Michele Soligo

U/Th dating of freshwater travertine from Middle Velino Valley (Central Italy): paleoclimatic and geological implications

Abstract Six travertine bodies outcropping along the Middle Velino Valley (Central Italy) have been studied and dated using the U/Th method in order to obtain new chronological constraints for the recent geological evolution of the area. The lithological and sedimentological characteristics of travertines have been described, showing that such deposits can be referred to waterfall, pool terraces and gentle slopes environment. Travertines have formed during warm periods and can be referred to marine oxygen isotope stages 5, 3 and 1. Travertine deposition seems to stop around 5 ka BP according to other European and Italian sites. Pollen stratigraphy and ostracod assemblages from the close sequence of Valle di Castiglione, characterized by the same climatic conditions of Velino Valley, have confirmed that periods of Velino Valley travertine deposition were effectively characterized by warm and wet climatic conditions. Seismic activity strongly active in the area since the Middle Pleistocene has deeply influenced the location and the discharge of springs which have deposited the travertines, influencing in turn the shape and size of travertine bodies.

Growth of fissure ridge travertines from geothermal springs of Denizli Basin, western Turkey

Fissure ridge travertines grown from geothermal springs of Denizli Basin, southwestern Turkey, are investigated through stratigraphic, structural, geochemical, and geochronological methods, with the aim of understanding the growth of these elongate mound-shaped structures. Two main types of travertine deposits are recognized: (1) bedded travertines, which grew as flowstone on sloping surfaces and form the bulk of fissure ridges, and (2) banded travertines, which grew as veins within the bedded travertine chiefly along its central feeding conduit. Stratigraphic and structural observations shed light on the bedded-banded travertine relationships, where the banded features grew through successive accretion phases, crosscutting the bedded travertine or forming sill-like structures. The bedded and banded travertines alternated their growth, as demonstrated by complicated crosscutting relationships and by the upward suture, in places, of banded travertine by bedded travertine that was, in turn, crosscut by younger banded travertine. The bedded travertine is often tilted away from the central axis of the fissure ridge, thus leaving more room for the central banded travertine to form. U-series ages confirm the bedded-banded travertine temporal relationships and show that the growth of the studied fissure ridges lasted up to several tens of thousands of years during Quaternary time. The banded travertine was deposited mainly during cold events, possibly in coincidence with seismic events that might have triggered the outflow of deep geothermal fluids. C and O stable isotope and rare earth element data indicate a shallow feeding circuit for the studied structures with a fluid component deriving from a deeper geothermal circuit. A crack-and-seal mechanism of fissure ridge growth is proposed, modulated by the interplay of local and regional influencing factors and mechanisms such as geothermal fluid discharge, paleoclimate, tectonics, and the progressive tilting of bedded travertine limbs over a soft substratum creating the necessary space for the central veins to grow.

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

The Neogene–Quaternary Albegna basin (southern Tuscany, central Italy), located to the south of the active geothermal field of Monte Amiata, hosts fossil and active thermogene travertine deposits, which are used in this study to reconstruct the spatio-temporal evolution of the feeding hydrothermal system. Travertine deposition is controlled by regional tectonics that operated through distributed N-S– and approximately E-W–striking transtensional fault arrays. The geochronological data set ( 230 Th/ 234 U, uranium-series disequilibrium) indicates a general rejuvenation (from >350 to 13 C and positive δ 18 O trends with younger deposition ages and lower depositional elevations provide evidence for a change in space and time of the hydrothermal fluid supply, suggesting a progressive dilution of the endogenic fluid sources by increasing meteoric water inputs. Comparison with paleoclimate records suggests increased travertine deposition during humid interglacial periods characterized by highstands of the water table. Travertine deposits of the Albegna basin record the interactions and feedbacks among tectonics, hydrothermalism, and paleoclimate within a region of positive geothermal anomaly during the Quaternary. Our study also sheds light on the neotectonic evolution of the Tyrrhenian margin of central Italy, where hydrothermalism has been distributed along margin-transverse structures during the Pleistocene and Holocene. It is hypothesized that originally upper-crustal, margin-transverse faults have evolved to through-going crustal features during the Quaternary, providing structurally controlled pathways for hydrothermal fluids. We suggest that this was the consequence of a change in the relative magnitude of the principal stress vectors along the Tyrrhenian margin that occurred under a regional stress field dominated by a continuous extensional regime.

Comparison of 14C and U-Th ages of two Holocene phreatic overgrowths on speleothems from Mallorca (Western Mediterranean): Environmental implications

Paola Tuccimei1, Mark Van Strydonck2, Angel Ginés3, *, Joaquín Ginés3, Michele Soligo1, Igor M. Villa4, 5, Joan J. Fornós3

Minimal mass transfer across dolomitic granular fault cores

The role of chemical changes and mass transfer in the formation of granular fault cores across carbonate strata is still unclear. Thirteen granular fault cores across strata of dolostone from Sperlonga, central Italy, are analyzed by chemical and physical methods. The analyzed faults are reverse or transpressional, up to about 1 m thick, and flanked by a host rock affected by a widely developed solution cleavage. Grain size distributions of fault core rocks are determined by a sieving procedure for grains larger than 63 μm. Mechanisms of grain comminution are inferred by microscopic analyses on a set of thin sections obtained from epoxy-impregnated fault rock samples. Concentrations of calcium and magnesium in the fault cores and in the adjacent host rock are determined by titrimetry. Results show that both the breccia and the gouge forming the fault cores show little evidence for mass transfer, regardless of the fault type and grain size distribution of fault rocks. We interpret these results as chiefly the effect, within the fault core, of a strongly reduced permeability, which impeded significant mass transfer processes through solute transport. It follows that grain comminution occurred mostly by brittle processes such as crushing and abrasive wear. Previous work suggests that these results are rather generalizable; some exceptions, however, compel further research on the role of circulating fluids and mass transfer in the formation of carbonate fault rocks.

Advancements in Understanding the Radon Signal in Volcanic Areas: A Laboratory Approach Based on Rock Physicochemical Changes

Abstract Radon monitoring represents an important investigation tool for environmental changes assessment and geochemical hazard surveillance. Despite anomalous radon emissions are commonly observed prior to earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, radon monitoring alone is not yet successful in correctly predicting these catastrophic events because contrasting radon signals are unexpectedly measured by lithologically distinct areas. This contribution aims to summarize and integrate natural and laboratory studies pertaining to the transport behavior of radon in different rock types experiencing variable stress and thermal regimes at subvolcanic conditions. The final purpose is to ignite novel and pioneer experimental researches exploring the causes and consequences of radon anomalous emissions, in order to elucidate in full the relationship between the physicochemical changes in substrate rocks and the radon signal.