Abstract
The rock name Ophiolite originated in classic Greek, and introduced into Latin as Ophites, it means snake-stone from appearance of this rock. In the 16th century, AGRICOLA named this rock Serpentaria, and the name succeeded to Serpentine and Serpentinite of the present days. Ophiolite is proposed by French geologist BRONGNIART (1813) as term for serpentine rock proper. In 1905, German geologist STEINMANN proposed a concept of Ophiolithischen Massengesteine (and at later as Ophilolith) for a group of mafic and ultramafic rocks in association with deep sea sediments found in mountain chains. This concept was neglected by many geologists till to 1960's, and then revalued by BAILEY and Ar. HOLMES follow development of theories on ocean floor spreading.In the present, Ophiolite sequence is idealized and applied to many rock groups of the world as evidences of ancient oceanic crust. Historical development of ophiolite concept is reviwed. Problems concerning on Ophiolite sequence from view point of stratigraphic geology are discussed.
