On silica activity and serpentinization

Serpentinites have the lowest silica activity of common crustal rocks. At the serpentinization front, where olivine, serpentine, and brucite are present, silica activities (relative to quartz) are of the order of 10(-2.5) to 10(-5), depending on the temperature. Here we argue that this low silica activity is the critical property that produces the unusual geochemical environments characteristic of serpentinization. The formation of magnetite is driven by the extraction of silica from the Fe3Si2O5(OH)(4) component of serpentine, producing extremely reducing conditions as evinced by the rare iron alloys that partially serpentinized peridotites contain. The incongruent dissolution of diopside to form Ca2+, serpentine, and silica becomes increasingly favored at lower T, producing the alkalic fluids characteristic of serpentinites. The interaction of these fluids with adjacent rocks produces rodingites, and we argue that desilication is also part of the rodingite-forming process. The low silica activity also explains the occurrence of low-silica minerals such as hydrogrossular, andradite, jadeite, diaspore, and corundum in serpentinites or rocks adjacent to serpentinites. The tendency for silica activity to decrease with decreasing temperature means that the presence of certain minerals in serpentinites can be used as indicators of the temperature of serpentinization. These include, with decreasing temperature, diopside, andradite and diaspore. Because the assemblage serpentine + brucite marks the lowest silica activity reached in most serpentinites, the presence and distribution of brucite, which commonly is a cryptic phase in serpentinites, is critical to interpreting the processes that lead to the hydration of any given serpentinite.