Emerging Insights into Serpentinites

Dear Colleagues,

Serpentinisation, one of the most reducing geochemical processes, has attracted the interest of scientists with diverse disciplines and multilateral approaches. Serpentinites are commonly related to ultramafic lithologies on Earth and other planets of our solar system, with their conditions of formation ranging from the seafloor and/or on-land, present-day alteration to high pressure and temperature metamorphism. Over the past years, there has been an increasing interest in the scientific importance of serpentinites, since these rocks may shed light in the mechanism of subduction zones, tectonics related to their rheological properties, the circulation of fluids in the mantle and mantle wedges, the evolution of post- and syn-magmatic processes in arcs, and the genesis of ore deposits. Chrysotile, one of the serpentine polymorphs, belongs to asbestos, which is still a major industrial group of minerals although a well-known carcinogenic material. It may be naturally occurring in several places dominated by serpentinites, thus imposing potential risks to the residential health or it can be found in several construction aggregates and other industrial products or wastes, hence being an important adverse factor for the occupational health. Furthermore, serpentinites have long been considered potential rocks for the mineralization of CO₂ due to their global abundance and high content in Mg-silicates. Moreover, the remarkably reducing conditions of serpentinisation are capable of producing fluids enriched in hydrogen and methane, which are essential compounds for the generation of biomass and the metabolic energy of several microorganisms. Therefore, the study of serpentinites has intrigued numerous contemporary, multidisciplinary researches regarding the origin of life on Earth and other planets, the greenhouse gas budget and the synthesis of unconventional, abiotic hydrocarbons.

In this special issue, we invite papers dealing with all aspects related to serpentinites, in an effort to further highlight their significance in science, their industrial applications, and the related health hazards, as well as their potential use for CO₂ sequestration in order to counter the observed global climate change.

Dr. Basilios Tsikouras
Prof. Dr. Shoji Arai
Dr. Ioannis Rigopoulos
Guest Editors

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