Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292

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Lithos

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Evidence for multiple stages of serpentinization from the mantle through

the crust in the Redwood City Serpentinite mélange along the San
Andreas Fault in California
Masaoki Uno a,⁎,1, Stephen Kirby b
a
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Meguro, Tokyo 152-8551, Japan
b
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The active plate boundary of the California margin includes the active San Andreas Fault System and the active
Received 6 June 2018 mountain building of the California Coast Ranges where ultramafic rocks are also commonly found. There are nu-
Accepted 9 February 2019 merous hypotheses for the origin and the timing and emplacement mechanisms of such rocks that ultimately
Available online 8 March 2019
came from Earth's mantle, but typically the mineralogical, structural, and geochemical features of fresh
serpentinite, and their reaction and deformation histories were unknown due to heavy weathering of most of
Keywords:
Serpentinite
the exposures. We investigated a block-and-matrix serpentinite mélange in Redwood City, California on the
Block-and-matrix San Francisco Peninsula that is proximal to an active strand of the San Andreas Fault. The mélange is composed
Multistage serpentinization of 6 m- to cm-sized serpentinite blocks surrounded by fine-grained serpentine matrix. The blocks are polygonal
High-fluid pressure in shape and show a remarkable internal mineralogical structure that has recorded at least three stages of
San Andreas Fault serpentinization of a clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite protolith. The largest, freshest polygonal serpentinite
blocks contain a core comprised of surviving peridotite minerals plus lizardite (lz) ± antigorite (atg) + brucite
(brc) + magnetite (mag) domains. The cores are surrounded by a ~10 cm thick peripheral rim of lizardite +
magnetite. The reaction boundaries between rims and cores are parallel to the external polygonal surfaces of
the blocks. These blocks are also sheathed by thin skins of sheared lizardite + chrysotile (ctl). The higher-
temperature lz/atg + brc + mag serpentinization represented by the core mineralogy (Stage A) probably oc-
curred on a large scale in the mantle and the hydration metamorphism producing the lz + mag mineralogy in
the rims (Stage B) was likely triggered by the growth of a system of approximately planar fractures under crustal
conditions that was enabled by the ingress of water at high pressure and that defined the polygonal block shapes
as well as the Stage-A to Stage-B reaction boundaries. Stage-A serpentinization reactions are internally balanced
except for addition of H2O, Cs and Rb as indicated by core mineral composition. The Stage-B serpentinization was
open system with CaO, Cs and Rb migrating outside the blocks with addition of H2O, U, Pb ± LREE. The sheared
lizardite skin probably formed during the ascent of the RCS through the crust. Several classes of mineral-filled
veins were found in both cores and rims and indicate fluid pressures approaching lithostatic pressures that en-
abled these opening- mode fractures to occur. We posit that such high-pressure hydrothermal conditions were
important in promoting the serpentinization reactions as well as enabling a weak rheology consistent with a
cold-intrusion/diapiric emplacement mechanism. These factors give insights into where these mantle rocks
came from, the sources of the water causing serpentinization, and the deformation mechanisms by which they
come to Earth's surface. Similarities of the structures of serpentinite blocks reported in this paper with those
in blocks from other serpentinite bodies in the San Francisco Bay Area (Lewis and Kirby, 2015 AGU Abstract
T13H-05) suggests that the processes inferred from our investigation are regional in spatial extent.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and background

Serpentinites are formed by the hydration of mantle peridotite and

⁎ Corresponding author at: Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku occur in many active geologic settings including ocean-continent transi-
University, Sendai 980-8579, Japan.
E-mail address: uno@geo.kankyo.tohoku.ac.jp (M. Uno).
tion zones, slow spreading ridges, subduction zones, and strike slip
1
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8579, faults (Guillot and Hattori, 2013). Serpentinites are tectonically impor-
Japan. tant geologic units because of their unique mineralogy with weak

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2019.02.005
0024-4937/© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
in-situ rheology under hydrothermal conditions, high H2O contents,
and low density. Although serpentinites are relatively strong in the lab-
oratory in the absence of free water (e.g., Hirth and Guillot, 2013; Moore
et al., 1997; Raleigh and Paterson, 1965), they show reduction in fric-
tional strength under hydrothermal conditions especially for low tem-
perature phase lizardite and chrysotile (e.g., Behnsen and Faulkner,
2012; Escartín et al., 1997; Moore et al., 1997; Reinen et al., 1994).
In subduction zones, their rheology contributes partial decoupling
between the subducting slab and the overlying mantle wedge
(e.g., Horiuchi and Iwamori, 2016; Wada and Wang, 2009), and acts as
a sort of a lubricant for the exhumation of some high-pressure meta-
morphic rocks (e.g., Guillot et al., 2000; Hermann et al., 2000). Along
strike-slip faults, serpentinites have been associated with fault creep
and seismic gaps (Karabacak et al., 2011; Kirby et al., 2014; Moore and
Rymer, 2007). Serpentinites react with crustal materials to form talc
and saponite, which can reduce fault strength significantly by their
low frictional coefficients (Hirauchi et al., 2012; Lockner et al., 2011;
Moore and Lockner, 2013; Moore and Rymer, 2007) and by potentially
increasing fluid pressure through breakdown of serpentine
(e.g., Oyanagi et al., 2015). In this paper we show that serpentinites of
the Redwood City Serpentinite (RCS) body display abundant evidence
of deformation under hydrothermal conditions, suggesting that weak
ductile rheology is assisted by the effects of free water.
Serpentinites and related ultramafic rocks have long been recog-
nized as important rock types in California Coast Range geology
(Fig. 1a). Many serpentinite bodies occur as elongated slivers (up to
50 km in length and 3 km in thickness) in the Franciscan complex that
was accreted to the California subduction margin in Mesozoic and to
early Tertiary time. Serpentinite distribution in California is closely re-
lated to strike slip, reverse faults, and possibly normal faults (Fig. 1a).
They also show evidence for cold intrusion, a phenomenon reviewed
in the next paragraph. Their origin, as important components of former
oceanic lithosphere in the ophiolite suite of lithological associations, has
been the subject of widely varying models of how such mantle rocks
came to be in such complex structural relationships with the Franciscan
complex. One line of interpretation is that such rocks represent tectonic
fragments of the subducting Farallon plate off-scraped from its slab dur-
ing the subduction era prior to the inception of the San Andreas Fault
System (e.g., Barnes et al., 2013; Coleman, 2000; Hirauchi et al., 2008;
Shervais et al., 2011; Wakabayashi, 2017, 2004). Alternatively, the
serpentinites may be derived from the overriding mantle wedge
(Barnes et al., 2013; King et al., 2003; Shervais et al., 2011, 2004;
Wakabayashi, 2017, 2004) or sedimentary serpentinites similar to
serpentinite mud volcanoes found in the forearc of the Marianas
(e.g., Casey and Dickinson, 1976; Lockwood, 1971; Wakabayashi,
2012, 2011). These models in themselves have not explained how
such rocks accreted to the base of the forearc at depths of many tens
of kilometers came to be exposed on the surface in a complex tectonic
relationship with the Franciscan accretionary rocks.
Some propose emplacement of subducting abyssal peridotite by the
thrust and fold tectonics of collision and accretion of the Franciscan ter-
rane (e.g., Wakabayashi, 2017, 2004) which is followed by shallower
uplift induced by early Tertiary extension in the forearc basin (Unruh
et al., 2007). It could also be that such thrust-fault emplacement tecton-
ics took place during the post-subduction transpressive tectonics of the
San Andreas continental transform plate motion in Neogene time
(e.g., Jones et al., 1994). Still others envision diapiric emplacement and
non-magmatic injection from unspecified mantle sources (e.g., Bailey
and Everhart, 1964; Ernst, 2015; Murata et al., 1979; Page et al., 1999;
Tsujimori et al., 2007). The contact relationships and three-
dimensional structures of the serpentinites had been explored during
excavations associated with mercury mining in California from 1935
to 1965 by USGS and other geologists (Kellner and Kirby, 2016; Kirby,
2017 and references therein). These earlier papers recognized that all
observed boundary contacts are tectonic (sheared), indicating that
these serpentinite bodies were emplaced as mobile serpentinites
277
(termed as “cold intrusion”; Bailey and Everhart, 1964; Lockwood,
1972; Turner, 1948; Turner and Verhoogen, 1951). Cold intrusion of
serpentinites implies a very weak serpentinite rheology.
That some of these ultramafic rocks are of deep origin is clear from
the occurrences of blueschist, garnet-amphibolite and eclogite blocks
entrained in serpentinite mélanges at ~1–2.5 GPa (e.g., Tsujimori et al.,
2007, 2006). Geochemical analyses of these exotic blocks suggest
fluid-mediated and/or mechanical interactions with serpentinite during
their exhumation under blueschist and lower eclogite-facies conditions
(Errico et al., 2013; Horodyskyj et al., 2009; Penniston-Dorland et al.,
2012). This mode of emplacement of block-and-matrix serpentinites
also appears to be the principal means by which entrained blueschists
and eclogites are transported to the surface.
Implied by many observers is the existence of some form of water
flux from a previously unknown sources providing the hydrothermal
environment that caused serpentinization (e.g., Barnes et al., 2013) as
well as the high fluid pressures that enable fracture and vein filling
(Kirby et al., 2014). Recently Kirby et al. (2014) offered an insight that
the source of water may have been dehydration of serpentinite at the
base of the serpentinized forearc mantle of the California subduction
margin. Their thermo-mineralogical model showed that the forearc
mantle became thermally unstable after subduction stopped with the
creation of the transform margin as the Mendocino Triple Junction mi-
grated northward. The remaining serpentinite in the forearc mantle
wedge above the dehydrating base would therefore be subject to the ef-
fects of this upward water flux (see Fig. 9, p. 15 in Kirby et al., 2014). Re-
actions of serpentinite with surrounding country rocks in the presence
of aqueous fluids would also produce talc and saponite, which contrib-
ute to reduce the strengths of San Andreas Fault segments (Lockner
et al., 2011; Moore and Rymer, 2007). This background information
shows the tectonic and geodynamic importance of the serpentinite bod-
ies emplaced in Franciscan complex. However, detailed macroscopic
and microscopic petrological analysis of the serpentinites and perido-
tites themselves was previously lacking, except for limited structural
analysis (Hirauchi and Yamaguchi, 2007) and geochemical analyses
(e.g., Barnes et al., 2013; Hirauchi et al., 2008; King et al., 2003;
Yamada et al., 2019).
The purpose of this study is to document the lithologies, mineralog-
ical and petrological characteristics of a serpentinite body of the Francis-
can serpentinite mélange including their microstructures, and to
establish the original lithologies, reaction histories and fluid activities
associated with each stage of serpentinite development. To this end,
we investigated the Redwood City Serpentinite (RCS) in central Califor-
nia, a body of serpentinite mélange comprised of highly deformed
serpentinite matrix enclosing blocks of serpentinite, Franciscan, minor
blueschist, and other exotic lithologies. Excellent exposures of the RCS
allowed us to observe intact block-and-matrix structure with various
degrees of deformation, collect the freshest serpentinite blocks, and
find central core-peripheral rim structure within the blocks that has
not been previously described in the literature. This core-rim block
structure, together with block-and-matrix structure and associated ser-
pentine vein networks reveals rich reaction histories, different styles of
mass transfer, deformation and fluid activities in the serpentinite body.
These new findings help understanding their alteration and deforma-
tion histories in a plate-tectonic context. We suggest that the multiple
stages of reaction history are also important for the interpretation of
the previous geochemical studies, as well as strategies for further geo-
chemical analyses of the Franciscan serpentinites.
2. Geological settings
The Redwood City Serpentinite is a body that is in tectonic contact
with its host lithologies. It is bounded on the southwest in contact
with Quaternary rocks along the Cañada fault, a branch of San Andreas
Fault System (Fig. 1b). The body also has sheared contacts with an Eo-
cene sandstone (the Whiskey Hill formation), prehnite-pumpellyite
278 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292

facies of the Franciscan accretionary sediments (graywacke, siltstone
and shale), greenstone, and a mélange composed of Franciscan sedi-
mentary rocks. Earlier mapping indicates that its contacts with the
enclosing Franciscan and Eocene sandstone are curviplanar and highly
sheared, observations that led these investigators to interpret the RCS
as a serpentinite diapir (Atwater, 1975; Thomas, 1951). Gravity mea-
surements of the RCS by Brian Atwater (1975) were later modeled by
David Ponce of the USGS using potential field theory (Personal commu-
nication, 2012). This work indicates that the body is a thin sub-
horizontal sheet-like body over much of its exposure, suggesting that
it was possibly emplaced as a thin near-horizontal sheet intruded dis-
cordantly into the surrounding rocks.
Silica carbonate rocks locally occur at the serpentinite boundaries
with Eocene sandstones, and some of these boundaries have also hosted
numerous small mercury deposits. As with many serpentinite bodies in
the California Coast Ranges that exhibit silica carbonate alteration along
serpentinite contacts, mercury ore deposits were once mined in the RCS
body in a large open-pit mine in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

Fig. 1. Geologic map and the outcrop occurrences of Redwood City serpentinite. (a) Distributions of serpentinites and locations of major faults in California (modified after Kirby et al.,
2014). (b) The geologic map around the RCS (modified after Brabb et al., 1998 USGS open-file report 98–137). (c) Photograph part of the Interstate Highway 280 outcrop. (d), (e), and
(f) Outcrop photograph showing various block/matrix ratios: (d) Outcrop with least mélange matrix, accompanied by sub-orthogonal sets of fractures, (e) Outcrop with moderate
block/matrix ratios (~50%). Red dotted lines indicate shear planes. Yellow dotted lines indicate fracturing of blocks forming phacoids, that are connected to the shear planes.
(f) Outcrop with high block/matrix ratios (N80%).
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292 279

The RCS body is composed of serpentinite mélange showing block-
and-matrix structure with varying matrix/block volume ratio of ~0.1
to N10. The size of the blocks ranges from centimeters to a few meters,
and consist mainly of completely serpentinized ultramafic rocks, and
partly serpentinized peridotite, with rare occurrence of exotic
blueschist blocks, actinolite rocks and coarse-grained crystalline
antigorite blocks (having different mineralogy and microstructure
from the main serpentinite lithologies as described later). Blocks of
Franciscan metasediments and cherts occur within the serpentinite mé-
lange, especially along the RCS boundaries. Some metasomatised chlo-
rite rocks and layers (purple or green in colour) also are found in the
serpentinite mélange. Rare exotic blocks of garnet-amphibolite are
also reported in a previous study (Atwater, 1975).
Matrix materials of the mélange are mainly composed of fine-
grained serpentine minerals with some carbonates. Silica‑carbonate
rocks are extensively veined by tensile fractures filled with quartz and
dolomite.
3. Basic field observations and preparation of samples for lab
analysis
3.1. Field observations
To understand the internal structures of the freshest serpentinite,
we have examined many hundreds of serpentinite blocks in many expo-
sures of the RCS widely distributed over the accessible parts of the
mapped area of the body (Fig. 1b). As we explain in the next section, col-
our and textural variations on the internal surfaces of broken blocks ob-
served in outcrops and excavations allowed us to characterize the
internal lithological structures of these blocks based on field inspection.
We also examined the interiors many blocks collected from the field and
then saw cut and analyzed in thin section and by chemical analyses in
our laboratories.
Blocks exposed in natural outcrops are typically heavily weathered.
Fresh blocks were found in road and construction excavations. We
found the freshest blocks in the deep roadcut of Interstate 280 freeway
along the SE lobe of the body (Fig. 1c). These outcrops exhibit various
matrix/block ratios ranging from b0.1 to N10 (Fig. 1d–f). In outcrops
with low matrix/block ratios (b0.1), partly serpentinized peridotite
blocks are fractured by sub-orthogonal sets of fractures (Fig. 1d). The
fracture spacings get smaller with increasing shear deformation and
fracturing (Fig. 1e and f).
Several common features were notable among the many blocks we
have seen. Intact blocks typically ranged from about 10 cm to a meter
in diameter, were roughly equant to somewhat elongate (to about 2:1
ratio) in dimensions, and were polygonal in shape (Fig. 2a). The largest
block that we have seen was elongate in shape at about 6 m × 2 m
× 2 m. The planar facets of these polygonal blocks are fully sheathed
in a dark yellow-green to blue-green skin of parallel-layered flakey ser-
pentine, one to few mm thick, unless weathered or abraded away
(Fig. 2b). Fresh skin material has a polished, reflective appearance that
commonly shows a lineated morphology resembling slickensides on
fault surfaces, suggesting that these serpentinite skins have been
strongly sheared. These have been termed by others slickentites
(e.g., Wells, 1951). The highly deformed matrix surrounding these
blocks (Fig. 2a and b) is made up of smaller lens-shaped blocks and
weathered schistose serpentinite, largely lizardite. Although we col-
lected some matrix material, its complexity and our focus on
serpentinite blocks persuaded us to set these samples aside as a later
target for detailed investigation.

Fig. 2. (a) Outcrop photograph of block-and-matrix structure. (b) Outcrop photograph showing the occurrence of reflective surface skin on a block. (c) Photograph of broken block
showing internal structure. The brown part is weathered central core and the green part is block rim and the boundary between the two zones is marked by a dark green reaction
front. (d) Closeup of (c). White arrows indicate radial veins cutting the block rim. (e) Silica carbonate rock that occurs at the boundaries with Eocene sandstones. (f) Photograph of saw
cut block. The central core is weathered to brown. (g) Photograph of saw cut of a fresh block fragment. The central core is dark. The light gray grains in the core are orthopyroxene. In
this example, the inner block rim is lighter green whereas the outer part is darker green.
280 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
3.2. Block structure and domains
Blocks broken open during road excavations show a remarkable in-
ternal structure (Fig. 2c, f and g): Fresh central core is dark-greenish-
gray to black in colour, but weathers to a near-surface yellowish orange.
The peripheral rim outside the core is dark green and is, in turn,
sheathed in a reflective green layered serpentine skin with flakey cleav-
age (Fig. 2b). In most examples, the boundaries between the core and
rim are sharp and parallel to the external facets of the block surfaces
(Fig. 2c, f and g). Our search of the literature suggests that this polygonal
shape and its conformation with reaction boundaries are new to the
published literature.
White veins penetrate the block rim from the core/rim boundary to-
wards the inner most layers of serpentinite skin (Fig. 2d). The white
veins are at high angles to the block surface, showing a radial nature
with respect to block center (we term these radial veins hereafter).
The white veins and layered serpentinite skin cross-cut each other,
with some veins being truncated by the outer-most skin. Thin dark
black veins cut the dark green rims and central cores, and show
~5 mm-wide reaction zones. These may represent rim-forming frac-
tures that were unsuccessful in forming block boundaries. Weathered
core material in larger broken blocks tends to show a weak foliation de-
fined by widely-spaced planar segregations of pyroxene relicts that ap-
pear to be magmatic in origin rather than indicating peridotite plastic
deformation. No kink bands or obvious lattice preferred orientation
are evident in thin sections of core material.
Blocks smaller than about 5 cm tend to be lens shaped and have been
termed as phacoids (Fig. 2b; e.g., Page et al., 1999). Phacoid blocks do not
contain core material, but, just as for the larger blocks, are sheathed in
thin skins of shiny, layered serpentine. Enclosing the blocks and
phacoids is a fine-grained matrix that is often extensively weathered
to a soft granular soil-like state. Matrix material, in turn, has small
~1 cm phacoid-like serpentinite components as well as other finer-
grained components.
Blocks that we collected that were saw cut typically show fresh core
material to be very dark green to dark gray to black in colour, whereas
the surrounding rims are generally lighter green. We selected blocks
for cutting for N100 thin section chips that cross cut core, rim, and
skin contacts. We also cut separates of core, rim, and skin material for
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) determination of bulk chemistry and powder
X-ray diffraction (XRD) scans. Thin sections were subject to petro-
graphic, laser Raman microscopy, and electron microprobe analysis for
mineral identification and mineral chemistry.
4. Analytical methods
The compositions of minerals were determined using a JEOL JXA-
8900R electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) at the USGS in Menlo
Park California. These analyses used an accelerating voltage, beam di-
ameter, and beam current of 15 kV, 1–5 μm, and 12 nA, respectively.
X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of the powdered rock samples were
determined using a RIGAKU Miniflex with 40 kV and 40 mA. Serpentine
minerals were identified using the methodology of Moore and Rymer
(2012). Serpentine minerals were also identified by laser Raman mi-
croscopy using a Thermo Scientific DXR spectrometer with an incident
532 nm laser (Courtesy of Andrea Foster Menlo Park USGS California).
Identifications of serpentine minerals were followed after Auzende
et al. (2004) and Enami (2006). The bulk compositions of our rocks
were determined for major elements (SiO2, TiO2, Al2O3, FeO, MnO,
MgO, CaO, Na2O, K2O, P2O5) by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyses in
Washington University with established methods (Couture et al.,
1993). Loss on ignition (LOI) was also measured using standard
methods. The bulk rock trace element (Li, B, Sc, Cu, Zn, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr,
Nb, Sn, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf,
Ta, Pb, Th, and U) concentrations were determined by solution induc-
tively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP–MS). Samples were
prepared using the methods outlined in Yokoyama et al. (1999) and an-
alyzed by a PerkinElmer NexION 2000 ICP–MS instrument equipped at
Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Reproducibility was assessed using
the GSJ JP1 standard with the recommended concentrations (Imai
et al., 1995; Makishima et al., 1999; Makishima and Nakamura, 2006),
which yielded relative standard deviations (1σ) of b10% except for
some elements (b20% for B, Cu, and Ba; b30% for Tb, Th, and U). Results
are acceptable, given the very low concentrations of ultramafic rocks.
Repeatability (1σ) was b10% for all elements. Total analytical blank
and detection limit were negligible compared to the sample concentra-
tions (b1 ppb except for B, Sc, Cu, Zn, Sn, and Ba; Table 3).
Pressure-temperature(P–T) conditions for the formation of reaction
domains were estimated by the conventional geothermometers, phase
diagrams, and pseudosection modelling. Pseudosection calculations
were performed in the system CaO–FeO–MgO–Al2O3–SiO2 (CFMASH)
using the Perple_X software (version 6.6.8; Connolly, 2005) together
with 2002 version of Holland and Powell (1998) database and solid so-
lution models for olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, chlorite, gar-
net, spinel, amphibole, brucite, talc, antigorite, and feldspars. Bulk-
rock compositions of core material (RW12082010Core; Table 2) were
used for the calculations.
5. Mineralogy and mineral chemistry and inferred reactions of the
block domains
Photomicrographs, and laser Raman spectra and XRD patterns are
presented in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. Representative mineral compo-
sitions, and bulk chemical compositions are presented in Tables 1 and 2,
respectively.
5.1. Central core
The mineralogy and mineral chemistry of the central core block do-
mains were uniform among the dozens of different blocks that we stud-
ied in detail (Figs. 2 and 3a). The central core domains are partially
serpentinized peridotites, composed of serpentine, brucite, chlorite,
and magnetite ± minor sodian tremolite, as well as the peridotite min-
erals olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and Cr-spinel (Fig. 3b). Ser-
pentine forms mesh structures around the remaining olivine grains. The
mesh domains are bordered by brucite + magnetite veins (vein width
= 2–200 μm, vein length = 50 μm–4 mm; Fig. 3b and c). The Raman
spectra of the mesh-forming serpentine minerals in the central cores
show lizardite, antigorite, lizardite + brucite or lizardite + antigorite
intergrowths (Fig. 4a). These assemblages are characterized by laser
Raman peaks at around 382–384 cm−1, 690 cm−1, low peaks around
1100 cm−1, together with OH band peaks around 3686 cm−1, all of
which are characteristic of lizardite. Other samples show peaks at
around 375–380 cm−1, 686–688 cm−1, a sharp peak around
1045 cm−1, and OH band peaks around 3675 cm−1, clearly consistent
with antigorite (Fig. 4a). Others show in addition to lizardite peaks, a
peak around 3640 cm−1, showing they are mixtures of lizardite and
brucite. Powder X-ray diffraction scans (Fig. 4b) show two-theta peaks
corresponding to both antigorite and lizardite, but these peaks as less
well resolved than those in the laser Raman spectra: characteristic
peak of lizardite occurs at 36.1°, whereas those of antigorite occur at
the shoulders of peaks at 35.6, 37.0° and 59.2°, showing the existence
of both lizardite and antigorite in the central core. Some fine-grained
awaruite and pentlandite (b5 μm) is also present around mesh
structures.
Olivine grains [XMg = Mg / (Mg + Fetot) = 0.903–0.908; Table 1] are
partially serpentinized along grain boundaries and cleavage fractures.
The original grain size of olivine can be recognized as regions with
same extinction position, and ranges from 0.5 to 4 mm (Fig. 3c).
Orthopyroxene grains (1–6 mm in length) with XMg = 0.891–0.913
are partially serpentinized along cleavages and on grain boundaries
(Fig. 3d), whereas clinopyroxene grains (0.5–2 mm in length;
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292 281

Fig. 3. Internal structures of serpentinite blocks (a–g), and mélange matrix (h–i) in thin section. (a) Scanned image of the block cross section. R.F. indicates the reaction front.
(b) Photomicrographs in plane polarized light of the central core showing the mesh structure around olivine and brucite-filled veins. (c) Similar structure as in (b), but seen between
crossed polarized filters. (d) Photomicrograph of the central core showing the occurrence of partially serpentinized orthopyroxene. (e) Photomicrograph of the reaction front between
the partially serpentinized central core and the completely serpentinized block rim. (f) Photomicrograph of block rim material showing relict core structures. (g) Photomicrograph of
layered lizardite surface skin with a radial vein cutting through the rim material to the right and the inner skin. To the left the outer skin truncates the radial vein. (h) and
(i) Photomicrographs of mélange matrix with extensive shear fracturing and deformation. (j) Fe and Na X-ray map of the orthopyroxene in the central core of the rectangle area on
(e), showing the existence of sodian tremolite. Abbreviations: ol, olivine; opx, orthopyroxene; cpx, clinopyroxene; sp., spinel; srp, serpentine; atg, antigorite; brc, brucite; chl, chlorite;
s-tr, sodian tremolite; mag, magnetite.

~Ca49Mg47Fe4; Table 1) show little or no optical evidence of
serpentinization. Spinel grains (0.1–2 mm in size and composition ~
(Mg0.7Fe0.3)(Al1.56Cr0.37Fe3+0.07)O4) are partially or largely transformed
to magnetite along the grain boundaries, and are typically surrounded
by chlorite (Fig. 3b and d). The modal fraction of pyroxenes shown in
thin sections suggests that the original peridotites were mostly
clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgites and lherzolites with minor dunite.
The Cr# [= Cr / (Al + Fe3+)] and Mg# [= Mg / (Mg + Fe2+)] of Cr-
spinel ranges 0.13–0.39 and 0.64–75 for harzburgite/lherzolite and
0.58–0.59 and 0.55–0.58 for dunite, respectively (Table 1), suggesting
that the peridotites are relatively fertile and have not experienced ex-
tensive melting (Fig. 5a and b; e.g., Arai, 1994).
The brucite + magnetite veins develop in two dominant orienta-
tions which are roughly perpendicular to each other. These veins
show columnar structure consisting of brucite and magnetite align-
ments that are perpendicular to the vein walls. These veins evidently ac-
commodated part of the isotropic volume increase implied by the
serpentine mesh domains.
The compositions of serpentine minerals are different depending on
their occurrences: antigorite-forming mesh structure around olivine
grains has XMg ~0.94 with no Al2O3, whereas serpentine along
orthopyroxene cleavages has a lower XMg ~0.91 with some Al2O3 com-
ponent (~3.5 wt%), which represents an almost identical XMg to the orig-
inal orthopyroxene.
Sodian tremolite occur as minor phases in some of the central core
samples along fractures within pyroxene grains (Fig. 3e and j). The con-
centrations of Na2O are high for a tremolite composition and is up to
3 wt% (Table 1).
282 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292

Fig. 4. Mineralogy of the serpentinite. (a) Raman spectra of the serpentine minerals (b) X-ray powder diffraction pattern of several serpentinite blocks and surface skin and mélange
matrix. O, olivine; P, orthopyroxene; C, clinopyroxene; S, spinel; A, antigorite; L, lizardite; B, brucite; M, magnetite; F, ferrihydrite; Crb, carbonate.

5.2. Block rims or fully replaced by magnetite, with chlorite [(Mg8.80–9.16Fe0.75–0.90

The green-rim block domains consist of lizardite, magnetite, chro-
mite and spinel, and lack surviving olivine, pyroxenes or brucite
(Fig. 3e and f). The XRD analyses indicate existence of very small
amounts of ferrihydrite and carbonate of unknown composition as
well (Fig. 4b). These minerals are not evident in thin sections. The
boundary between the central core and the rim is very sharp under mi-
croscopic inspection (Fig. 3e): all the ferromagnesian peridotite min-
erals except for spinel are transformed to lizardite and magnetite at
the sharp reaction boundary.
Lizardite grains replacing olivine have XMg of 0.906–0.941, with little
Al2O3 (0.21–0.62 wt%). Under a 7‑oxygen basis, Si content of the serpen-
tine is 1.91–1.97 atoms per formula unit (apfu), indicating existence of
Fe3+ in the tetrahedral site. The lizardite grains replacing
orthopyroxene have XMg of 0.872–0.903, which is similar to those of
the original orthopyroxene. The Al2O3 content is high (4.67–5.90 wt%)
and Si is significantly low (1.63–1.78 apfu). Clinopyroxene is replaced
by lizardite with XMg of 0.858–0.888 and Al2O3 of 2.54–3.13 wt%. No
Ca-bearing phase was found as a product mineral. Cr-spinel is partly
Al2.44–1.85)(Al2.42–1.77Si5.58–6.23)O10(OH)8, XMg = 0.922–0.911] sur-
rounding the magnetite-Cr-spinel aggregate. Brucite and magnetite
veins are replaced by lizardite [XMg of 0.870–0.902, Al2O3 =
0.61–0.95] and magnetite. The low Si contents (b2 apfu) of the all the
serpentine in the block rim suggest the existence of Al3+ and Fe3+ in
tetrahedral sites (Table 1).
Relict textures in the block rims include relict mesh structure, the
shapes and cleavages of pyroxenes (e.g., bastite), and lizardite + mag-
netite replacing the brucite + magnetite veins (Fig. 3f). This demon-
strates that rim material is indeed represents serpentinized core.
Bastite domains are not significantly deformed, suggesting low internal
block deformation. A banded structure defined by the alignment of
magnetite sometimes appears on the periphery of the block rims.
All the serpentine minerals are identified as lizardite in the block
rims. Serpentine in most of the radial veins is identified as lizardite,
whereas a few are chrysotile, based on the Raman spectra. The XMg
values of the lizardite in the mesh structure vary from 0.91 to 0.94.
The bulk chemistry of the block rims is characterized by the signifi-
cant absence of CaO (Table 2).
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292 283

Table 1
Representative mineral composition of the peridotite and serpentinite.

Zone Olivine Orthopyroxene Clinopyroxene Serpentine

Central core Central core Central core Central core

Sample ID 2010 2019A 2010 2006A 2006A 2010 2006A 2006A 2010 2802C 2802C 2010
No. 19 6 23 (pair 14) 25 (pair 10) 3 (pair 2) 25 (pair 14) 24 (pair 10) 4 (pair 2) 21 e1 L1–6 e1 L2–10 4

Type Incl. in opx Lamella Atg rpl. Ol Liz rpl. Ol Liz + br Opx cleavage

SiO2 40.35 41.05 54.89 54.95 55.68 52.20 52.84 52.45 41.85 41.76 37.34 39.40
TiO2 0.04 0.05 n.d. 0.02 0.08 0.09 0.17 0.25 b0.01 n.d. n.d. 0.03
Al2O3 b0.01 n.d. 3.85 4.70 4.26 4.86 3.36 4.36 0.04 0.22 n.d. 3.55
FeO* 9.53 8.96 6.30 6.19 6.15 2.42 2.28 2.20 4.02 3.83 5.90 6.35
MnO 0.16 0.15 0.24 0.24 0.22 0.20 0.06 0.10 0.11 0.04 0.10 0.14
MgO 50.02 49.42 33.50 32.13 32.14 16.15 16.14 15.68 37.94 38.63 40.82 33.78
CaO 0.03 0.01 0.68 0.49 0.57 21.81 23.41 23.52 0.14 0.06 0.09 0.90
Na2O n.d. n.d. 0.06 0.01 0.01 0.87 0.20 0.24 0.02 0.01 n.d. 0.04
K2O n.d. n.d. n.d. n.d. 0.00 0.01 n.d. 0.02 0.03 0.02 n.d. 0.04
Cr2O3 n.d. 0.00 0.41 0.68 0.58 0.80 0.48 0.81 n.d. b0.01 n.d. 0.26
NiO 0.32 0.34 0.16 0.02 0.12 n.d. 0.02 0.06 n.d. 0.05 0.30 0.02
Total 100.44 99.98 100.10 99.41 99.80 99.41 98.96 99.69 84.15 84.60 84.57 84.50

Normalization 4 oxygens 6 oxygens 6 oxygens 5 cations 7 oxygen (if Fe3+ b 0, then Fe3+ = 0)

Si 0.99 1.00 1.90 1.91 1.92 1.90 1.94 1.91 2.03 2.02 1.85 1.94
Ti 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Al 0.00 0.00 0.16 0.19 0.17 0.21 0.15 0.19 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.21
Fe3+ – – – – – – – – – – – –
Fe2+ 0.19 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.16 0.15 0.25 0.26
Mn 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01
Mg 1.82 1.80 1.73 1.66 1.66 0.88 0.88 0.85 2.75 2.78 3.02 2.48
Ca 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.85 0.92 0.92 0.01 0.00 0.01 0.05
Na 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 0.01 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
K 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Cr 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01
Ni 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00
Total cations 3.01 3.00 4.02 3.99 3.98 4.01 3.99 3.99 4.97 4.98 5.15 4.94
XMg† 0.903 0.908 0.905 0.903 0.903 0.922 0.927 0.927 0.944 0.947 0.925 0.905
T [°C]‡ 929 905 889 929 905 889

Zone Serpentine Chlorite Brucite Sodian tremolite Cr-spinel Magnetite

Central core Core/rim reaction front Central core Central core Central core Zone Central core Central core

Sample ID 2010B 2802C 2802C 2802C 2802C 2802C 2802C 2802C Sample ID 2802C 2010
No. e2 p6 e7 p18 e6 p13 e10 p4 e7 p12 e9 p5 17 e6 p15 No. e4 p1 18
Type Liz rpl. opx Liz rpl. Liz rpl. Liz rpl. after br Srndg. sp + Br + mag Opx fracture Type Br + mag
ol opx cpx vein mag vein vein

SiO2 40.93 38.19 34.83 36.32 37.77 28.80 0.20 49.72 SiO2 n.d. 0.02
TiO2 0.02 n.d. 0.12 0.17 0.02 n.d. n.d. 0.05 TiO2 0.03 n.d.
Al2O3 2.38 0.62 4.67 2.57 0.95 21.26 0.02 3.61 Al2O3 54.43 b0.01
FeO 5.24 6.38 8.88 9.71 9.51 4.61 19.29 6.30 FeO 13.91 95.23
MnO 0.10 0.09 0.23 0.13 0.17 n.d. 0.49 0.16 MnO 0.10 n.d.
MgO 36.77 37.95 33.80 34.04 35.57 30.46 54.60 23.52 MgO 18.76 0.07
CaO 0.20 0.07 0.04 0.13 0.04 0.01 n.d. 8.10 CaO n.d. 0.05
Na2O 0.01 0.00 n.d. 0.02 n.d. n.d. b0.01 3.07 Na2O 0.04 0.02
K2O 0.03 n.d. n.d. 0.04 n.d. 0.01 n.d. 0.23 K2O n.d. n.d.
Cr2O3 0.21 0.03 0.86 0.58 n.d. 0.04 n.d. 0.51 Cr2O3 13.87 n.d.
NiO 0.06 0.47 0.05 0.10 0.04 n.d. n.d. 0.03 NiO 0.30 b0.01
Total 85.96 83.80 83.48 83.81 84.08 85.18 74.61 95.30 Total 101.46 95.39

Normalization 5 cations 7 oxygen (if Fe3+ b 0, then Fe3+ = 0) 14 oxygen 1 oxygen 23 oxygen** Cations per 3 cations & 4 oxygens

Si 1.96 1.88 1.76 1.83 1.89 1.40 0.00 7.20 Si 0.00 0.00
Ti 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 Ti 0.00 0.00
Al 0.13 0.04 0.28 0.15 0.06 1.21 0.00 0.62 Al 1.67 0.00
Fe3+ – 0.20 0.17 0.16 0.17 – – – Fe3+ 0.04 2.00
Fe2+ 0.21 0.07 0.21 0.25 0.23 0.19 0.16 0.76 Fe2+ 0.26 0.99
Mn 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 Mn 0.00 0.00
Mg 2.63 2.79 2.54 2.56 2.65 2.20 0.83 5.08 Mg 0.73 0.00
Ca 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.26 Ca 0.00 0.00
Na 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.86 Na 0.00 0.00
K 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.04 K 0.00 0.00
Cr 0.01 0.00 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.06 Cr 0.29 0.00
Ni 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Ni 0.01 0.00
Total cations 4.97 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 5.00 1.00 15.91 Total 3.00 3.00
cations

XMg 0.926 0.914 0.872 0.862 0.870 0.922 0.835 0.869 Mg#§ 73.8 –
T [°C]

*: Total iron as FeO; †: XMg = Mg / (Mg + Fetot); ‡: Two pyroxene thermometry (Wells, 1977); §: Mg# = Mg / (Mg + Fe2+) × 100; n.d., not determined; incl. inclusion; rpl.: replacing;
srndg.: surrounding; **: Assuming no Fe3+. Due to small grain size, this sodian tremolite composition might be affected by surrounding serpentine grains.
284 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292

Table 2
Representative bulk-rock major element composition of the selected samples (wt%). Compositions are normalized as 100 wt%.

Sample ID Central core Block rim Mélange matrix

RW12082010 RW12082007A RW12082019C RW12082022C RW12082022R RW12082011 RW13090805 RW12081906 RW13090808

SiO2 46.15 48.48 46.34 46.29 46.62 45.35 46.51 44.59 45.23
TiO2 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.01 n.d. b0.01
Al2O3 2.29 2.04 1.26 1.67 1.95 1.90 0.78 0.56 0.80
FeOa 7.98 8.63 7.89 10.67 10.48 9.49 8.72 6.04 8.11
MnO 0.13 0.14 0.13 0.10 0.14 0.14 0.10 0.09 0.13
MgO 42.21 39.37 42.99 41.25 40.75 43.05 41.31 39.47 45.70
CaO 1.09 1.28 1.37 0.00 0.03 0.05 2.49 9.24 0.02
Na2O 0.08 0.01 n.d. b0.01 n.d. n.d. 0.06 n.d. b0.01
K2O 0.05 b0.01 b0.01 b0.01 b0.01 0.01 b0.01 b0.01 n.d.
P2O5 b0.01 0.01 b0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 b0.01 b0.01
Total 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
LOI 11.60 12.74 11.28 13.85 13.43 13.39 14.64 17.26 16.11
a
: All iron oxides are assumed as FeO; n.d., not detected.

5.3. Flakey polished and sheared skins 5.5. The stage domain boundaries

The flakey polished and sheared skins are composed mostly of
lizardite ± chrysotile. The XRD analyses also indicate the existence of
very small amounts of magnetite and ferrihydrite (Fig. 4b). There is no
mesh structure or bastite in the skin (Fig. 3g). Absence of magnetite,
mesh structure and bastite indicate that lizardite in the skin has precip-
itated from fluids probably originating from outside the blocks. Al-
though radial veins cut part of the skins nearest to the rim, these veins
do not disrupt the outer layers of lizardite skin (Fig. 3g).
The shape of the stage A → B boundaries are very sharp: all the oliv-
ine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and brucite disappear in the reac-
tion front of ~500 μm in width (Fig. 3a and e). The reaction fronts are
parallel to the block surfaces. The width of the reaction zone (block
rim width) ranges 7–10 cm and is largely uniform in the RCS blocks.
5.6. Silica-carbonate rocks

The silica-carbonate rocks are composed of quartz, magnesite, dolo-

5.4. Mélange matrix
The mélange matrix is composed of phacoids and sheared, fine-
grained fragments of lizardite, magnetite and spinel, as well as some
carbonate and ferrihydrite. The microstructure can be observable for
samples collected from freshest outcrop of mélange matrix (Fig. 3h
and i). They are extensively fractured with shear deformation, forming
mm- to μm-sized grain fragments (Fig. 3h). Some microfracture is
filled with carbonate, while others are mainly filled with lizardite
(Fig. 3i). The bulk CaO contents of the mélange matrix are variable, rang-
ing from 0.0–9.2 wt% (Table 2).
mite, Cr-spinel and minor pentlandite. These rocks are heavily veined
with both quartz veins and dolomite veins.
5.7. Exotic blueschist blocks
The exotic blueschist blocks vary from highly schistosed blueschist
to massive blueschist with original volcanoclastic textures. The
schistosed blueschist block is composed of lawsonite porphyroblasts,
omphacite grains largely replaced by glaucophane and pumpellyite,
phengite, sphene, and Fe-Ti oxides ±quartz. Lawsonite porphyroblasts
contain omphacite and epidote inclusions. Jadeite locally occur as

(a) 1
(b) 1
Olivine-spinel mantle array

IBM forearc peridotite

0.8 0.8 IBM forearc peridotite

0.6 0.6
Cr#
Cr#

0.4 South Sandwich 0.4 South Sandwich

forearc peridotite forearc peridotite

Stonyford CRO peridotite

0.2 0.2
Abyssal peridotite
Abyssal peridotite Stonyford CRO peridotite
0 0
1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0.95 0.90 0.85
Mg# Fo

Fig. 5. Mineral chemistry of Cr-spinel and olivine. (a) Plot of Mg# [=Mg/(Mg + Fe2+)] and Cr# [=Cr/(Cr + Al)] in Cr-spinel. (b) Plot of Cr# of spinel and Fo content of coexisting olivine.
Olivine-spinel mantle array is from Arai (1994). Data sources: Abyssal peridotite (Dick and Bullen, 1984); Izu-Bonin-Mariana (IBM) peridotite (Arai and Ishimaru, 2007 and references
therein); South Sandwich arc peridotite (Pearce et al., 2000); Stonyford CRO peridotite (Choi et al., 2008b).
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292 285

Table 3
Bulk-rock trace element composition of the samples (ppm).

Sample RW13082801 RW RW13082803 RW13082414 RW12082022 RW13090501 RW13090808 TAB D.L.

ID KU2

Sub ID A B C D A B C

Zone Central core Central Central Reaction Inner Outer Central Inner Outer Phacoid Mélange Mélange
core core front rim rim core rim rim (Rim) matrix matrix

Li 5.16 4.34 3.02 3.35 3.49 2.78 5.29 5.22 4.12 2.05 1.30 0.452 0.0004 b0.0001
B 1.17 0.765 0.841 0.879 0.567 0.666 0.812 0.959 0.728 0.995 1.34 0.852 0.0797 0.0406
Sc 4.82 10.8 8.82 13.3 12.2 15.5 6.00 9.81 10.5 15.5 9.76 12.9 0.0011 0.0005
Cu 11.7 16.7 15.7 16.1 12.9 20.0 8.83 12.2 11.1 22.2 15.4 6.54 0.0054 0.0002
Zn 39.0 45.6 44.8 53.5 60.2 62.9 44.8 58.9 60.6 76.2 57.3 38.3 0.0217 0.0068
Rb 0.204 0.721 0.202 0.239 0.0774 0.0503 1.18 0.488 0.244 0.0362 0.0251 0.0059 0.0002 0.0002
Sr 2.11 7.48 2.70 7.84 7.98 1.83 5.20 3.30 4.99 0.947 0.787 2.10 0.0004 0.0001
Y 0.160 1.12 0.964 1.21 1.18 1.37 0.578 0.694 0.754 0.552 0.367 0.112 b0.0001 b0.0001
Zr 0.334 0.0645 0.0575 0.0641 0.0670 0.0792 0.0243 0.0307 0.0586 0.0392 0.786 0.0282 0.0011 0.0012
Nb 0.0077 0.0074 0.0068 0.0077 0.0097 0.0102 0.0076 0.0093 0.0090 0.0117 0.0126 0.0097 b0.0001 0.0004
Sn 0.0163 0.0110 0.0134 0.0180 0.0193 0.0211 0.0195 0.0342 0.0336 0.0265 0.0311 0.0135 0.0048 0.0011
Cs 0.121 0.588 0.128 0.143 0.0251 0.0187 0.662 0.175 0.0599 0.0122 0.0066 0.0009 b0.0001 b0.0001
Ba 0.349 1.89 0.545 2.84 2.89 1.26 1.76 0.579 0.586 1.08 0.621 0.763 0.0016 0.0020
La 0.0047 0.0018 0.0012 0.0011 0.0020 0.0025 0.0008 0.0079 0.0080 0.0063 0.176 0.0007 b0.0001 b0.0001
Ce 0.0203 0.0029 0.0023 0.0028 0.0039 0.0045 0.0015 0.0146 0.0158 0.0016 0.203 0.0012 0.0001 b0.0001
Pr 0.0048 0.0015 0.0013 0.0011 0.0016 0.0018 0.0007 0.0022 0.0026 0.0005 0.0220 0.0005 b0.0001 b0.0001
Nd 0.0312 0.0190 0.0162 0.0163 0.0164 0.0221 0.0022 0.0090 0.0134 0.0029 0.0815 n.d. b0.0001 0.0006
Sm 0.0141 0.0330 0.0267 0.0284 0.0325 0.0373 0.0069 0.0076 0.0112 0.0085 0.0170 0.0020 b0.0001 0.0003
Eu 0.0048 0.0144 0.0128 0.0144 0.0146 0.0145 0.0044 0.0059 0.0065 0.0030 0.0140 0.0007 b0.0001 b0.0001
Gd 0.0173 0.0709 0.0605 0.0725 0.0736 0.0879 0.0226 0.0293 0.0345 0.0280 0.0247 0.0023 b0.0001 0.0005
Tb 0.0040 0.0194 0.0171 0.0205 0.0209 0.0246 0.0084 0.0097 0.0115 0.0089 0.0063 0.0013 b0.0001 b0.0001
Dy 0.0268 0.159 0.142 0.168 0.172 0.201 0.0753 0.0874 0.0982 0.0771 0.0456 0.0111 b0.0001 0.0004
Ho 0.0060 0.0393 0.0348 0.0432 0.0437 0.0506 0.0205 0.0242 0.0272 0.0210 0.0130 0.0037 b0.0001 b0.0001
Er 0.0195 0.129 0.110 0.146 0.144 0.168 0.0745 0.0898 0.0905 0.0788 0.0493 0.0194 b0.0001 0.0001
Tm 0.0033 0.0208 0.0191 0.0240 0.0239 0.0264 0.0129 0.0152 0.0163 0.0141 0.0094 0.0040 b0.0001 b0.0001
Yb 0.0239 0.145 0.127 0.171 0.167 0.186 0.0959 0.112 0.117 0.100 0.0746 0.0377 b0.0001 0.0004
Lu 0.0049 0.0239 0.0216 0.0278 0.0270 0.0304 0.0159 0.0199 0.0195 0.0180 0.0146 0.0074 b0.0001 0.0001
Hf 0.0142 0.0163 0.0117 0.0149 0.0143 0.0154 0.0034 0.0033 0.0034 0.0037 0.0335 0.0073 b0.0001 0.0012
Ta 0.0048 0.0034 0.0033 0.0021 0.0028 0.0021 0.0029 0.0018 0.0021 0.0014 0.0013 0.0055 b0.0001 0.0001
Pb 0.0277 0.0336 0.0224 0.0274 0.0275 0.408 0.0222 1.76 3.31 0.0236 0.0499 0.373 0.0005 0.0001
Th 0.0011 0.0009 0.0009 0.0007 0.0006 0.0006 0.0005 0.0015 0.0032 0.0005 0.0016 0.0015 b0.0001 0.0002
U 0.0004 0.0006 0.0002 0.0003 0.0007 0.0021 0.0002 0.0086 0.0317 0.0010 0.0042 0.0003 b0.0001 b0.0001

TAB, total analytical blank; D.L., detection limit; n.d., not detected;

veins, containing omphacite inclusions. Alignment of glaucophane and
phengite grains define the schistosity.
5.8. Exotic crystalline antigorite rocks
The exotic crystalline antigorite rocks only occur at locations close
to blueschist exotic blocks. They are different mineralogy and micro-
structure from the other main serpentinite lithology mentioned
above. The rock is massive with mineral assemblage of antigorite +
magnetite. It is composed of crystalline antigorite of 10–500 μm in
size, that are randomly interpenetrating with each other. Antigorite
peaks are clearly observed for both Raman spectra and X-ray
diffractions.
6. Trace element compositions of the serpentinites
The bulk trace element concentrations of the RCS samples are
given in Table 3. The CI chondrite-normalized multi-element var-
iation diagrams for these samples display relatively steep rare
earth element (REE) patterns (Fig. 6a), characterized by high
heavy-REE (HREE) and low light-REE (LREE) concentrations com-
pared to abyssal peridotite/serpentinite (Deschamps et al., 2013;
Niu, 2004). The REE patterns lacks LREE enrichments, or
refertilization, and are consistent with melting residue origin of
the original peridotite (e.g., Niu, 2004). The RCS samples are char-
acterized low LREE/HREE ratios, positive Pb and Sr anomalies, high
Cs and Rb concentrations, and lack of Eu anomalies (Fig. 6b). Espe-
cially, core samples (solid lines with bluish colors on Fig. 6)
exhibit very high Cs and Rb concentrations (N0.12 and N
0.20 ppm) and lack any U anomalies. Rim samples (greenish
colors on Fig. 6) show lower Cs and Rb, and higher U and Pb ±
LREE concentrations compared to their corresponding core sam-
ples. Middle-REE (MREE) and HREE are also slightly enriched in
the rim compared to the corresponding core samples by factors
of 1.2–1.5.
7. Reactions and mass transport at the block domains
7.1. Lizardite/antigorite-forming central core reactions
Different XMg of serpentine minerals around olivine and
orthopyroxene suggest that serpentinization reactions are different be-
tween the olivine and orthopyroxene (Fig. 7a). Similar XMg of
orthopyroxene with that of serpentine in orthopyroxene cleavages
(XMg ~0.91) suggest that silica is released during serpentinization reac-
tions. On the other hand, the higher XMg of antigorite (~0.94) than that
of olivine (~0.91), and the formation of Fe-rich brucite (~0.84) and mag-
netite suggest that olivine breaks down to antigorite plus brucite and
magnetite. Based on these compositions of serpentine minerals, the fol-
lowing 3-step serpentinization reactions are described for the central
core in the MgO–FeO–SiO2–H2O–O2 system:
Breakdown of olivine into antigorite and brucite plus magnetite
(R1):
ðMg0:90 Fe0:10 Þ2 SiO4 þ 1:46 H2 O
olivine fluid
286 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292

(a) La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb Lu (b)

Sm

Tm
b

o
s

y
Ba

Pb

Eu

Yb
Th

Ta
La

Tb

Lu
f
Pr
Sr

Er
Zr

G
C
R

U
N

H
Y
10 100
Forearc serpentinites RW13082801 : Core
(Deschamps et al., 2013) RW KU2 : Core
Abbyssal serpentinites
Abbyssal peridotite/serpentinites (Niu et al., 2004) RW13082803A : Core
B : Core-rim transition

Sample / Primitive mantle

10 C : Inner rim
Sample / CI Chondrite

1 D : Outer rim
RW13082414A : Core
B : Inner rim
C : Outer rim
1 RW12082022 : Phacoid (rim)
0.1

0.1

0.01
0.01

0.001 0.001

Fig. 6. Bulk rock trace element concentrations for the Redwood City serpentinites. (a) REE concentrations normalized to CI chondrite values. (b) Trace element concentrations normalized
to primitive mantle values. CI chondrite and primitive mantle values are from of Sun and McDonough (1989). For comparisons with the RCS data, we show as pink, brown and gray fields
the published forearc serpentinites and abyssal serpentinites from Deschamps et al. (Deschamps et al., 2013), and the abyssal peridotite/serpentinites from Niu et al. (2004), respectively.

→0:5 ðMg0:95 Fe0:05 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ 0:45 ðMg0:84 Fe0:16 ÞðOHÞ2 þ 0:018 Fe3 O4 þ 0:018 H2
antigorite brucite magnetite fluid

Breakdown of orthopyroxene (R2)

peridotite minerals was estimated to be ol:opx:cpx = 59:37:4, which
3 ðMg0:9 Fe0:1 ÞSiO3 þ 2 H2 O → ðMg0:9 Fe0:1 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ SiO2 ðaqÞ is a clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite. These reactions involve large
orthopyroxene fluid serpentine in bastite fluid solid volume change of approximately +30%.
The Cs, Rb, Pb and Sr anomalies observed for central core samples on
Breakdown of brucite by reaction with SiO2 (aq) from reaction R2 the primitive mantle-normalized multi-element variation diagrams
(R3) (Fig. 6b) suggest addition of these elements during these lizardite/
antigorite-forming central core reactions.
ðMg0:84 Fe0:16 ÞðOHÞ2 þ 0:59 SiO2 ðaqÞ
brucite fluid
7.2. Central core → block rim reactions
→0:29 ðMg0:95 Fe0:05 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ 0:039 Fe3 O4 þ 0:41 H2 O þ 0:039H2
serpentine magnetite fluids Bulk-rock composition of the central core and block rim show similar
(Mg + Fe)/Si ratios, but with different Ca contents (Fig. 7b). In the central
Based on the modal percent of the minerals in cores (ol 5.8; opx core, Ca is hosted by clinopyroxene, and lesser amount by
18.2; cpx 4.5; atg 59.5; br 6.5; mag 2.4; chl 3.1) and assuming a closed orthopyroxene, whereas there are almost no calcium-bearing phases in
system reaction except for H2O and H2, the original modal amount of the block rim. Mélange matrix shows variable Ca contents, and bears

(a) Si (b) Si
Mg# = 91
Mg# =

Mg# = 94

liz in block rim

8

Block rim
5

opx
Central core
serpentine
serpentine around olivine
in opx crack
olivine

magnetite Melange matrix

Fe×10 brucite Mg Mg+Fe Ca×20

Fig. 7. Mineral and bulk chemistry of the serpentinite. (a) Mg–Fe–Si diagrams for minerals in central core. (b) Mg + Fe–Ca–Si diagram of the bulk chemistry and mineral chemistry of the
central core, block rim, and mélange matrix, showing the chemical changes forming the block rim. See text for explanations. Abbreviations: srp, serpentine; atg, antigorite; lz, lizardite; brc,
brucite.
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292 287

carbonates. These relations indicate that reaction from the central core to
the block rim had occurred under open system associated with mass →0:33 ðMg0:86 Fe0:14 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ 0:003 Fe3 O4 þ 0:34 H2 O
transport of CaO to the outside of the block. Trace element compositional serpentine magnetite fluid
changes between the central core and the block rim suggest removal of
Cs, Rb, ±Ba, and addition of U, Th, and LREE during the reactions.
At the reaction front of the central core → block rim, all olivine,
orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and brucite are consumed to form
lizardite + magnetite. Based on these mineral compositions, simplified
reactions may be written as follows:
Breakdown of olivine into lizardite and magnetite (R4):

ðMg0:90 Fe0:10 Þ2 SiO4 þ 0:31 SiO2 ðaqÞ þ 1:31 H2 O þ 0:007 O2

olivine fluids

→0:65 ðMg0:92 Fe0:08 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ 0:013 Fe3 O4

lizardite magnetite

Breakdown of orthopyroxene to form bastite domains (R5):

3ðMg0:9 Fe0:1 ÞSiO3 þ 2H2 O → ðMg0:9 Fe0:1 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ SiO2 ðaqÞ
orthopyroxene fluid serpentine fluid

Breakdown of clinopyroxene to form bastite domains (R6):

CaðMg0:93 Fe0:07 ÞSi2 O6 þ 0:026 Fe3 O4 þ 1:71 H2 O

clinopyroxene magnetite fluid

→0:36 ðMg0:87 Fe0:13 Þ3 Si2 O5 ðOHÞ4 þ 1:28 SiO2 ðaqÞ þ CaðOHÞ2 ðaqÞ þ 0:013 O2
serpentine fluids

Breakdown of brucite by reaction with SiO2(aq) (R7):

ðMg0:84 Fe0:16 ÞðOHÞ2 þ 0:66 SiO2 ðaqÞ þ 0:002 O2

brucite fluids

Fig. 8. Inferred P–T path of the Redwood City serpentinite. The region A, B and C indicate
the P–T conditions for stage A (lizardite/antigorite + brucite + magnetite
serpentinization), stage B (lizardite + magnetite serpentinization) and stage C (lizardite Fig. 9. Schematic diagrams showing in stages how an aqueous-fluid-mediated fracture
system can lead to polygonal blocks shape, block rim formation, sheared lizardite skins,
skin formation), respectively. Phase diagrams for peridotite were calculated by Perplex
and sheared matrix in the Redwood City Serpentinite. Yellow arrows indicate the
(Connolly, 2005). The reaction boundaries for atg = lz + tlc and atg + brc = lz are
from (Evans, 2004). The gray arrows indicate P–T paths of exotic blueschist, eclogite and direction of lizardite + magnetite serpentinization. See txt for additional explanation.
garnet-amphibolite blocks in Franciscan serpentinites: J, Jenner (Krogh et al., 1994); T,
Tiburon (Tsujimori et al., 2006); N, New Idria (Tsujimori et al., 2007). The gray square is
the P–T conditions of blueschist overprinting in New Idria (Tsujimori et al., 2007).
288 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
(a) Stage A: Hydration at wedge mantle during active subduction
0 km
Crust CRO
lz/atg+brc serpentinite atg serpentinite lithospheric
mantle
A Considering the RCS body includes exotic blocks of blueschist and
Blueschist
Wedge mantle
Subducting slab
Eclogite
100 km
(b) Stage B&C: Mobilized by high-fluid pressure and open system hydraion within crust
Coast Range &
San Andreas Fault System
0 km C
B&C
Crust
lz serpentinite B
Mantle
Fossil slab
100 km
Fig. 10. Schematic diagram depicting the mineralogical structure of the California margin
during past subduction and after the end of subduction. The mineralogical structures
shown here are based on the P–T diagram of Fig. 8. The blue arrows represent up-dip path-
ways for fluids derived from the dehydration of the slab crust. (a) Stage A: Hydration at the
wedge mantle during active subduction. (b) Stages B and C: Hydration after the creation of
the San Andreas Fault System. Serpentinite bodies are mobilized by release of water from
the base of the serpentinized forearc mantle wedge caused by the slow warming of the
serpentinite wedge over time.
Note that these reactions are approximated in Si–Fe–Mg–Ca–H–O
system under the assumption of closed system for MgO and FeO, and
open system for SiO2, CaO, H2O, O2.
The reaction front of the Stage A → B boundary is approximately par-
allel to the block boundary, indicating that the reaction is limited by ma-
terial transport of water into the block from outside the block surface
and migration of CaO and other solutes out of the blocks.
8. P–T conditions for the formation of the block domains
The cooling temperature using the two pyroxene geothermometers
of Wells (1977) give ranges of 908–951 °C for rims of clinopyroxene-
orthopyroxene grain pairs that share grain boundaries, 885–921 °C for
clinopyroxene exsolution lamellas in orthopyroxene, and 872–925 °C
for clinopyroxene inclusions and lamellas in orthopyroxene, all consis-
tent with cooling of the peridotite. At ~900 °C inferred from the above
geothermometers, spinel is the Al-bearing phase stable at pressures of
0.5 to 1.4 GPa, according to the pseudosection modelling of the core ma-
terial (Fig. 8).
Based on the stability fields of antigorite + brucite assemblage, the
temperature of the antigorite forming reaction is restricted to
250–500 °C for 0–2 GPa (Fig. 8). Formation of mixtures of the lizardite
+ antigorite assemblage is probable in this temperature range, as is ev-
idenced that the lizardite + antigorite assemblage with limited occur-
rences of antigorite is also reported in the range of 0.9–1.1 GPa,
320–360 °C at southwestern Alps (Schwartz et al., 2013). For higher
temperature and pressure conditions, antigorite crystals are highly
ordered at southwestern Alps (i.e., 1.2–1.3 GPa, 450 ± 40 °C; Auzende
et al., 2006; Schwartz et al., 2013). Based on the stability of lizardite
(Evans, 2004), the lizardite-and-magnetite-forming reaction in rim ma-
terial is inferred to be at b300 °C (Fig. 8).
garnet-amphibolite, the P–T path of this body should coincide with
part of the P–T path of these exotic blocks from their source to the sur-
face. A blueschist-facies overprint is commonly observed for eclogite
and garnet-amphibolite exotic blocks in Franciscan serpentinite, and
the P–T conditions for this blueschist re-crystallization is estimated to
be N1.0 GPa and ~350 °C (Krogh et al., 1994; Tsujimori et al., 2007;
Wakabayashi, 1999). The mineral assemblage of exotic blueschist
blocks in RCS (lawsonite, omphacite, glaucophane, pumpellyite,
phengite, jadeite) is consistent with that observed for blueschist over-
print on eclogite in New Idria (Tsujimori et al., 2007). At these P–T con-
ditions, the P–T paths of eclogite, garnet-amphibolite and blueschist
merge to a single cooling decompression P–T path (Fig. 8). This P–T con-
dition coincides with the lizardite/antigorite + brucite stability of the
RCS, suggesting that these blocks are incorporated into RCS near the
lizardite/antigorite + brucite core material stage (Fig. 8). This stage is
followed by cooling decompression to form lizardite + magnetite pe-
ripheral rims at b300 °C (Fig. 8).
9. Multiple stages of serpentinization of the RCS
Above observations and discussions enable us to resolve the follow-
ing three stages of serpentinization with different reactions, hydrother-
mal activities and deformation (Fig. 9).
Stage A: In-situ mantle alteration by long-term water migration into
peridotite. The formation of olivine/antigorite-lizardite mesh structure
coupled with brucite/magnetite vein fillings are ubiquitous structures
found in fresh core material in serpentinite blocks collected widely in
the RCS. This alteration mineralogy is widely interpreted as a deep-
seated mantle alteration (Fig. 9). Blueschist and garnet-amphibolite ex-
otic blocks had been incorporated to RCS at this stage (Fig. 10a). We
infer that the fluid/rock ratio at this stage was relatively small, as
shown by the incomplete serpentinization and by the reactions occur-
ring in a close system, except for H2O. Presence of awaruite and pent-
landite indicate that this serpentinization occurred under reducing
conditions. This stage may correspond to the hydration at the mantle
wedge during active subduction in which blueschist, garnet-
amphibolite and other exotic blocks had formed (Fig. 10a).
Stage B: The most straightforward interpretation of the polygonal
shape of the RC serpentinite blocks and the parallelism with the core-
to-rim reaction boundaries is that these structures originated by the for-
mation of a system of largely planar fractures that were enabled by
high-pressure water (Fig. 9a). This water diffused or migrated along ra-
dial fractures with the A → B reaction front into the blocks at crustal con-
ditions where the lizardite + magnetite rim assemblage was stable
(Fig. 9b). Block polygonal boundaries were approximately coincident
with these fractures and were also zones of continuing weakness. The
reticulate radial veins formed due to the volumetric strains accompany-
ing the A → B reaction and are largely filled with lizardite (e.g., O'Hanley,
1992). This stage had occurred under crustal temperature conditions
(Fig. 10b). Fluid/rock ratios at this stage increased from earlier stages,
as evidenced by polygonal fractures sealed with lizardite skin, complete
serpentinization and open system reactions for CaO and H2O. This
serpentinization stage occurred under relatively oxidizing conditions,
as suggested by Fe3+ bearing lizardite composition (Table 1).
Stage C: The serpentinite body begins to deform, the blocks begin to
disaggregate, shear occurs caused by relative block motion, and lizardite
growth occurs under hydrothermal conditions, producing the polished
skins (Fig. 9c). Stage B and C overlapped to some extent because the ra-
dial veins, consequent to the volume change of the internal B → C reac-
tion, often penetrate the inner layers of lizardite skin, but these veins do
not cut the outer part of the skins (Fig. 3g). The truncation of some radial
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
veins by the lizardite skin suggests that some degree of rim material was
subject to dissolution and contributed to the solute content of the hy-
drothermal fluids forming the skin. Phacoids in the matrix around the
serpentinite blocks also typically show development of polished
lizardite skins. This deformation stage probably developed during part
of the ascent and emplacement of the RCS (Fig. 10b). Superimposed
on these metamorphic structures at the outcrops is a presumably late-
stage brittle deformation and low-temperature weathering that varies
in its intensity from place to place and is especially prominent near
the sheared RCS contacts with the surrounding Franciscan and other
rocks.
10. Implications and remaining questions for origins, fluid source
and emplacement mechanisms of RCS
The multiple stages of serpentinization recorded in the serpentinite
blocks of the RCS invite interpretation of these fascinating rocks on a
larger scale. Several critical questions are relevant:
(1) What was the nature of the mantle from which these rocks were
derived?
Coleman (2000) and Page et al. (1999) have reviewed some of the
potential origins of mantle rocks found among the ultramafic bodies
in California. Specific to our discussion are questions concerning the or-
igin of the peridotite and serpentine in the RCS serpentinite blocks. Was
it originally part of the mantle forearc present during the subduction
phase of the California margin or was it included with the accretion of
the Franciscan complex oceanic crust, or was the forearc mantle in Cal-
ifornia itself built by Franciscan crust and mantle accretion or by earlier
accretion events? The composition of spinel grains in partially
serpentinized core materials described earlier suggest a mantle source
for RCS blocks from oceanic lithosphere (abyssal) peridotite, but this
finding does not discriminate among the possible mantle sources listed
above.
Although off-scrapped subducting lithospheric origin is not ruled
out, we propose that the original peridotite of RCS was derived from fer-
tile part of forearc lithospheric mantle by the following reasons: (a) It is
widely accepted that forearc lithosphere during the Franciscan subduc-
tion (i.e., 160–100 Ma) was composed of Coast Range Ophiolite (CRO),
which had emplaced to western California at round ~160 Ma by either
accretion or obduction (e.g., Shervais et al., 2005; Wakabayashi et al.,
2010). The mantle peridotite in CRO exhibits diverse mineralogy and
chemistry from refractory harzburgites related to supra-subduction
zone (SSZ) setting, to fertile abyssal peridotite that is the remnant of
oceanic lithosphere (Choi et al., 2008a, 2008b). Therefore, it is reason-
able to assume there are some part of forearc lithospheric mantle that
remain abyssal signatures during the Franciscan subduction. (b) The
compositional ranges of Cr-spinel and olivine in the RCS are similar to
those observed in the mantle peridotite in Stonyford of CRO (Fig. 5a
and b). Such wide compositional variations for forearc mantle are also
observed for other subduction zone systems (Fig. 5b; e.g., Arai et al.,
2018; Pearce et al., 2000; Uysal et al., 2012). (c) The compositions of
central core of the RCS lacks U and Eu anomalies that commonly occur
in abyssal serpentinite (Deschamps et al., 2013) and have much higher
Cs and Rb concentrations than the compositional ranges of abyssal
serpentinite (Fig. 6b). These features support that Stage A
serpentinization have occurred at forearc mantle. The forearc
serpentinization is also supported by the relatively low δ11B of the RCS
(Yamada et al., 2019). Therefore, we propose that the RCS was derived
from the remnant of fertile abyssal peridotite that emplaced in the
forearc lithospheric mantle as CRO, and was subject to Stage A
serpentinization at forearc lithosphere. An alternative possibility is
that RCS peridotite was derived from the off-scraped oceanic litho-
sphere of the Franciscan subduction (Coleman, 2000), which can also
explain the fertile nature of the RCS. In either case, the absence of U
289
and Eu anomalies and strong Cs and Rb enrichments in the central
core of the RCS favors Stage A serpentinization at forearc.
(2) What was the source of water that led to serpentinization of the
RCS and related phenomena?
The ubiquitous presence of hydrothermal vein fillings as solute-
filled opening–mode fractures in RCS core and rim requires a source of
water at pressures near lithostatic in the crust as do the possible
serpentinite emplacement mechanisms discussed shortly. Sources in
the crust caused by crustal heating (and dehydration) from slab gap sce-
narios of California margin evolution appear to provide insufficient fluid
flux to cause to high fluid pressures approaching lithostatic (Fulton
et al., 2009). On the other hand, thermo-mineralogical models of
water evolution from a posited dehydrating serpentinized forearc man-
tle after subduction ceases (Kirby et al., 2014) can provide the necessary
fluid flux and elevated pressures, as indicated by thermo-hydrological
modelling (Fulton and Saffer, 2009) (Fig. 10b).
(3) By what process did the RCS rocks come to the Earth's surface?
Was it thrust up from mantle depths during Franciscan accretion
(Wakabayashi, 2004) or thrust up during the post-subduction
transpressive kinematics of the San Andreas Fault System (Jones et al.,
1994)? Was it driven in part by the large Stage A to Stage B volume
change and consequent pressure gradients that operate at the micro-
scopic scale of the serpentine mesh (Plümper et al., 2012) and the
crustal scale (c.f., Kelemen et al., 2011), or was it driven by the buoyancy
of low-density serpentinites as diapirs (e.g., Coleman, 2000; Tsujimori
et al., 2007) or was it cold-injected into dikes and sills along zones of
weakness? Extensive publications by the USGS from the late 1930's to
the 1960's in connection with investigations of mercury mines showed
that for these serpentinites, sheared contact relations were consistent
with cold serpentinite intrusions as sills, dikes, or plugs (e.g., Bailey
and Everhart, 1964; Coleman, 1977, Coleman, 1971; Dickinson, 1966;
Lockwood, 1972; Murata et al., 1979; Page et al., 1999; Taliaferro,
1943; Turner and Verhoogen, 1951). Was weathering of low-
temperature assemblages to mud also important in allowing shallow as-
cent through some cold feeder dikes and pipes followed by eruption on
the surface (e.g., Dickinson, 1966; Fryer et al., 1999; Wakabayashi,
2012)? A related question is what caused the high apparent mobility
(weak rheology) of serpentine during its pathway through the crust?
The high friction coefficient under dry conditions and the high ductile
strengths of fluid-absent lizardite and antigorite are consequent to the
limited slip systems of these layer silicates under dry conditions as
well of the bond strengths of these phyllosilicates that lack weak alkali
interlayer's, like micas do (see reviews by Hirth and Guillot, 2013;
Kirby et al., 2014; Moore and Lockner, 2013, 2007). These consider-
ations suggest that the strength of faults or shear zones that bound
some serpentinite bodies and the low apparent internal strengths of
serpentinites emplaced under hydrothermal conditions may be
governed by the presence of free water during ascent from depth
(Fig. 10b). This conclusion is reinforced by the presence of extensive
vein systems in every serpentinite that we have studied, veins that rep-
resent crack-seal structures that are filled by precipitating solutes in
water coursing through these opening mode fractures at near-
lithostatic fluid pressures.
11. Ascent of forearc serpentinite along strike-slip faults and its
mechanism
Serpentinites are common along strike-slip fault zones in many sub-
duction zones. There are numerous serpentinites along the San Andreas
Fault System (Hirth and Guillot, 2013; Kirby et al., 2014; Moore and
Rymer, 2012, 2007) and major strike-slip faults in Guatemala (Harlow
et al., 2004), Southwest Pacific near New Zealand (Williams et al.,
2006), and Dominican Republic (Saumur et al., 2010). At Dominican
290 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
Republic, tectonic mélanges containing clasts of eclogite, blueschists
and garnet peridotite show geochemical signature of abyssal peridotite,
while other serpentinite shows depleted forearc signatures. Both of
them indicate ascent of serpentinite thorough forearc (Saumur et al.,
2010).
Above shown observations and discussions for RCS are largely con-
sistent with the ascent of forearc serpentinite along San Andreas Fault
System for California serpentinite proposed by Kirby et al. (2014) and
Guillot et al. (2015). Stage A serpentinization corresponds to hydration
at forearc lithosphere, and Stage B and C serpentinization corresponds
to hydration during ascent through the crust (Fig. 10). Similarly to the
case of serpentinite in Dominican Republic, the Franciscan serpentinite
exhibit large variations from fertile abyssal to depleted forearc signa-
tures (Barnes et al., 2013; Hirauchi et al., 2008; Tsujimori et al., 2007).
Both fertile (i.e., RCS, this study) and depleted (i.e., Ring Mountains,
Barnes et al., 2013; New Idria, Tsujimori et al., 2007) serpentinites asso-
ciate high-grade blueschist and/or eclogite tectonic blocks. Preliminary
field observations suggest that our observation of core-rim structures
for serpentinite blocks are ubiquitous for other serpentinite bodies in
the San Francisco Bay Area (Lewis and Kirby, 2015). As the initiation
of Stage B serpentinization marks major shearing and ascent of RCS
(Figs. 9 and 10), similarity of RCS with other serpentinite bodies indicate
that the high-pressure hydrothermal conditions that enable formations
of polygonal fractures and solution-precipitation of lizardite skins are
important in enabling weak rheology consistent with cold intrusion/di-
apiric emplacement mechanisms.
A distribution of such mobilized serpentinite mélanges is consistent
with creeping regions of the San Andreas Fault Systems (Guillot et al.,
2015; Hirth and Guillot, 2013; Kirby et al., 2014; Moore and Rymer,
2012, 2007). The ductile nature of the serpentinites along the San
Andreas Fault System can partly be attributed to the block forming
and block-and-matrix development initiated under stress from Stage
B and C reactions, which would increase permeability and reactive sur-
face area in the serpentinite and facilitate solution-precipitation of ser-
pentines as well as talc-and- saponite-forming reactions.
This paper first describes detailed internal structure and multiple
stages of serpentinization in serpentinite blocks in a high-grade block-
bearing serpentinite mélange. It remains to be seen how our observa-
tions apply to other block-and-matrix serpentinite mélanges elsewhere
worldwide. Our multiple-stage serpentinization evidence as well as fur-
ther detailed mineralogical and structural analyses of serpentinite mé-
lange give clues to how serpentinite bodies become mobile and
ductile at field-scales.
12. Microstructural and mineralogical variations of serpentinite at
forearc
Mineralogy of serpentinites from the wedge mantle varies from
antigorite dominant schist (Brownlee et al., 2013; Hirauchi et al.,
2010), antigorite + brucite (Kawahara et al., 2016), and lizardite and/
or antigorite + brucite + magnetite (Miyoshi et al., 2014). This
serpentinite mineralogy is dependent on pressure-temperature condi-
tions, primary peridotite compositions and/or external supply of silica
(e.g., Kawahara et al., 2016). Microstructure also varies from schistosed
antigorite serpentinite with shear deformation, massive serpentinite
with orthogonally interpenetrating antigorite grains (Hirauchi et al.,
2010), antigorite fabric formed by topotactial growth from olivine
(e.g., Brownlee et al., 2013), and mesh structure replacing olivine grains
(e.g., Miyoshi et al., 2014). These microstructural differences may reflect
strain gradients towards the plate interfaces in subduction zones
(Hirauchi et al., 2010). Mineralogical and microstructural features of
the central core of the RCS (liz/atg mesh structures with br + mag
veins) are similar to those observed in Iwanaidake ultramafic body,
Japan, which is considered as mantle wedge origin (Kubo, 2002). Exis-
tence of relatively low temperature lizardite, and low Si-activity brucite
with little shear strain indicate that the mineralogy and microstructure
of RCS and Iwanaidake represent relatively low temperature, low shear
deformation, and low silica-supply from the subducting slab, probably
located in forearc that is far away from the plate boundary.
13. Conclusions
The active plate boundary of the California margin includes the ac-
tive San Andreas Fault System (SAFS) and the active mountain building
of the California Coast Ranges (CCR) where ultramafic rocks are also
commonly found. There are numerous hypotheses for the origin and
the timing and emplacement mechanisms of such rocks that ultimately
came from Earth's mantle. Typically, the mineralogical, structural, and
geochemical features of fresh serpentinite were unknown before our
work on the grain scale. We collected hundreds of serpentinite blocks
largely from deep roadcut exposures of exceptionally fresh serpentinite
blocks in block and matrix serpentine mélange in Redwood City
Serpentinite on the San Francisco Peninsula in California, USA. Macro-
scopic observations of hundreds of the polygonal serpentinite blocks
and extensive petrographic study of N100 thin sections and analyses
of powdered samples cut from these blocks were investigated for their
bulk compositions and mineral properties. These findings have revealed
rich new details of the chemistry and mineralogy of these rocks, details
that largely depend upon the effects of water. Specifically, we find clear
evidence in these blocks of three major stages of serpentinization of an
original clinopyroxene-bearing harzburgite: Stage A. Central core mate-
rial is partially serpentinized to a lizardite ± antigorite mesh structure
around original olivine grains and are also bordered by nearby brucite
+ magnetite veins. Orthopyroxenes are partially serpentinized to
bastites. Reactions were chemically balanced except for addition of
H2O, Cs and Rb. Stage B. Lizardite + magnetite rims formed around
these central cores; the sharp Stage B reaction fronts are parallel to
the flats of the external polygonal block boundaries. These rims were
clearly formed by serpentinization of central core material because we
find relict mesh and bastite structures in the lizardite + magnetite
rims. The reactions were open system releasing Ca, Cs, and Rb out of
the system and incorporating H2O, U and Pb ± LREE. Stage C: Block
boundaries are coated by thin sheared lizardite skins.
Whole rock REE concentrations and Cr-spinel compositions of the
serpentinite show that RCS are generally fertile, similar to abyssal peri-
dotite, while extremely high Rb and Cs concentrations as well as ab-
sence of Eu and U anomalies support hydration at forearc mantle.
Similarity of the composition of Cr-spinel with Coast Range Ophiolite
(CRO) is consistent that RCS has been derived from forearc lithosphere
of CRO during Franciscan subduction.
We posit that Stage A metamorphism occurred at mantle depths and
that Stage B metamorphism followed the ingress of water along a sys-
tem of fractures formed under crustal conditions. This water migrated
into the blocks and controlled the Stage B metamorphic reaction front.
The polygonal block shape is believed to have been inherited from the
geometry of the system of fractures that brought in the water that led
to Stage B metamorphism. A system of thin radial lizardite veins
marks the volumetric strain accommodation of the Stage B metamor-
phism. These veins and the other vein systems found in both metamor-
phic domains in the serpentinite blocks represent opening-mode
fractures filled by precipitation of solutes from hydrothermal fluids at
or near the lithostatic pressures at which they were formed. The
sheared lizardite skins were probably formed by precipitation of
lizardite while accommodating shearing deformation representing mo-
tions of the blocks relative to their block neighbors and serpentinite ma-
trix, all in the presence of hydrothermal water. Several potential sources
of the mantle peridotite protolith and the sources of retrograde meta-
morphic fluids are discussed as well as the effects of those fluids in en-
abling low-stress emplacement mechanisms of the RCS through the
crust to the surface. Investigations of blocks in other serpentinites in
the California Coast Ranges at this level of detail promise to reveal to
what degree our findings are similar or different from other serpentinite
 M. Uno, S. Kirby / Lithos 336–337 (2019) 276–292
bodies. Preliminary field collection in the San Francisco Bay Area of such
block-and-matrix samples and their preparation has already started
(Kellner and Kirby, 2016 AGU Abstract; Lewis and Kirby, 2015 AGU Ab-
stract). Moreover, future studies of the geochemistry, mineralogy, and
microstructures of matrix materials will be challenging but also impor-
tant because they have potential for constraining the bulk rheology of
these serpentinites.
Acknowledgements
We greatly value the discussions with our colleagues Robert
Coleman, C. Barry Raleigh, Carl Wentworth, Robert McLaughlin, Russell
Graymer, Diane Moore, David Lockner, Madeline Lewis, Bradley Hacker,
Peter Kelemen, Atsushi Okamoto, Hikaru Iwamori and Eiichi Takahashi.
We thank Thomas W. Sisson, Andrea L. Foster, and Leslie A. Hayden for
support for XRF, laser Raman microscopy, and electron micro-probe
analyses, respectively. This research was supported in part by KAKENHI
Grant Numbers 11J07735, 15H01136, 15K17783, and 17H05310
awarded to MU and by the USGS NAGT summer internships for
Madeline Lewis and Caroline Kellner. Finally, we thank Marco
Scamberulli, Stéphane Guillot and an anonymous reviewer of this paper
for their very helpful comments and suggestions that resulted in sub-
stantial improvements in our paper.
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