Advances in Serpentinization

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Mineralogy and Biogeochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 June 2024) | Viewed by 2118

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Geosciences, College of the Environment and Life Sciences, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA
Interests: water-rock reactions; ultramafic rock systems; mineralogy; biogeochemistry; astrobiology

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Guest Editor
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60607, USA
Interests: geomicrobiology; extreme environments; astrobiology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Serpentinization occurs essentially and ubiquitously in ultramafic systems under sufficient geochemical conditions. This water–rock reaction generates complex mineral records of alteration with great potential to inform petrological and geochemical evolution through time. The implications for sustaining a deep, potentially polyextreme biosphere are significant. We invite submissions ranging from mineralogical interpretations in serpentinization-influenced settings, biogeochemical data sets collected from diverse ultramafic-hosted systems, and experimental and modeling results for related questions.

Dr. Dawn Cardace
Dr. D'Arcy Meyer-Dombard
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • serpentinization
  • geochemistry
  • mineralogy
  • petrology
  • water–rock interactions
  • habitability
  • gas flux

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 3448 KiB  
Article
The Role of Sulfuric Acid, Abiotic–Organic Acids, and Biotic Acids on Serpentinite Dissolution and Trace Metal Release
by Agnes R. Taylor, Amanda Albright Olsen, Elisabeth M. Hausrath, Brian J. Olsen and Dawn Cardace
Minerals 2024, 14(3), 256; https://doi.org/10.3390/min14030256 - 28 Feb 2024
Viewed by 1586
Abstract
Organic acids produced by biota have been shown to accelerate the dissolution of minerals, possibly creating biosignatures in either reacting solutions or the solid materials. We tested aqueous alteration of serpentinite in three groups of solutions: inorganic acids, organic acids created through abiotic [...] Read more.
Organic acids produced by biota have been shown to accelerate the dissolution of minerals, possibly creating biosignatures in either reacting solutions or the solid materials. We tested aqueous alteration of serpentinite in three groups of solutions: inorganic acids, organic acids created through abiotic processes (termed “abiotic–organics”), and organic acids created through biotic processes (termed “biotic acids”) over a range of temperatures relevant to conditions on Mars and Europa. A total of 48 batch reactor experiments were carried out at 0 °C, 22 °C, and 62 °C in 16 different acids at pH 2.6 over 28 days. Additional experiments were conducted in sulfuric acid solutions to assess aqueous alteration in sulfate-rich environments. These results show that biotic acids accelerate serpentinite dissolution compared to the control inorganic acid, whereas abiotic–organic acids have little or no effect. Sulfuric acid enhances serpentinite dissolution over nitric acid. Secondary precipitates found in the presence of biotic acids were consistently enhanced in Mn, Ti, and W. We propose that these preferentially released elements and secondary minerals may be potential biosignatures. We also show that the release of the rock-forming elements Mg and Si is correlated with stability constants for the metal–acid aqueous complex, providing a possible mechanistic interpretation of the observed results. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Serpentinization)
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