Fluvial diffluence episodes reflected in the Pleistocene tufa deposits of the River Piedra (Iberian Range, NE Spain)

Traditionally, fresh water carbonate research has focused on the sedimentology and palaeontology of ancient lacustrine deposits. Lithofacies in such low-energy deposits are typically fine-grained, developed uniformly in a generally concentric distribution ('bulls-eye' pattern) and are predictable even when preserved imperfectly. In contrast, because of their local lithofacies and palaeontological complexities, fluvial carbonates were either delegated to a status of 'minor geomorphological features' or barely considered prior to the 1970s. This viewpoint was based on the depositional record of fluvial and spring-fed fresh water carbonates, which were considered to be restricted generally to localized karstic areas. Such deposits are often preserved as scattered patches of ambient temperature tufa. Occasionally, however, in active tectonic areas, localized travertine deposits are also developed from deeply circulating hydrothermal waters. With a few exceptions (for example, basins with high subsidence rates or in arid climate zones), these fresh water carbonates are prone to erosion from continuing river incision and thus may not be preserved in the geological record. A partial record of fluvial and springdeposited carbonates is often preserved in Quaternary deposits, but the record in older deposits is typically fragmentary and often diagenetically modified. Yet once their unique facies architecture (and specialized nomenclature) is understood, these carbonates provide an important record of past sedimentological cycles of great value in palaeoenvironmental landscape modelling. The emphasis of modern research is to acquire information that explains how active systems function. In this respect, tufas reveal much of how carbonate precipitation is a shared product of physico-chemical and microbiological biomediation processes. Likewise, travertines not only show an intimate interrelation with active tectonism but also hold great potential as monitors of past volcanic carbon dioxide emissions. In addition, both tufas and travertines contain palynological records that can be used as proxy indicators of climate change. Perhaps no other field of sedimentology has witnessed more developments and applications over such a brief period of study.

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“…For a more detailed review, see Gradzinski () and Vàzquez‐Urbez et al . (). Travertine depositional rates can be even higher.…”

Section: Depositional Environments and Morphologiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decoding tufa and travertine (fresh water carbonates) in the sedimentary record: The state of the art

2013

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“…During the Quaternary, incision of the River Piedra created a fluvial valley with several topographical breaks that favoured tufa deposition from the Pleistocene to present. The Quaternary tufa deposits are distributed along the lower reach of the river upstream of its entrance into the La Tranquera reservoir (V azquez-Urbez et al, 2011(V azquez-Urbez et al, , 2012Sancho et al, 2015). Within and close to the Monasterio de Piedra Natural Park, waterfalls 12 to 35 m high are present.…”

Section: Geographical Geological and Climatic Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal and environmental significance of microbial lamination: Insights from Recent fluvial stromatolites in the River Piedra, Spain

Arenas

Jones

2017

Sedimentology

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Despite extensive research, the environmental and temporal significance of microbial lamination is still ambiguous because of the complexity of the parameters that control its development. A 13 year monitored record of modern fast‐accreting calcite stromatolites (mean 14 mm year−1) from artificial substrates installed in rapid flow in the River Piedra (north‐east Spain) allows comparison of the sedimentological attributes of successive six‐month depositional packages with the known climatic, hydrophysical and hydrochemical parameters of the depositional system. The stromatolites are formed of dense, porous and macrocrystalline composite laminae. The dense and porous composite laminae, which are composed of two to eight laminae consisting largely of calcified cyanobacteria, are characterized by: (i) dense composite laminae, up to 15 mm thick, mostly with successive dense laminae and minor alternating dense and porous laminae; and (ii) porous composite laminae, up to 12 mm thick, consisting mainly of porous laminae alternating with thinner dense laminae. Most of the dense composite laminae formed during the warm periods (April to September), whereas most of the porous composite laminae developed in the cool periods (October to March). Each dense and porous composite lamina represents up to or slightly longer than six months. The alternation of these two types of composite laminae parallels seasonal changes in temperature. The dense and porous laminae result from shorter (for example, intraseasonal) variations in temperature, insolation and hydrological conditions. The macrocrystalline laminae, with crystals >100 μm long, occur isolated and grouped into composite laminae up to 1·7 mm thick. Their occurrence suggests the absence or poor development of microbial mats over periods of weeks to several months. Thus, stromatolite lamination can record different‐order, periodic and non‐periodic changes in the magnitude of environmental parameters over a single year. These results hold important implications for the temporal and environmental interpretation of lamination in microbial structures.

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“…The horst and graben topography of the Catalan Coastal Range is crossed perpendicularly by major transverse drainages (Arche et al, 2010). In the outcrops of limestone-rich Mesozoic successions, streams typically flow deeply entrenched in canyons with frequent tufa accumulations (Vázquez-Urbez et al, 2011). Both, the Iberian Chain and the Catalan Coastal Chain have good examples of tectonic landforms associated with active normal faults, like mountain fronts, triangular facets and disrupted drainages (Perea et al, 2012;Zarroca et al, 2012).…”

Section: General Overview Of the Spanish Geomorphologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphological research in Spain

Gutiérrez

Harvey

Ruiz³

et al. 2013

Geomorphology

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Fluvial diffluence episodes reflected in the Pleistocene tufa deposits of the River Piedra (Iberian Range, NE Spain)

Cited by 19 publications

References 42 publications

Decoding tufa and travertine (fresh water carbonates) in the sedimentary record: The state of the art

Decoding tufa and travertine (fresh water carbonates) in the sedimentary record: The state of the art

Temporal and environmental significance of microbial lamination: Insights from Recent fluvial stromatolites in the River Piedra, Spain

Geomorphological research in Spain

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