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,
Innovation and Its Discontents current debate about patents in historical terms, citing both times when patents were freely granted as royal favors, such as the Elizabethan era in England, as well as times when patents were impossible to obtain, or in the case of the Netherlands in the 1830s, completely abolished. Innovation and Its Discontents Innovation and Its Discontents: How Our Broken Patent System Is Endangering Innovation and Progress, and What To Do About It is a book () by Adam B. Jaffe and Josh Lerner. Princeton University Press published the book in 2004. The authors of the book outline changes made to the