The effect of pH on rates of reaction and hydrogen generation during serpentinization

A series of three laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate how pH affects reaction pathways and rates during serpentinization. Two experiments were conducted under strongly alkaline conditions using olivine as reactant at 200 and 230°C, and the results were compared with previous studies performed using the same reactants and methods at more neutral pH. For both experiments, higher pH resulted in more rapid serpentinization of the olivine and generation of larger amounts of H(2) for comparable reaction times. Proportionally greater amounts of Fe were partitioned into brucite and chrysotile and less into magnetite in the experiments conducted at higher pH. In a third experiment, alkaline fluids were injected into an ongoing experiment containing olivine and orthopyroxene to raise the pH from circumneutral to strongly alkaline conditions. Increasing the pH of the olivine-orthopyroxene experiment resulted in an immediate and steep increase in H(2) production, and led to far more extensive reaction of the primary minerals compared to a similar experiment conducted under more neutral conditions. The results suggest that the development of strongly alkaline conditions in actively serpentinizing systems promotes increased rates of reaction and H(2) production, enhancing the flux of H(2) available to support biological activity in these environments. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Serpentinite in the Earth System’.