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  • Oceanic Crust Age: Understanding the Average Lifespan
    Oceanic crust is continuously created at mid-ocean ridges and destroyed (recycled) at convergent boundaries. The age of oceanic crust, therefore, varies according to its distance from the mid-ocean ridge. Near the mid-ocean ridge, the crust is typically less than 1 million years old. Crust that is farther away from the ridge is progressively older. On average, the age of the Earth's oceanic crust is estimated to be about 70-80 million years.

    Here's a simplified breakdown of the average age of oceanic crust in different regions:

    - At the mid-ocean ridges: less than 1 million years

    - Within a few hundred kilometers from the mid-ocean ridges: < 20 million years

    - Pacific Ocean basin: ~100 million years (the oldest due to the large size and slower tectonic activity of the Pacific)

    - Atlantic Ocean basin: ~60-80 million years

    - Indian Ocean basin: ~70-100 million years

    It is important to note that these are just average age estimates, and there can be local variations and exceptions.

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