Iron oxidation and porosity generation in serpentinized abyssal peridotite

Abstract

Serpentinization, the water-driven alteration of olivine-rich rocks, is a fundamental process contributing to planetary habitability and the maintenance of rock-hosted life on Earth. Serpentinization generates molecular hydrogen via the reduction of water and the coupled oxidation of Fe, which partitions into serpentine, brucite and magnetite. Magnetite formation controls the magnetic properties of serpentinites, and researchers have highlighted a link between increasing magnetic susceptibility and decreasing density of peridotites with increasing degree of serpentinization. Several analytical and theoretical studies have suggested that these increases in magnetization and decreases in density are accompanied by increasing porosity. Here, we investigate the potential correlation between porosity generation and serpentinization by analyzing the geochemical composition, Fe redox state, and porosity of 28 abyssal serpentinites recovered via drilling from the Atlantic Ocean subseafloor. Principal component analysis applied to the resulting dataset revealed no direct links between these properties, which we suggest results from the introduction of variability due to low-temperature seafloor weathering processes. Seafloor weathering can modify the porosity of serpentinites by dissolving brucite, and it affects the Fe redox state of serpentinites by inducing the replacement of magnetite by Fe(III) minerals like maghemite, hematite, and goethite. Moreover, we also suggest that ophiolitic serpentinites would not show direct correlations between porosity and Fe redox state, due to geochemical transformations induced by metamorphism and porosity reworking linked to deformation induced by tectonic stresses. Ultimately, our results demonstrate that weathering processes can significantly affect the chemical and physical properties of serpentinites and thus must be considered in geochemical and geophysical evaluations of these rocks.