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The impact of hydrological changes on travertine deposits related to thermal springs in the Pamukkale area (SW Turkey)

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

Pamukkale thermal waters (35 °C), exhibiting calcium-bicarbonate-sulfate composition and high carbon dioxide concentration, are of a predominantly meteoric origin. The meteoric fluid, circulating through faults and fractures, is heated by magmatic intrusions at great depth, and ascends from deep reservoirs to the surface. Mixing with relatively cold groundwater in the near surface zone promotes different saturation conditions with respect to calcium carbonate that later precipitates at depth and/or the surface. Dissolution-deposition processes of calcium carbonate both at surface and depth environments may help to reconstruct past climate direction in the field. During wet climate conditions a high-rate of calcium carbonate accumulation would be expected to occur at the surface because thermal fluid would be under-saturated with respect to calcium carbonate at depth because of a relatively higher mixing ratio with cold groundwater. During dry climate conditions the thermal fluid would be super-saturated at depth because of the highly acidic environment. Hydrometeorological studies reveal that the annual precipitation at the Pamukkale hydrothermal field tends to decrease with time. This climatic change in the area was also detected from geological records. While humid climate conditions prevailed during the late Quaternary, the area has recently been affected by arid/semi-arid climate conditions, followed by some episodic transitions. This study has shown how the system has possibly reacted to different climate conditions since antiquity.

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Acknowledgment

The authors wish to give special thanks to Prof. Dr. Nilgun Gulec (Middle East Technical University, Geological Department, Ankara-TR) for her helpful comments on regional tectonism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Vrije University , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV , Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Cüneyt Dilsiz

  2. Laboratory of Mineralogy and Petrology, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049–001 , Lisbon, Portugal

    José Manuel Marques

  3. Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, Sector Química, Estrada Nacional nº10 , 2686–953 , Sacavém, Portugal

    Paula Maria Mimo Carreira

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  1. Cüneyt Dilsiz
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  2. José Manuel Marques
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  3. Paula Maria Mimo Carreira
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Correspondence to Cüneyt Dilsiz.

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Dilsiz, C., Marques, J.M. & Carreira, P.M.M. The impact of hydrological changes on travertine deposits related to thermal springs in the Pamukkale area (SW Turkey). Env Geol 45, 808–817 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0941-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-003-0941-8

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