Draft:Ocean Plate Stratigraphy

Ocean Plate Stratigraphy is a term that refers to the sequence of volcanic and sedimentary rocks forming the upper part of the oceanic lithospheric plate. This term was introduced by Japanese geologists in 1990 (originally as Oceanic Plate Stratigraphy). The rocks present in the Ocean Plate Stratigraphy vary slightly depending on the geological period of their formation. The Phanerozoic Ocean Plate Stratigraphy typically contains, from the bottom to the top, pillow lavas, a thick sequence of pelagic bedded chert and carbonates, hemipelagic shales and mudstones, all of which are covered by sedimentary rocks of turbidity currents. In contrast, the Precambrian Ocean Plate Stratigraphy contains a significantly thinner layer of chert, which is supplemented or replaced by banded iron formations in the Paleoproterozoic and Archean sequences.