9633725 Karson Most of the ocean crust forms by the eruption of lavas on the sea floor and the injection of lava into existing crust. We can not observe this process, but we can study the rocks affected by this process in ophiolites, in drill holes into the ocean crust, and in faulted sections of ocean crust. The Hess Deep, in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, is the best example of the last type of locality for fast spreading ocean ridges. Two separate teams of scientists have examined this section of ocean crust, but they interpreted the observations quite differently. The proponenets wish to examine a broad section of the Hess Deep crust to determine if it forms by episodes of crustal growth followed by periods of faulting.
