membranes. Subsequently, S-layer fusion proteins with specific functional domains (e.g. enzymes, ligands, mimotopes, antibodies or antigens) allowed to investigate completely new strategies for functionalizing surfaces in the life sciences, such as in the development of