TY - JOUR

T1 - Travertines of the South-Eastern Gorny Altai (Russia): Implications for Paleoseismology and Paleoenvironmental Conditions

AU - Deev, Evgeny V.

AU - Kokh, Svetlana N.

AU - Dublyansky, Yuri

AU - Sokol, Ella V.

AU - Scholz, Denis

AU - Rusanov, Gennady G.

AU - Reutsky, Vadim N.

N1 - D. Scholz thanks the DFG (German Research Foundation) for funding (INST 247/889-1 FUGG) and M. Großkopf, M. Weber, and V. Blumrich for assistance with U-series dating at the University of Mainz. D. Scholz is also thankful to K.P. Jochum, M.O. Andreae and G.H. Haug from the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, for long-lasting support. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments, which we accepted with gratitude. Публикация для корректировки.

PY - 2023/2

Y1 - 2023/2

N2 - The south-eastern Gorny Altai is one of the most hazardous seismogenic area in the north of Central Asia. We present a synthesis of field, 230Th-U geochronological, mineralogical and geochemical data collected on seven Quaternary travertines. All travertines occur within the zones of active faults that border the Chuya and Kurai intermontane basins. Travertine cement mainly comprises calcite (with minor amounts of aragonite), which cements alluvial, alluvial fan, and colluvial deposits. The results of 230Th-U dating suggest that deposition of the travertines was triggered by large paleoearthquakes in the last eight thousand years. Several stages of travertine formation with ages 9–11 ka BP correspond to the known period of strong paleoseismicity in the region (8–16 ka BP). The 123 ka BP travertine resulted from a slip triggered by the Middle Pleistocene deglaciation, while that of 400 ka BP represents seismic motions likely associated with the main Cenozoic orogenic phase. All travertine forming events fall within warm and wet climatic phases (interglacials). Large earthquakes activated faults and caused a rapid rise along them of ambient-temperature bicarbonate groundwater, which was previously sealed in deep-seated Upper Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic limestone-dolostone aquifers. Rapid CO2 degassing of the spring water was the most important control of calcite or aragonite precipitation. Such travertines represent an important tool for paleoseismological research in seismically active regions.

AB - The south-eastern Gorny Altai is one of the most hazardous seismogenic area in the north of Central Asia. We present a synthesis of field, 230Th-U geochronological, mineralogical and geochemical data collected on seven Quaternary travertines. All travertines occur within the zones of active faults that border the Chuya and Kurai intermontane basins. Travertine cement mainly comprises calcite (with minor amounts of aragonite), which cements alluvial, alluvial fan, and colluvial deposits. The results of 230Th-U dating suggest that deposition of the travertines was triggered by large paleoearthquakes in the last eight thousand years. Several stages of travertine formation with ages 9–11 ka BP correspond to the known period of strong paleoseismicity in the region (8–16 ka BP). The 123 ka BP travertine resulted from a slip triggered by the Middle Pleistocene deglaciation, while that of 400 ka BP represents seismic motions likely associated with the main Cenozoic orogenic phase. All travertine forming events fall within warm and wet climatic phases (interglacials). Large earthquakes activated faults and caused a rapid rise along them of ambient-temperature bicarbonate groundwater, which was previously sealed in deep-seated Upper Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic limestone-dolostone aquifers. Rapid CO2 degassing of the spring water was the most important control of calcite or aragonite precipitation. Such travertines represent an important tool for paleoseismological research in seismically active regions.

KW - 230Th-U dating

KW - Gorny Altai

KW - active fault

KW - large paleoearthquake

KW - paleoenvironmental conditions

KW - travertine

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85149247659&origin=inward&txGid=a1e37c9c3e95ef36fb3da71e0eba6b02

UR - https://www.mendeley.com/catalogue/41db67e4-a196-3c86-bae7-9cbfc6373caa/

U2 - 10.3390/min13020259

DO - 10.3390/min13020259

M3 - Article

VL - 13

JO - Minerals

JF - Minerals

SN - 2075-163X

IS - 2

M1 - 259

ER -