Serpentine Post Updated

I just updated my Serpentine: A Group of Minerals post from last summer with some new geoblogosphere links relating to fibrous and asbestiform minerals, including erionite, a zeolite group of minerals that can occur in acicular to fibrous mineral habits. The reason for the update is that the Mineralogical Society of America recently released their Proposed Position Statement on Asbestos, as reported on more thoroughly by Chuck Magee at Lounge of the Lab Lemming and Steven Schimmrich at Hudson Valley Geologist (links below).

• Erionite and Cancer in Cappadocia, Turkey (Olelog, November 5, 2010)


• Guest Post - Naturally Harmful Metals and Minerals (The Geology P.A.G.E., December 29, 2010)


• Concerns over erionite dust as cancer source (Arizona Geology, January 5, 2011)


• Mineralogical Society of America proposes a position statement on Asbestos (Lounge of the Lab Lemming, March 1, 2011)


• Asbestos (Hudson Valley Geologist, March 9, 2011)

I'm particularly amazed that any regulatory agency would use a length:width ratio of 3:1 to describe a mineral as fibrous. Plagioclase would therefore be fibrous much of the time (though certainly not asbestiform), as would these huge cave crystals of selenite.

A Back from the Road Update with some Oregon Serpentinite

I've been without a good or constant internet connection for a couple weeks, so am just now getting caught up on the California serpentinite issue (#CAserpentine). While out and about, I drove by some serpentinite in eastern Oregon, including the greenish hills above, which are west of John Day and east of Mt. Vernon on U.S. Route 26 where it overlaps with a short segment of U.S. Highway 395 (Google Maps). It appears that aggregate is being mined locally from these rocks, which overall consist of weakly to strongly serpentinized mafic and ultramafic rock (dunite, peridotite, gabbro, diabase).
If you stop at the Strawberry Mountains rest stop and overlook (which has an oversized covered wagon as a tribute to pioneers that traveled the Oregon Trail), you can examine and read about three large boulders of weakly serpentinized gabbro and diabase (Google Maps Street View). My photo shows a couple white to pale green, fibrous veinlets that I presume are made of chrysotile. The serpentinized boulders weren't very photogenic; someone had splattered red paint all over them. And I didn't get a picture of the plaque that told something about their geology; the sun angle was lousy or I was impatient (or both?).

In the meantime, I'm trying to get caught up on my serpentine link fest. If you notice any missing links, let me know. I'm not linking to SB 624 propoganda (just like they aren't linking to me).

Serpentine: A Group of Minerals

Last updated 28Apr2013 at 6:35 a.m. PDT

As a property owner in California, and as a geologist, I'm annoyed about the recent BS (SB 624) the state legislature is up to in trying to delete serpentine as the state rock. First of all, as many have pointed out, serpentine is not a rock, it's a mineral group: the Serpentine Group, AKA the Kaolinite-Serpentine Group according to mindat.org (shall we outlaw clay, also?). It is serpentinite (sometimes called serpentine or serpentine rock) that is a rock, the state rock of California – see Serpentine and Serpentinite from the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory.

Serpentinite, the rock, is commonly formed of antigorite, lizardite, and chrysotile – all of which are Serpentine Group minerals – and other non-serpentine-group minerals such as talc, chlorite, magnetite, magnesite, brucite, chromite, sometimes relict olivine or pyroxene, and sometimes quartz and calcite (usually as later veins). Other mineral associations (for example at New Idria) include montmorillonite, coalingite, hydromagnesite, nepouite, pecoraite, and trace amounts of tremolite. Besides being host to a unique flora that can survive the plant-harsh conditions of high Mg, Fe, Co, Cr, and Ni (along with relatively low amounts of plant nutrients like calcium and potassium), serpentinite bodies in California have been host to most of the state's mineral deposits of chromite, magnesite, and cinnabar, and possibly some of the state's nickel occurrences. Other trace element associations can include minor copper and platinum. Chromium is of the non-hexavalent type (USGS Open-file Report 95-831, Chapter 5).

Asbestos is not a single mineral, and in fact isn't the name of any defined mineral at all. Asbestiform is a particular mineralogical habit that some minerals take: long fibers often in veins or masses. Asbestiform and fibrous, as crystal forms, are similar, with asbestiform being a more extreme version of fibrous. More minerals have a fibrous habit (for example, siderite, malachite, gypsum, celestite, chalcedony) than have an asbestiform habit.

The word "asbestos" comes from the Latin and Greek asbestos, meaning "unquenchable" or "inextinguishable" – also see more about the etymology of asbestos at the Online Etymology Dictionary, at Asbestos: Changing the Name of a Quebec Town, and at Merriam-Webster Online. According to my mineralogy book – the Manual of Mineralogy (after James D. Dana), 21st Edition by Cornelis Klein and Cornelius S. Hurlbut, Jr., 1993 – asbestos minerals in natural form have a length to width ratio greater than 100:1. Also, the book defines the term "asbestiform" as referring to "minerals that are mined for asbestos and possess fibrousity typical of asbestos—that is with small fiber thickness, flexibility, and separability." Not just any old mineral can be called asbestos or be described as asbestiform.

This is what the EPA has to say about asbestos:

Asbestos is the name given to a number of naturally occurring fibrous minerals with high tensile strength, the ability to be woven, and resistance to heat and most chemicals. Because of these properties, asbestos fibers have been used in a wide range of manufactured goods, including roofing shingles, ceiling and floor tiles, paper and cement products, textiles, coatings, and friction products such as automobile clutch, brake and transmission parts. The Toxic Substances Control Act defines asbestos as the asbestiform varieties of: chrysotile (serpentine); crocidolite (riebeckite); amosite (cummingtonite/grunerite); anthophyllite; tremolite; and actinolite.

Five of the minerals listed above that have asbestiform versions are amphiboles: riebeckite, cummingtonite/grunerite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. The sixth mineral, chrysotile, is one of the Serpentine Group minerals. The asbestiform version of riebeckite is crocidolite, that of cummingtonite/grunerite is amosite. Anthophyllite is often but not always fibrous, and it is not always asbestiform. The EPA, nevertheless lists the mineral as "asbestos." The same is true for the minerals tremolite and actinolite (two end members of the tremolite-actinolite solid solution series, and to complicate things more mineralogically, both minerals form solid solution series with ferro-actinolite: tremolite–ferro-actinolite and actinolite–ferro-actinolite). Both tremolite and actinolite are commonly found in non-asbestiform habits, and consequently the asbestiform versions are sometimes referred to as "tremolite asbestos" and "actinolite asbestos," which seems to imply, incorrectly, that both minerals are entirely asbestiform.

Are we now going to take all samples of serpentine group minerals and any asbestiform minerals out of circulation, out of all teaching and personal rock and mineral collections? What?? Why? As Lab Lemming says (after pointing out that serpentine can be used for CO2 sequestration and that it prevents earthquakes by allowing faults to creep):

There are 20 forms of serpentine, only one of which is an asbestos mineral. The very dangerous amphibole asbestos minerals specifically mentioned in the bill are completely unrelated to serpentine.

The uproar about serpentinite, the rock, needs to die down: the legislature needs to back off. Otherwise one might think that the legislature was getting ready to fund the state of California (and themselves?) through litigation, rather than by any legitimate means.


GeoBlogosphere - Blogosphere Reports and Photos:
Photo of serpentinite (About.com: Geology - Metamorphic Rock Types gallery)

Monday Mineral: Serpentine (Outside the Interzone, January 19, 2009)

The Other California: Geology and our State Symbols (Geotripper, December 2, 2009)

Rock 365 : Day 74 : Serpentine #365photos (hypocentre's posterous, March 16, 2010)

The Other California: A Journey to the Center of the Earth (kind of...) (Geotripper, March 31)

Dire Threat to Benign State Rock (Updated) (About.com: Geology, June 19)

Unreasoned Fear of Serpents? We Geologists Need to Be Heard (Geotripper, June 24)

Losing Serpentine as the State Symbol of California? Why not educate instead? (Teaching the Earth Sciences, June 24)

CA SB 624 - Senator Gloria Romero's Bill based on BAD SCIENCE (Justin Zzyzx at The-Vug.com, unknown date)

Serpentinite Under Attack, Part 2 (About.com: Geology, June 30)

Libby and the Serpentine Killers (About.com: Geology, July 2)

Hiking up Big Rock Ridge (Literrata, July 2)

Something Doesn't Feel Right About This: The Serpentine Issue in California (Geotripper, July 2)

In defense of serpentine (Lounge of the Lab Lemming, July 3)

More on the asbestos dust-up (Lounge of the Lab Lemming, July 4)

Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: The Serpentine Issue in California (Geotripper, July 5)

Serpentine – SB 624, Senator Gloria Romero and ADAO (FakeMinerals.com, July 5)

Politics, California and serpentine (Eruptions, July 6)

Save Our State Rock...Serpentine Gets A Bad Rep! (AFMS- American Federation of Mineralogical Societies blog, July 6)

Down with serpentine; or, clueless in California (The Volcanism Blog, July 6)

Fear and Ignorance winning out over Education and Knowledge: Serpentine Bill Sailing on through Legislature (Geotripper, July 7)

First Of All, California, It’s Your State Rock And It’s Called Serpentinite (Maitri's VatulBlog, July 7)

California Senate to drop Serpentine as state rock because of asbestos ties (Halfway to Concord, July 8)

Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: The Serpentine Issue in California (Geotripper at Daily Kos, July 9)

A Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger and the California Legislature...About Serpentine!?! (Geotripper, July 9)

Wow...If I had a press secretary, would my assemblyperson call me? Update on the serpentinite issue in California (Geotripper, July 11)

Speak up for serpentine (Oakland Geology, July 11)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 1 (Geotripper, July 11)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 2 - And How Education is a Better Choice than a Press Secretary (Geotripper, July 12)

The Law Against Serpentine: The Attorneys' Arena (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, July 12)

In praise of green rocks (Active Margin, July 12)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 3 - Finding Beauty (Geotripper, July 13)

Save our serpentine! (California Dreaming - and the Reality, July 13)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 4: What can our state rock tell us about geologic processes on Mars? (Geotripper, July 14)

Geology Fail: California Moves to Disown State Rock (Discover Magazine, Discoblog, July 14)

An Introduction to Asbestos, clicks through to the next article (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, July 14)

Asbestos in a Nutshell: This miracle material has taught us some lessons (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, July 14)

Standing up for serpentinite (Highly Allochthonous, July 15)

A Serpentine-Inspired Rant (Haronic Tremors, July 15)

Serpentine Collecting Spots around California (map by Justin Zzyzx, July 15)

Unscientific California: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Serpentine and Biodiversity (Discover Magazine, The Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum, July 15, 2010)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes 5: Doing What I Like to Do, and An Invitation! (Geotripper, July 16)

Calling on Californians: West Coast Represent! (Discover Magazine, The Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum, July 18, 2010)

California's Unique Serpentinite Landscapes: Eldridge Moores and California's State Rock (Geotripper, July 18)

What California most needs right now -- a defrocking campaign! (Classical Values, July 23)

Serpentinite Adored (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, July 23)
SB 624 Senator Romero’s Lies (and more lying liars that tell them) (FakeMinerals.com, July 24)

Fighting For California's State Rock: What's Wrong With Senate Bill 624? (Geotripper, July 25)

Fighting For California's State Rock: What's Right With Serpentine? (Geotripper, July 25)

At home with serpentine (Oakland Geology, July 27)

My Serpentine Letter (Oakland Geology, July 28)

Rock in the limelight: serpentinite (Angelina Souren's Earth Blog, July 29)

My letter opposing SB 624: Serpentin(it)e (Perrykid's Posts, July 29)

An Update on the State Rock Debate in California (Geotripper, August 1)

San Francisco suiseki (Oakland Geology, August 1)

Serpentinite - California's State Rock (Gigapan by Ron Schott, August 1)

The Power of Words: The Debate over Serpentine in California (Geotripper, August 2)

Snaky Words like Serpentinite and Ophiocalcite (Olelog, August 3)

A #CAserpentine photo (Ron Schott, taken May 24, uploaded August 3; click #CAserpentine tag for more photos)

Learn the Facts About Serpentinite Before It’s Removed as California’s State Rock (KQED's Quest Science Blog, Brian Romans, August 5)

Serpentine, Science, and the politics of fear (Talkin' Rocks, August 8)

Save California's State Rock: CGF opposes SB 624 (CGF, Committee for Green Foothills, Greenfeet, August 9)

Standing on a Rock: Why the California Legislature Needs to Hear From Educators, Students and Scientists (Geotripper, August 10)

California Serpentine: To Assembly Member Lieu - A Question of Openness and Fairness (Geotripper, August 12)

Home Sweet Serpentine (KQED's Quest Science Blog, Jennifer Skene, August 16)

The California Serpentine Fight Goes On (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, August 19)

Politics of a rock (California's Islands, August 23)

Ding, Dong, SB624 Is Dead (Andrew Alden, About.com: Geology, September 2, 2010)

Erionite and Cancer in Cappadocia, Turkey (Olelog, November 5, 2010)

Serpentinite and mélange (Mountain Beltway, December 25, 2010)

Guest Post - Naturally Harmful Metals and Minerals (The Geology P.A.G.E., December 29, 2010)

Concerns over erionite dust as cancer source (Arizona Geology, January 5, 2011)

Mineralogical Society of America proposes a position statement on Asbestos (Lounge of the Lab Lemming, March 1, 2011)

Asbestos (Hudson Valley Geologist, March 9, 2011)

Maligned Minerals and Serpentinite in Sun (En Tequila Es Verdad, July 31, 2011)

My state’s official rock is a mineral! (En Tequila Es Verdad, Karen Locke, January 11, 2013)

Chrysotile (Sandatlas, March 3, 2013)


More about Serpentine, Serpentinite, and Related Topics:
A Serpentine Haiku: Peter B. Moyle, unknown date.

California State Rock: Serpentine: State Symbols USA.

Klamath-Siskiyou Wilderness Wild and Rugged Sanctuary: California Academy of Sciences – about flora and fauna and serpentinite (among other things).

California Floristic Project: Centres of Plant Diversity, Smithsonian Institution.

North American Serpentine Flora, U.S.A. and Canada: Centres of Plant Diversity, Smithsonian Institution.

Day, D., 2005, Rugged Plants Struggle to Survive on Barren Serpentine Soil: Northern California Geological Society Newsletter, February 2005 [also reprinted here].

Hotz, P. E., 1964, Nickeliferous laterites in southwestern Oregon and northwestern California: Economic Geology, v. 59, no. 3, p. 355-396 [abstract].

Rinaudo, Caterina, Gastaldi, Daniela, and Belluso, Elena, 2003, Characterization of chrysotile, antigorite, and lizardite by FT-Raman spectroscopy: The Canadian Mineralogist, vol. 41, p. 883-890.

Wrucke, C. T., 1995, Serpentine- and carbonate-hosted asbestos deposits, in USGS Open-file Report 95-831.


And Some Other News-Type Items:
Recreation Wrongly Targeted in Clear Creek Closure (Blueribbon Coalition, May 1, 2008)

Several Sierra trails are toxic, group says (San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, June 23, 2010)

California's state rock raked over the coals (San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, June 24, 2010)

Why rock this boat? Decertifying the California state rock, serpentine, because it contains asbestos won't alleviate the cancer that the substance causes. (Los Angeles Times, July 28, 2010)

Should California's state rock be stripped of its title because it contains asbestos? (Los Angeles Times, July 2, 2010)

Lawmakers have serpentine rocks in their heads (San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, July 3, 2010)

Letters to the Editor (San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, July 3, 2010)

California Looks to Shun State Rock Over Asbestos Content (DailyTech, July 6, 2010)

Is Mother Nature Really Out To Get Us? (Carnegie Forever, July 6, 2010)

Serpentine Politics (Burrito Justice, July 6, 2010)

Dan Walters: California state-rock bill has serpentine agenda (Fresno Bee, July 9, 2010)

What's Underneath the State Rock Bill? More Lawsuit Abuse! (California Civil Justice Blog, July 9, 2010)

Throwing the Baby Out with the Bathwater: The Serpentine Issue in California (Geotripper at Daily Kos, July 9)

Rock stuck in a hard place (San Francisco Examiner, July 10, 2010)

Personal Injury Lawyers Between a Rock and a Hard Place - Lawsuit Industry Picks a Fight With Geologists and Friends (California Justice Association of California - CJAC, July 12, 2010)

State rock debate rocks Twitter The Sacramento Bee, CapitolAlert, July 13, 2010)

Lawmakers want to get state rock off the books (The Oakland Tribune, InsideBayArea.com, Political Blotter, July 13, 2010)

Outcry as State Rock Toppled (The Bay Citizen, July 13, 2010)

California May Drop Rock, and Geologists Feel the Pain (New York Times, July 13, 2010)

California May Drop Its Official State Rock (New York Times, July 13, 2010)

The battle over the California state rock (CalCoastNews, July 14, 2010)

Geology Fail: California Moves to Disown State Rock (Discover Magazine, Discoblog, July 14, 2010)

Calif may dump 'state rock' that contains asbestos (AP, Yahoo! News, July 15, 2010)

Unscientific California: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Serpentine and Biodiversity (Discover Magazine, The Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum, July 15, 2010)

Geologists take to Twitter to save beloved rock (Mother Nature Network, July 15, 2010)

Lawmakers Look To Change Cancer-Causing State Rock (The Huffington Post, July 15, 2010)

NYTimes, Calif. Press, twitterers too: Big ruckus over state rock serpentine, asbestos activists, and demonization of a stone (Knight Science Journalism Tracker, July 15, 2010)

Geologists protest bill to remove state rock (San Francisco Chronicle, SFGate, July 16, 2010)

Cut and thrust election online (The Sydney Morning Herald, smh.com.au, July 16, 2010)

Wait, they're going after the state rock? (FresnoBee.com News Blog, July 16, 2010)

Political call to 'defrock the rock' (The New Zealand Herald, nzherald.co.nz, July 17)

Lawmaker seeks to defrock 'toxic' official state rock (BBC News, July 17, 2010)

My Word: Rocky stance on serpentine status as state rock (Eureka Times-Standard, July 17, 2010)

My Word: Rocky stance on serpentine status as state rock (The Ukiah Daily Journal, July 17, 2010)

Our Opinion: Between a rock and a hard place (Imperial Valley Press, ivpressonline.com, July 18, 2010)

Calling on Californians: West Coast Represent! (Discover Magazine, The Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum, July 18, 2010)

A serpentine approach toward more asbestos litigation (PointofLaw.com, July 18, 2010)

Serpentine rocks on as CO2 vacuum (San Francisco Business Times, July 23, 2010)

Between a rock and a hard place: California’s rock debate (89.3 KPCC, Southern California Public Radio, podcast with Garry Hayes and Brian Wernicke, July 23, 2010)

'Serpentine, Shelly, Serpentine' (El Defensor Chieftan, July 24, 2010)

Geologists Revolt Over Proposal to Change California State Rock (Gawker, July 24, 2010)

Natural Wonders: California state rock in danger of demotion (Chico Enterprise-Record, ChicoER.com, July 24, 2010)

Hamlin: Don't laugh -- this is really important legislative stuff (The Reporter (Vacaville), July 25, 2010)

Californians Debate Fate of Official State Rock (Voice of America, VOANews.com, July 26, 2010)

The irrational fear of our state rock (Los Angeles Times Opinion, July 27, 2010)

Caught between the state rock and a hard place (Stockton Record, Recordnet.com, August 2, 2010)

Ashton: MJC teacher on a mission to vindicate state rock (The Modesto Bee, August 2, 2010)

Why California is between a rock and a hard place (Manteca Bulletin, August 5, 2010)

Serpentine to Avoid Flying Serpentine! (OCWeekly, August 5, 2010)

‘Save the rock’ or ‘Drop the rock’? (The Orange County Register, August 12, 2010)

Editorial: Stop ridiculous debate over state rock (The Oakland Tribune, InsideBayArea, August 13, 2010)

State rock controversy enters new phase (The Sacramento Bee, Dan Walters, August 18, 2010)


Finally:
Signs: "Warning Unsafe To Enter" and "Everything Outside Might Be Dangerous"

---

NOTE:

I will be updating the Geoblogosphere and news links as more posts and articles are written.

The Serpentosphere: An Update

One author of the abstract I quoted in an earlier post - the talk about The Serpentosphere given at last month's GSN meeting in Reno, NV - contacted me via comment on this blog. Martin Hovland pointed out his website, which has numerous references to the interconnections between mud volcanoes, salt diapirism, hydrothermal activity, and deep sources of hydrocarbons and some interesting links. He also referenced his EOS 2005 paper on the Chapopote asphalt volcano. At least one petroleum company is using ideas discussed at the March GSN to find oil. Andrew on Nonmagmatic volcanism:

There are less well-known types of volcanism that don't involve magma: mud volcanism is one. Mud volcanoes come in two types. On land, hundreds of them occur in areas where hydrocarbons are abundant, like Trinidad or Azerbaijan (see this one in the Image Gallery). Under the sea, thousands of them occur near subduction trenches, where serpentinite mud is abundant (about serpentinization). 

Another newly discovered form of volcanism involves asphalt. Asphalt flows were first documented on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico in 2003. No one knows how many of these tar volcanoes there are.

A few more references: Supercritical water and Hydrothermal Chimneys 

Lost City hydrothermal field 

Asphalt Volcanism 

Mantle Serpentinization Rates 

Carbon Degassing from the Lithosphere [and upper mantle] 

Mud Volcano Tofu 

Mantle Wedge Water Contents 

MagmaChem 

Tornado Gold

At it Again

Well, Stan Keith is at it again, at least in making up new words that can be applied to either plate tectonics or mineral deposit formation. Unfortunately for all, the new word "Serpentosphere" can only be investigated, as far as I can find, by attending an upcoming meeting of the Geological Society of Nevada on Friday, March 21st in Reno, NV. Free beer is at 6:00 pm, dinner at 7:00, and the talk at 8:00. (Contact Kelly Parsons for reservations or more info, 775/323-3500, gsn@gsnv.org.) The talk is being authored also by Monte M. Swan, Martin Hovland, Hakon Rueslatten, and Hans Konrad Johnsen. Because the abstract has been published in a newsletter by the Geological Society of Nevada (GSN), I'll quote it below:

The Serpentosphere consists of an earth-wide nearly continuous layer (or spherical shell) of rock dominated by serpentine group minerals (serpentinite). The Serpentosphere is typically about two kilometers thick beneath ocean basins where it is mainly composed of lizardite. Beneath continents, the Serpentosphere is mainly composed of antigorite (alpine peridotite/serpentinite) and may be several kilometers thick. The base of the Serpentosphere coincides with the gravity and high-velocity seismically defined transition beneath both continents and ocean basins commonly referred to as the Moho. Beneath ocean basins and adjacent to spreading centers, oceanic Serpentosphere is continuously generated by the interactions of deep circulating marine composition water – partly in super-critical state –with harzburgitic peridotite in a process referred to as serpentinization. Conversion of the harzburgite to lizarditic serpentine under supercritical condition is texturally preservative and probably induces about 40% volume expansion. The volume expansion provides an excellent mechanism to expel and propel fluid products – including hydrocarbons – from the area of serpentinization to seep sites at the crust hydrosphere/atmosphere interface. A downward diffusing, super-critical serpentinization front is present beneath every ocean basin and is more active where it originally formed near oceanic ridge thermal anomalies. When ocean Serpentosphere is subducted beneath continental or oceanic crust areas, it converts to antigorite-dominated serpentinite rock (generally coincident with greenschist facies metamorphism). During flat subduction, the relatively lowdensity antigorite ‘floats’ and is underplated to the base of the continental crust at the Moho geophysical interface.

In effect, both oceanic and continental Serpentospheres reflect a deep ‘weathering’ process that consists of the interaction of deep crustal and oceanic, water-dominated fluids with the upper portion of a mainly harzburgitic peridotite at the top of the earth’s lithospheric mantle. The process is analogous to the formation of the pedosphere through interactions of the earth’s hydrosphere-atmosphere layer with the top of the earth’s lithospheric crustal layer. In this context, the Serpentosphere may be viewed as a thin membrane that separates water-absent, life-free abiogenetic processes in the mantle from water-present, life-related processes above the Serpentosphere in the oceanic crust.

The Serpentosphere has enormous and novel implications for four major geologic problems that are of current interest to the geologic and social community: the driving mechanism for plate tectonics, the origin of life, the origin of hydrocarbons, and contributions to global climate. A close relationship between trace elements in crude oils and serpentinite has been found. Migration of the serpentine-associated hydrocarbons to seep sites on the ocean floor and in subaqueous continental environments is essentially the base of the food chain for the biosphere and provides a nutrient and energy source for life in these environments. Heat, methane and carbon dioxide generated during the serpentinization reaction provide a major thermal and greenhouse effect to the earth’s hydrosphere-atmosphere system that is overlooked and underappreciated by the current global climate science. The ductility of the serpentine group minerals provides the tectonic “grease” that allows crustal plates to be able to slide and glide around on the earth’s crust at the Serpentosphere/Moho interface. Because Serpentosphere has been continuously generated since the beginning of geologic time it must be considered as one of the fundamental entities of our water-surfaced planet – the only water-planet we know of ...

Online references to this idea are scant, consisting of these two, and this interesting cartoon:

I won't analyze this Serpentosphere concept, and will just say that I find it interesting because it is related to flat subduction and the concept of hydrothermal hydrocarbons, evidence for which has been seen in the mercury deposits of the California Coast Ranges. Also, he is trying to promote a new model for oil exploration, which can't be knocked these days (unless it doesn't pan out). I won't be at the meeting, so will not be able to hear about this first hand.