oceanisation
{{short description|Formation of an ocean after continental rifting}}
Oceanisation, or oceanization, is the process of formation of an ocean after continental rifting. The oceanisation is marked by the accretion of oceanic basalts between the drifting continental blocks and the incursion of marine waters and species in the rift basin.Abbate, Ernesto. Oceanisation processes and sedimentary evolution of the Northern Apennine ophiolite suite: a discussion. 1994.Brunn, J. H. "Ophiolites, origins of orogens and oceanisation." Ophiolites Proceedings of the International Symposium, Cyprus. 1979. According to John Frederick Dewey in the 1960s the idea of continental drift was different to that of oceanisation which was "the mysterious metasomatism or transformation of continental crust into oceanic crust".{{Cite book |title=Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth |last=Dewey |first=John F. |year=2003 |pages=231 |editor-last=Oreskes |editor-first=Naomi |chapter=Plate tectonics and geology, 1960 to today |editor-last2=Le Grand |editor-first2=Homer}}