Ophiolite complex (belt), represents a case when the oceanic crust and upper mantle that have been thrust up onto continental crust and are now found in mountains, mainly along continental margins. Complete ophiolite suite consists from bottom to top of peridotite, gabbro, sheeted dikes, basalt with pillow lavas and sedimentary rocks. The peridotite is considered to be an upper mantle rock, while the remainder of the sequence consists of ocean crustal layers. As a consequence of its formation at spreading ridges, the ophiolites experience ocean-floor metamorphism characterized by assemblages of green-schist and amphibolite facies. In the Levant, two ophiolite complexes are exposed in the area of northwest Syria and the related Hatay province in present-day Turkey: the Kizilda massif in the southwestern part of the Amanos range in the Hatay, and the Ba`r-Bassit massif south of the lower Orontes plain. More faraway are those, forming the Troodos massif in southwestern Cyprus, the Mersin and Pozanti-Karsanti massifs in Cilicia, and the Kizilda massif in Hatay Province, Turkey (Whitechurch et al. 1984; Mikhailov and Ponikarov 1986; Tekeli and Erendil 1986; Constantinou G. 1995; Şenel 2002a;Şenel 2002b). The ultrabasic rocks, like peridotite, olivinite, dunite, or melagabbro, are also mentioned in the context of the Ophiolithic belts around the Mediterranean basin (Brinkman 1976:48―49; Dixon and Robertson 1984: 320―323, 455―460).
Bibliography for maps
Constantinou G. 1995 (revised). Geological Map of Cyprus 1:250000. Nicosia.
Mikhailov I. and Ponikarov V. 1986. Geological Map of Syria 1:1000000. Damaskus.
Şenel M.(editor) 2002a. Geological Map of Turkey 1:500000, Adana. Institute of Mineral Research and Exploration. Ankara, Turkey.
Şenel M. (editor) 2002b. Geological Map of Turkey 1:500000, Hatay. Institute of Mineral Research and Exploration. Ankara, Turkey.