: the process or state of alteration by which minerals (such as olivine) are converted into serpentine.

How does serpentinization happen?

Serpentinization occurs when ultramafic rocks, enriched in the minerals olivine and orthopyroxene, react with water and are converted to rocks containing a suite of minerals dominated by serpentine.

What is serpentinization in geology?

Definition. “Serpentinization” is the process leading to the formation of serpentinites, metamorphic rocks derived from hydrous alteration of olivine-rich ultramafic rocks and consisting mainly of serpentine group minerals.