What is Serpentinization in geology?
Serpentinization is a processes whereby rock (usually ultramafic) is changed, with the addition of water into the crystal structure of the minerals found within the rock. A common example is the serpentinization of peridotite (or dunite) into serpentinite (the metamorphic equivalent).
How does Serpentinization happen?
Serpentinization occurs when ultramafic rocks, enriched in the minerals olivine and orthopyroxene, react with water and are converted to rocks containing a suite of minerals dominated by serpentine.
Why is Serpentinization important to plate tectonics?
A serpentinized layer has the potential to become a decoupling zone between the oceanic crust and underlying lithosphere. Finally, along major strike-slip faults, serpentinites have been associated with fault creep, as well as low fault strength.
Why is it called serpentinite?
Serpentinite is a rock composed of one or more serpentine group minerals, the name originating from the similarity of the texture of the rock to that of the skin of a snake. The mineral alteration is particularly important at the sea floor at tectonic plate boundaries.
What is the meaning of Serpentinization?
: the process or state of alteration by which minerals (such as olivine) are converted into serpentine.
Why is Serpentinization important?
An important consequence of serpentinization is the production of heat. The process of serpentinization can provide heat to drive the Lost City hydrothermal system in two ways. The amount of heat produced is directly proportional to the amount of water that is taken up to form the mineral serpentine.
Where is serpentine mined?
Large deposits of serpentine can be found in the Ural Mountains of Russia, around Greece and Cyprus, and in the mountain ranges of New Zealand, Austria, France, Italy and the U.S.
What is the difference between serpentine and serpentinite?
Firstly, “serpentine” refers to a group of minerals, not a rock. Serpentinite is a metamorphosed version of rocks that make up oceanic crust after they are incorporated into subduction zones (plate boundaries where oceanic plates are thrust under continental plates).
What is serpentinite used for?
Serpentine is used mainly as a decorative stone or for ornamental objects. Serpentine gemstones have been used as a source of magnesium, in asbestos and for personal adornment or sculpture throughout history. Various serpentine minerals have even been used in architecture for thousands of years.
What is the meaning of serpentinization?
Why is olivine important to life?
What’s more, olivine is partly responsible for volcanic and tectonic activity on the surface, and can log a record of what’s happened on the surface and below it in the past – maybe even during the Archean eon, starting some 4 billion years ago.
Why is the Serpentine important to the subduction zone?
Serpentine contains ∼13 wt% H 2 O and is thus an important player in the global subduction zone water cycle and for inducing flux melting in the mantle wedge beneath subduction-related magmatic arcs ( Ulmer and Trommsdorff, 1995 ).
How does serpentinization reduce the power of the mantle?
The aqueous alteration of ultramafic rocks through serpentinization liberates mantle carbon and reducing power.
What kind of rocks are involved in serpentinization?
Serpentinization is an alteration process of low-silica ultramafic rocks, characteristic of the lower oceanic crust and upper mantle. These rocks are rich in the minerals olivine and pyroxene. 2). At low temperatures (< ~150 °C) the reaction results in extremely high pH, commonly above 10.
Where does serpentinization take place on the Earth?
Serpentinization occurs in a diverse range of locations on Earth, particularly where tectonic processes lead to the uplift and exposure of mantle materials. Additionally, serpentinization may occur in the deepest habitable portions of Earth’s subsurface, ultimately constrained by the depths of fluid circulation.