• journal_title：Geology
• Contributor：Bernard W. Evans
• Publisher：Geological Society of America
• Date：2010-
• Format：text/html
• Language：en
• Identifier：10.1130/G31158.1
• journal_abbrev：Geology
• issn：0091-7613
• volume：38
• issue：10
• firstpage：879
• section：Articles

The serpentinization of peridotite operates according to one or the other, or a combination, of two end-member mechanisms. In low-temperature environments (50–300 °C), where lizardite is the predominant serpentine mineral, olivine is consumed by reaction with H₂O but its composition (Mg#) remains unchanged. Mg-rich lizardite, magnetite, and dihydrogen gas (±brucite) are products of the reaction. At higher temperatures (400–600 °C), rates of MgFe diffusion in olivine are orders of magnitude faster, with the result that the growth of Mg-rich antigorite can be accommodated by a compositional adjustment of olivine, eliminating the need to precipitate magnetite and evolve hydrogen. This latter end-member mechanism probably best reflects the situation in the forearc mantle wedge.