Travertines are continental carbonates that precipitate from spring waters, mainly due to CO2degassing.They are widely quarried as building stone, which has led to numerous (often abandoned) travertinequarry outcrops. These and other outcrops, however, merely represent the surface expressions of thecomplex architecture of travertine bodies and their deep-rooted feeding systems. Integration of fieldobservations and geochemical analyses with crucial subsurface geophysical data is required in orderto fully understand travertine systems and their relationship to the local geological framework. Such amulti-methodological approach is illustrated here for the case of the abandoned Cukor quarry. Radio-magnetotelluric (RMT) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) surveys provide unique insights intolocal tectonics, geobody architecture and the topography preceding travertine deposition. Altogether,the lens-shaped, isolated domal geobody with spring-proximal lithofacies and subvertical bedding, inaddition to the contrasting geochemistry and age with surrounding travertine, enabled the unequiv-ocal reconstruction of the dismantled Cukor fissure ridge. This study illustrates the high potential ofthis multi-methodological approach on poorly exposed, strongly weathered, quarried and tectonicallydeformed travertine bodies, and provides information on the complex feeding system beneath traver-tine deposits. Their reconstruction can be interpreted in light of the neo-tectonic expression of regionaluplift, helps to complete the regional tectonic history and provides insights into older landscapes thatlack preservation or would no longer be immediately recognized at the surface.
A multi-methodological approach to reconstruct the configuration ofa travertine fissure ridge system: The case of the Cukor quarry (Sütto,Gerecse Hills, Hungary)
Brogi A;
2019
Abstract
Travertines are continental carbonates that precipitate from spring waters, mainly due to CO2degassing.They are widely quarried as building stone, which has led to numerous (often abandoned) travertinequarry outcrops. These and other outcrops, however, merely represent the surface expressions of thecomplex architecture of travertine bodies and their deep-rooted feeding systems. Integration of fieldobservations and geochemical analyses with crucial subsurface geophysical data is required in orderto fully understand travertine systems and their relationship to the local geological framework. Such amulti-methodological approach is illustrated here for the case of the abandoned Cukor quarry. Radio-magnetotelluric (RMT) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) surveys provide unique insights intolocal tectonics, geobody architecture and the topography preceding travertine deposition. Altogether,the lens-shaped, isolated domal geobody with spring-proximal lithofacies and subvertical bedding, inaddition to the contrasting geochemistry and age with surrounding travertine, enabled the unequiv-ocal reconstruction of the dismantled Cukor fissure ridge. This study illustrates the high potential ofthis multi-methodological approach on poorly exposed, strongly weathered, quarried and tectonicallydeformed travertine bodies, and provides information on the complex feeding system beneath traver-tine deposits. Their reconstruction can be interpreted in light of the neo-tectonic expression of regionaluplift, helps to complete the regional tectonic history and provides insights into older landscapes thatlack preservation or would no longer be immediately recognized at the surface.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
