Comparative study of the Pleistocene Cakmak quarry (Denizli Basin, Turkey) and modern Mammoth Hot Springs deposits (Yellowstone National Park, USA)

Abstract

This study compares and contrasts the travertine depositional facies of two of the largest sites of travertine formation, located in very different geological contexts, i.e. the modern Mammoth Hot Spring (MHS) system in the active volcanic complex of Yellowstone National Park (USA) and the Pleistocene Cakmak quarry, a well-exposed example of the Ballık travertines in the extensional Denizli Basin (Turkey). New, 2D to 3D facies maps of both travertine systems, combined with microscopy, assist in proposing an integrated spring depositional model, based on the existing MHS facies model, understanding general controls on meter to kilometer scale travertine deposit architecture and its preservation, and provide quantitative estimates of facies spatial coverage and slope using GIS. The comparison resulted in the distinction of eight facies, grouped in five downstream facies zones from Vent to Distal Slope. Notwithstanding the different geological context of both travertine systems, observations show that several of the facies are strikingly comparable (draping Apron and Channel Facies, top-slope Pond Facies, crystalline Proximal Slope Facies and Distal Slope Facies), whereas other facies do not have a precise, exposed equivalent (Vent Facies, pavement Apron and Channel Facies, extended Pond facies and phyto Proximal Slope Facies). Combining observations of active springs at MHS with the Cakmak vertical travertine quarry exposures demonstrates that lateral and vertical facies transitions are a sensitive record of changes in the spring dynamics (flow intensity and paths) that become well-preserved in the geological record, and can be recognized as prograding, aggrading, retrograding trends or erosive surfaces, traceable over tens to hundreds of meters. Quantification of facies specific coverage at MHS shows that Proximal and Distal Slope Facies deposits cover as much as~90% of the total mapped surface area. In addition, only~7% of the surface is found to be marked by a waterfilm related to an active flowing spring. Slope statistics reveal that strong slope breaks can often be related to transgressive Apron and Channel Facies belts and that variable, but steep slopes (up to 40 ) are dominated by Proximal Slope Facies, in agreement with the Cakmak exposures. Integrating travertine facies and architecture of deposits formed in distinct geological contexts can improve the prediction of general spring facies distributions and controls in other, modern and ancient, subsurface travertine systems.

Relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics, Satono‐yu hot spring, Japan

“…This conclusion would partly necessitate reconsidering the general interpretation of travertine fabrics; steeply inclined slopes and cascades with high flow velocity are characterized by the sparitic fabric due to more pronounced CO 2 degassing and consequent higher saturation state, leading to the prevalence of abiotic precipitation; while sub-horizontal pools and ponds with low flow velocity are characterized by the micritic fabric due to less pronounced CO 2 degassing and consequent lower saturation state, leading to the prevalence of microbially-influenced precipitation (e.g. Chafetz & Folk, 1984;Guo & Riding, 1998;Chafetz & Guidry, 1999;Rainey & Jones, 2009;Fouke, 2011;Capezzuoli et al, 2014;Della Porta, 2015;De Boever et al, 2017;Della Porta et al, 2017;Erthal et al, 2017). Although CO 2 degassing and a concomitant increase in the CaCO 3 saturation state is a fundamental driving force of travertine deposition, it cannot solely explain the difference between sparitic and micritic fabrics because the saturation state positively correlates with the rates of both crystal growth (leading to sparitic fabric) and crystal nucleation (leading to micritic fabric) (e.g.…”

“…Due to their microbial involvement, travertines are often investigated as analogues of stromatolites and laminated benthic microbial deposits; and their fabrics are compared with Precambrian examples to better understand the interaction between microbes and their environment (Walter & Des Marais, ; Riding, ; Okumura et al ., , , ,b). In addition, travertines have recently gained attention as analogues of Pre‐Salt oil reservoirs found in the South Atlantic subsurface Cretaceous succession, which are potentially microbial carbonates and often described as stromatolites or shrub framestones/boundstones (Della Porta, ; De Boever et al ., , ; Claes et al ., ; Cook & Chafetz, ; Della Porta et al ., ; Erthal et al ., ).…”

Lattice Boltzmann Simulations of Fluid Flow in Continental Carbonate Reservoir Rocks and in Upscaled Rock Models Generated with Multiple-Point Geostatistics

“…All of these facies types have pores at least varying from nanometer to centimeter scale and could have relevant contributions to fluid flow in this material. For a sedimentological background of the samples (out of the scope of this study), the reader is referred to earlier published literature [1,14,41,42].…”

“…This facies type was chosen because of its typical abundant open porosity network and the characteristic elongated shape of the pore bodies. The latter resulted in permeability values of 50 mD and higher [41]. The TI had a resolution of 4 m and the conditioning dataset had a resolution of 16 m. Hence, the resulting simulated dataset contained the volume of the larger 16 m CT scans, with a higher 4 m resolution.…”

Pleistocene-Holocene tectonic reconstruction of the Ballık travertine (Denizli Graben, SW Turkey): (De)formation of large travertine geobodies at intersecting grabens

“…for location of the quarries), were already the subject of several sedimentological and geochemical (Özkul et al, 2013;Khatib et al, 2014;Claes et al, 2015;El Desouky et al, 2015;Claes et al, 2017b;De Boever et al, 2017), geomechanical (Çobanoğlu and Çelik, 2012; Çelik et al, 2014), dating (Lebatard et al, 2014), petrophysical (Soete et al, 2015;De Boever et al, 2016) and structural (Van Noten et al, 2013) studies. The Killik dome is characterised by horizontally bedded travertine at its base that gradually changes upwards into complex, slope travertines that are dominated by biohermal reed, cascade and waterfall travertine facies (Özkul et al, 2013;Claes et al, 2015;De Boever et al, 2017). Travertines precipitated from resurfaced meteoric waters that infiltrated along the margin that was already affected by a fault-fracture network.…”