Facies and Origin of Tufa Deposits from the Gostilje River Basin and the Sopotnica River Basin (SW Serbia)

Abstract

Tufa accumulations from the Gostilje River Basin and the Sopotnica River Basin in SW Serbia are represented by both active and fossil tufa precipitates. The aim of this study is to distinguish and describe different tufa facies and to determine the environmental conditions, based on stable isotope data. We also compare our analysis with other tufa deposits in Europe. Four facies are distinguished: moss tufa, algal tufa, stromatolitic laminated tufa, and phytoclastic tufa. The dominant constituent of all tufa samples is low Mg-calcite, whereas the presence of sylvite is noted in two samples from the Gostilje River Basin. The δ18O values range from −9.07‰ to −10.79‰ (mean value: −9.81‰), while the δ13C values range from −6.50‰ to −10.34‰ (mean values −9.01‰). The stable isotope values (δ13C and δ18O) indicate that these tufa deposits were precipitated from cold, ambient water supported by CO2 of an atmospheric origin. We emphasize that this is the first data about stable isotope analyses of tufa deposits from Serbia.