Serpentine alteration as source of high dissolved silicon and elevated δ30Si values to the marine Si cycle

Sonja Geilert (), Patricia Grasse, Klaus Wallmann, Volker Liebetrau and Catriona D. Menzies
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Sonja Geilert: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Patricia Grasse: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Klaus Wallmann: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Volker Liebetrau: GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel
Catriona D. Menzies: Durham University, Science Laboratories

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Serpentine alteration is recognized as an important process for element cycling, however, related silicon fluxes are unknown. Pore fluids from serpentinite seamounts sampled in the Mariana forearc region during IODP Expedition 366 were investigated for their Si, B, and Sr isotope signatures (δ30Si, δ11B, and 87Sr/86Sr, respectively) to study serpentinization in the mantle wedge and shallow serpentine alteration to authigenic clays by seawater. While serpentinization in the mantle wedge caused no significant Si isotope fractionation, implying closed system conditions, serpentine alteration by seawater led to the formation of authigenic phyllosilicates, causing the highest natural fluid δ30Si values measured to date (up to +5.2 ± 0.2‰). Here we show that seafloor alteration of serpentinites is a source of Si to the ocean with extremely high fluid δ30Si values, which can explain anomalies in the marine Si budget like in the Cascadia Basin and which has to be considered in future investigations of the global marine Si cycle.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18804-y

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