A general assumption about the geochemical behavior of phosphorus (P) is that it exists exclusively in +5 oxidation as phosphate. However, extremely reducing environments, other states such +3 may also be stable. Such environments—if prevalent globally—may determine planetary habitability, which part governed by nutrient availability, including availability element phosphorus. Here we show a ro...

Observations from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft established that Saturn’s moon Enceladus has an internal liquid ocean. Analysis of a plume ocean material ejected into space suggests alkaline hydrothermal vents are present on Enceladus’s seafloor. On Earth, such deep-sea harbour microbial ecosystems rich in methanogenic archaea. Here we use Bayesian statistical approach to quantify the probability m...

In the Appalachian Mountains of Vermont, USA, variably serpentinized ultramafic rocks mark Ordovician Taconic orogenic suture zone. These provide evidence for several alteration events that occurred during orogenesis. The largest these bodies occurs as a partially meta-dunite located in East Dover, Vermont. Whole-rock X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and electron microprobe data on samples are i...

Serpentinization is a widely observed hydration process in the earth’s crust. In this study, hydrothermal experiments were performed at different temperatures, times, and pH values to explore geochemical processes of serpentinization forsterite. The results indicated that forsterite converts serpentine after reacting with SiO2 200 °C 13 for 20 days system. X-ray diffraction patterns showed liza...

Uplifted ultramafic rocks represent an important vector for the transfer of carbon and reducing power from the deep subsurface into the biosphere and potentially support microbial life through serpentinization. This process has a strong influence upon the production of hydrogen and methane, which can be subsequently consumed by microbial communities. The Santa Elena Ophiolite (SEO) on the north...

Chromite oxidation during serpentinization of host peridotites is a well-documented process. Detailed compositional characterization chromites and Cr-rich spinels from three geotectonic settings provided the basis for this study, focused on comparison their patterns as means to evaluate relative mobility spinel components serpentinization-related in those different contexts, namely: (i) tectoni...

Serpentinization environments are key locations that support microbial communities by the abiogenic formation of reduced species associated with peridotite alteration. Here we studied partially serpentinized peridotites from Chimaera seeps (Turkey), an active continental serpentinization system vents highly methane-rich fluids, to investigate impact water-rock interaction on sulfide and metal m...