A melange is formed in the accretionary wedge as sediment and oceanic crust is scraped off the descending plate in a subduction zone. The melange comprises a strongly brecciated unit with large blocks of pre-existing rocks in a deformed fine grained matrix. Olistostromes are similar units but have a gravity sliding origin rather than a tectonic one. For a melange to be described as such it must be of mapable size, contain 'exotic' clasts (i.e. not derived from immediately adjacent units) and be matrix supported.
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GeologyRocks