My research interests focus on alteration processes of the oceanic crust, with the main focus on serpentinization of ultramafic rocks. This includes: (i) mineralogical and petrological characterization of alteration processes formed during water-rock interaction of the oceanic lithosphere, e.g. caused by exposure to seawater along mid-ocean ridges or during metasomatism in subduction zones, (ii) determining the extent of chemical exchange and cycling of elements (e.g. carbon and sulfur) between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, (iii) studying the influence of serpentinization and the formation of hydrogen and methane on microbial activity, (iv) investigating continental, weathering-type alteration of ultramafic rocks, and formation of Mg-rich to highly alkaline waters and their implication for biological activity.

Links to research groups:

Metamorphic processes:

http://www.metamorphism.geos.vt.edu/index.html

Sedimentary geochemistry group and stable isotope laboratory:

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/bcgill/index.html

Publications

• Schwarzenbach, E. M., Früh-Green, G. L., Bernasconi, S. M., Alt, J. C., Shanks, W. C., Gaggero, L., Crispini, L. (2012). Sulfur geochemistry of peridotite-hosted hydrothermal systems: Comparing the Ligurian ophiolites with oceanic serpentinites, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v91, 283-305.
• Alt, C. J., Schwarzenbach, E. M., Früh-Green, G. L., Shanks, W. C., Bernasconi, S. M., Garrido, C. J., Crispini, L., Gaggero, L., Padrón-Navarta, J. A., Marchesi, C. (in press). The role of serpentinites in cycling of carbon and sulfur: Seafloor serpentinization and subduction metamorphism, Lithos, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2012.12.006
• Alt, J. C., Shanks, W. C., Crispini, L., Gaggero, L., Schwarzenbach, E. M., Früh-Green, G. L., Bernasconi, S. M. (2012). Uptake of carbon and sulfur during seafloor serpentinization and the effects of subduction metamorphism in Ligurian peridotites, Chemical Geology, v322-323, 268-277.
• Schwarzenbach, E.M. (2011). Serpentinization, fluids and life: Comparing carbon and sulfur cycles in modern and ancient environments, Earth Sciences. ETH Zurich, Thesis No. 19588, Zurich, p. 240.