Serpentinite

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

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Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/serpentinite

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary mineralogy?Composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals (antigorite, chrysotile, lizardite)
2. What is the formation mechanism?Serpentinization: hydration and alteration of mafic/ultramafic rocks under heat and pressure
3. Why does serpentinite look like snake skin?It looks like snake skin because its minerals create a mottled green or blue‑green pattern. The name comes from the Latin word for snake.
4. How is serpentinite made?Serpentinite forms when mafic or ultramafic rocks such as olivine and pyroxene are heated with water. The rocks change into serpentine minerals, releasing heat and hydrogen gas.

Mafic/Ultramafic Rocks: Igneous rocks rich in magnesium and iron, characteristic of the Earth's mantle.
Abiogenesis: The natural process by which life arises from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds.
Ophiolite Complex: A section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level.
Hydrothermal Vents: Fissures on the seafloor from which geothermally heated water issues.