Controls on natural hydrogen generation during serpentinization of mantle rocks
10 affiliations
- 1LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover, Germany. [email protected]
- 2Mantle8, Sassenage, France. [email protected]
- 3LIAG Institute for Applied Geophysics, Hannover, Germany
- 4Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), Hannover, Germany
- 5Institute of Geophysics, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czechia
- 6Géosciences Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Montpellier, France
- 7Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), UMR 5563, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France
- 8United States Geological Survey (USGS), Moffett Field, California, USA
- 9MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
- 10Institute of Earth System Sciences, Leibniz University Hannover, Hannover, Germany
Abstract
Mantle rocks undergoing serpentinization at upper-crustal levels can generate significant amounts of natural hydrogen. Although the potential for substantial hydrogen generation during fluid-rock reactions of these rocks is documented by lab experiments and occurrences of hydrogen-rich natural gas seeps, the exact production rates and the factors limiting production remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that in two mantle rock systems with distinct compositions, the fertile lherzolites of the Western Pyrenees and the depleted harzburgites of Northern California, continuous fluid infiltration may sustain hydrogen generation, but only at rates of approximately 500 tonnes per year. Furthermore, by integrating three-dimensional geophysical inversion with a semi-coupled thermo-hydro-chemical model, we show that the main limiting factors controlling hydrogen yield are H₂ saturation in the fluid, porosity evolution at the reaction front, and reaction kinetics. The generation rates determined within the physico-chemical limits suggest that, although natural hydrogen from mantle rock serpentinization is a clean energy source, it may not be renewable on a large scale. Instead, its generation times for substantial accumulations more closely resemble those of fossil-type resources.
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BibTeX
@article{christiansen2026controls,
title = {{Controls on natural hydrogen generation during serpentinization of mantle rocks}},
author = {Rodolfo O. Christiansen and Mohamed Sobh and Christian Ostertag-Henning and Guido M. Gianni and Nicolas Saspiturry and Sébastien Chevrot and V. E. Langenheim and Javier García‐Pintado and Gerald Gabriel},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-73920-5},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05778590v1},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Controls on natural hydrogen generation during serpentinization of mantle rocks
AU - Rodolfo O. Christiansen
AU - Mohamed Sobh
AU - Christian Ostertag-Henning
AU - Guido M. Gianni
AU - Nicolas Saspiturry
AU - Sébastien Chevrot
AU - V. E. Langenheim
AU - Javier García‐Pintado
AU - Gerald Gabriel
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/11
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-73920-5
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05778590v1
AB - Mantle rocks undergoing serpentinization at upper-crustal levels can generate significant amounts of natural hydrogen. Although the potential for substantial hydrogen generation during fluid-rock reactions of these rocks is documented by lab experiments and occurrences of hydrogen-rich natural gas seeps, the exact production rates and the factors limiting production remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that in two mantle rock systems with distinct compositions, the fertile lherzolites of the Western Pyrenees and the depleted harzburgites of Northern California, continuous fluid infiltration may sustain hydrogen generation, but only at rates of approximately 500 tonnes per year. Furthermore, by integrating three-dimensional geophysical inversion with a semi-coupled thermo-hydro-chemical model, we show that the main limiting factors controlling hydrogen yield are H₂ saturation in the fluid, porosity evolution at the reaction front, and reaction kinetics. The generation rates determined within the physico-chemical limits suggest that, although natural hydrogen from mantle rock serpentinization is a clean energy source, it may not be renewable on a large scale. Instead, its generation times for substantial accumulations more closely resemble those of fossil-type resources.
SN - 2041-1723
SN - 2041-1723
ER -