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Both hydrogen and methane are consistently discharged in large quantities in hydrothermal fluids issued from ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal fields discovered along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Considering the vast number of these fields discovered or inferred, hydrothermal fluxes represent a significant input of H2 and CH4 to the ocean. Although there are lines of evidence of their abiogenic formation from stable C and H isotope results, laboratory experiments, and thermodynamic data, neither their origin nor the reaction pathways generating these gases have been fully constrained yet. Organic compounds detected in the fluids may also be derived from abiotic reactions. Although thermodynamics are favorable and extensive experimental work has been done on Fischer-Tropsch-type reactions, for instance, nothing is clear yet about their origin and formation mechanism from actual data. Since chemolithotrophic microbial communities commonly colonize hydrothermal vents, biogenic and thermogenic processes are likely to contribute to the production of H2, CH4, and other organic compounds. There seems to be a consensus toward a mixed origin (both sources and processes) that is consistent with the ambiguous nature of the isotopic data. But the question that remains is, to what proportions? More systematic experiments as well as integrated geochemical approaches are needed to disentangle hydrothermal geochemistry. This understanding is of prime importance considering the implications of hydrothermal H2, CH4, and organic compounds for the ocean global budget, global cycles, and the origin of life.

The production of hydrogen by serpentinization in ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems is simulated by coupling thermodynamic and dynamic modeling in the framework of a thermo-hydraulic single-pass model where a high-temperature hydrothermal fluid moves preferentially through a main canal of high permeability. The alteration of ultramafic rocks is modeled with a first-order kinetic formulation, wherein the serpentinization rate coefficient, Kr, takes the form: Kr = A exp(−α( T − T0)2). In this formulation, α determines the temperature range of the reaction and T0 is the temperature at which the serpentinization rate reaches its maximum. This model is applied to the Rainbow hydrothermal system, which is situated on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, and characterized by a high temperature, a high mass flux, and a very high hydrogen concentration. The results show that a first-order kinetic law gives a useful representation of the kinetics of serpentinization. The estimated value for the parameter A in the temperature-dependent formulation of the serpentinization rate coefficient lies in the range (1-5) × 10−11 s−1. This effective parameter is several orders of magnitude lower than the values obtained from small grain-size experiments, but in agreement with other published modeling studies of natural systems. Numerical simulations show that the venting site is able to produce the observed high concentration of hydrogen during the whole continuous lifetime of the Rainbow site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]