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Geological evidence for high H2 production from komatiites in the Archaean

Nature Geoscience volume 16, pages 1194–1199 (2023)Cite this article

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An Author Correction to this article was published on 14 December 2023

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Abstract

The oxidation of iron from rocks during subaqueous alteration is a key source of the molecular hydrogen (H2) used as an energy source by chemosynthetic organisms, which may represent some of the earliest forms of life on Earth. In the Archaean, a potential source of ultramafic material available for serpentinization reactions that release H2 are komatiites. Komatiites are highly magnesian lavas, which contain evidence of extensive serpentinization and magnetite (Fe2+Fe3+2O4) production close to the Archaean seafloor. H2 production in komatiitic compositions has been modelled and experimentally investigated; however, the natural rock record has remained unexplored. Here we examine the geological evidence of H2 production from the basaltic to komatiitic rock record held in Archaean cratons. From the petrological investigation of 38 samples of komatiitic basalt to komatiite, we identify the unique serpentinization reaction responsible for H2 production from these lithologies. With support from over 1,100 bulk rock geochemical analyses, we directly quantify Fe3+ and therefore H2 production of komatiites in the Archaean. The chemical (high Mg) and physical (low viscosity flow) characteristics of komatiite flows allowed for extensive hydration and serpentinization in oceanic plateaus and therefore high H2 production available to chemosynthetic early life.

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Fig. 1: Scanning electron microscope images of the most common magnetite-forming textures in komatiite samples.
Fig. 2: Bulk measured and calculated geochemical data from komatiite samples.
Fig. 3: Calculated ferric iron contents from komatiite samples of this study compared to a measured global geochemical database.

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Data availability

Whole rock geochemical data, magnetite abundance and H2 content for natural samples is in Supplementary Table 1. The subset of the whole rock geochemical database and calculated H2 content is in Supplementary Table 2. These tables are also available open access at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8349683.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to P. Sossi, T. Pettke, S. Chatterjee and A. Brett for providing many of the rock samples used in this study and to M. Bermanec and T. Pettke for bulk rock analyses. S. Chatterjee is also thanked for providing bulk rock analyses. We also thank C. Vesin and P. Lanari for useful scientific and data-driven discussions and J. Gillespie and T. Pettke for comments on this manuscript. We acknowledge Schweizerische Nationalfonds (SNF) grant 200020-196927 for support of this research.

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  1. Institute for Geology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    R. Tamblyn & J. Hermann

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R.T.: investigation, formal analysis, visualization, writing–original draft. J.H.: conceptualization, investigation, resources, writing–review and editing, project administration, funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to R. Tamblyn.

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Nature Geoscience thanks Ian Campbell and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary Handling Editor: Alison Hunt, in collaboration with the Nature Geoscience team.

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Extended data

Extended Data Fig. 1 SEM images of uncommon magnetite forming textures documented in komatiite samples.

a) Blocky magnetite psuedomorphs. Blocky magnetite grains intergrown with chlorite, ilmenite, amphibole and less commonly apatite. Magnetite can contain up to 6 wt.% Cr. Occurs in one sample. b) Thin magnetite rims formed on relic skeletal igneous Cr-spinel. Occurs in three samples. c) Flaky magnetite forming with Ni-sulphides pentlandite and heazlewoodite, surrounded by chlorite. Occurs in one sample. d) Magnetite veins. Magnetite forming either in veins or along the margins of veins. Common but timing unknown.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Information

Supplementary information on magnetite-producing textures.

Supplementary Table 1-2

Magnetite and Fe2O3 calculations from studied samples, including bulk rock geochemical analyses (in wt%). Subset of the whole rock geochemical database from Gard et al. (2019), including komatiites and basaltic komatiites.

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Tamblyn, R., Hermann, J. Geological evidence for high H2 production from komatiites in the Archaean. Nat. Geosci. 16, 1194–1199 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01316-x

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