GEOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The oldest large-scale oceanic crust is in the west Pacific and north-west Atlantic-both are about up to 180-200 million years old. However, parts of the eastern Mediterranean Sea could be remnants of the much older Tethys Ocean, at about 270 and up to 340 million years old.

Detailed explanation-2: -The oldest patch of undisturbed oceanic crust on Earth may lie deep beneath the eastern Mediterranean Sea – and at about 340 million years old, it beats the previous record by more than 100 million years.

Detailed explanation-3: -The oldest seafloor is near the edges of continents or deep sea trenches and is less than 180 million years old. Since the oldest ocean crust is so much younger than the oldest continental crust, scientists realized that seafloor was being destroyed in a relatively short time.

Detailed explanation-4: -The farer away from the ridge the ocean crust is the older the crust is. The oldest crust is at edges of the ocean. One place where the crust is the oldest is at edge of a subduction zone. It is here that the oldest ocean crust is pushed under a continental crust and destroyed.

Detailed explanation-5: -Cratons are the oldest and most stable part of the continental lithosphere. These parts of the continental crust are usually found deep in the interior of most continents.