Depositional architecture of a mixed travertine-terrigenous system in a fault-controlled continental extensional basin (Messinian, Southern Tuscany, Central Italy)

Abstract

Highlights• Α facies analysis of continental carbonates and terrigenous deposits was conducted.• The interplay between hydrothermal travertines and alluvial/colluvial deposits was demonstrated.• The basin fill and depositional architecture of a continental extensional basin were studied.• Extrinsic factors controlling the evolution of the sedimentary succession were determined. ABSTRACTThe extensional Neogene Albegna Basin (Southern Tuscany, Italy) includes several thermogene travertine units dating from the Miocene to Holocene time. During the late Miocene (Messinian), a continental fault-controlled basin (of nearly 500-km 2 width) was filled by precipitated travertine and detrital terrigenous strata, characterized by a wedge-shaped geometry that thinned northward, with a maximum thickness of nearly 70 m. This mixed travertineterrigenous succession was investigated in terms of lithofacies types, depositional environment and architecture and the variety of precipitated travertine fabrics. The studied continental succession in an extensional basin provides valuable information about the interplay between thermogene travertine and alluvial/colluvial deposition, which in turn might improve the understanding of similar fault-controlled continental depositional systems in outcrops and the subsurface.

Geobody architecture, genesis and petrophysical characteristics of the Budakalász travertines, Buda Hills (Hungary)

“…Gradzinski et al, 2014), wedge-shaped valley fill travertines (e.g. Arenas et al, 2014;Huerta et al, 2016) and a mixed travertine-terrigenous system (Croci et al, 2016) have been reported. The overall geobody of the Budakalász travertines was described as a mound/fissure ridge complex (Scheuer and Schweitzer, 1985;Pentecost, 2005).…”

Tectonics, hydrothermalism, and paleoclimate recorded by Quaternary travertines and their spatio-temporal distribution in the Albegna basin, central Italy: Insights on Tyrrhenian margin neotectonics

“…1 and 2). Recent studies of travertine and hydrothermal ore deposits have documented structurally controlled fluid flow in the region (e.g., Bellani et al, 2004;Brogi and Fabbrini, 2009;Brogi et al, 2010a;Liotta et al, 2010;Rossetti et al, 2007Rossetti et al, , 2011Rimondi et al, 2015;Croci et al, 2016;Berardi et al, 2016). In particular, Pliocene-Pleistocene faulting has played a primary role in the endogenic fluid circulation that fed and still feeds some geothermal fields and CaCO 3 -rich springs in the Mount Amiata geothermal area (Brogi et al, 2012).…”

Comment on “First records of syn-diagenetic non-tectonic folding in Quaternary thermogene travertines caused by hydrothermal incremental veining” by Billi et al. Tectonophysics 700–701 (2017) 60–79

“…Thus, crystalline crusts are formed as a variety of calcite/aragonite crystals (feather, fan, dendrites; see Jones and Renaut, 1995; 2010 for a review; Jones et al, 2000Jones et al, , 2005. Furthermore, this clarifies the definition of travertine as a primary bedded thermogene deposit A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T (Chafetz and Folk, 1984;Renaut, 1995, 2008;Jones et al, 1996Jones et al, , 2000Jones et al, , 2005Guo and Riding, 1998;Renaut, 1995, 2008;Jones et al, 1996Jones et al, , 2000Jones et al, , 2005Rainy and Jones, 2009;Gandin and Capezzuoli 2014;Della Porta, 2005;Croci et al, 2016;Della Porta et al, 2017) where the intercalation of porous ( Fig. 2) and crystalline deposits is a characteristics of travertine spring deposits (Riding, 1991;Pedley, 1990;Flügel, 2004;Pentecost, 2005;Pedley, 2009;Brogi et al, 2010;Capezzuoli et al, 2014;Pola et al 2013;Gandin and Capezzuoli, 2014;Gradzinski et al, 2014).…”

“…Please note fabric, dimension and crystal morphology that are different from the interpreted veins by Billi et al (2017). Many other examples of micro-fabrics are illustrated in numerous publications (Gandin and Capezzuoli, 2014;Della Porta, 2015;Croci et al, 2016;Della Porta et al, 2017 and references therein) to which the readers are addressed for more details. Fig.…”

“…1995; Lu et al, 2000;Central Italy: Capezzuoli et al, 2014;Della Porta, 2015;Croci et al, 2016;Della Porta et al, 2017;Violante et al, 1994aViolante et al, , 1994b; (Chafetz and Folk, 1984;Riding, 1998: D'Argenio et al 1981;Scheuer and Schweitzer, 1981;Altunel and Hancock, 1993a;Khatib et al 2014;Lebatard et al, 2014;Claes et al, 2015;Henchiri et al, 2017;Liu et al, 1995;Lu et al, 2000;Pentecost, 2005 for a review; Capezzuoli et al, 2014, Della Porta, 2015Croci et al, 2016;Della Porta et al, 2017).…”