Elements Magazine Past Issues

Serpentinites, primarily composed of serpentine minerals and formed by hydration of peridotites, increasingly attract the attention of a wide range of scientists, including geophysicists, structural geologists, engineers, and astrobiologists. As serpentinites have wide stability fields, they form in a variety of environments, from the Earth’s surface to the interior of the mantle. They are important as reservoirs of water in the deep mantle and in the recycling of elements in subduction zones. Because of their physical properties, serpentinites play important roles in seismic activity and geodynamics, including earthquakes in subduction zones, rifting, oceanic spreading, strike-slip faulting, and the exhumation of deeply subducted rocks. Serpentinites are also economically important because obducted serpentinites contain more than half the world’s reserves of nickel. The formation of serpentinites is accompanied by the production of hydrogen and methane, producing unique ecosystems on the ocean floor. The generation of hydrocarbons during serpentinization is the essential first step in the origin of life on Earth and possibly other planets.