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Estimation of travertine formation age in northwestern Iran using radiocarbon and stable isotopes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 November 2025

Yoshihiro Asahara Open the ORCID record for Yoshihiro Asahara [Opens in a new window] ,
Hadi Amin-Rasouli ,
Masaki Kaneko ,
Yubo Zhang ,
Motohiro Tsuboi Open the ORCID record for Motohiro Tsuboi [Opens in a new window]  and
Masayo Minami Open the ORCID record for Masayo Minami [Opens in a new window]
Yoshihiro Asahara*
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
Hadi Amin-Rasouli
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, 66177-15175, Iran
Masaki Kaneko
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
Yubo Zhang
Affiliation:
Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Chikusa, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
Motohiro Tsuboi
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Chemistry for Environment, School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Kwansei Gakuin University, 1 Gakuen Uegahara, Sanda, Hyogo 669-1330, Japan
Masayo Minami
Affiliation:
Institute for Space–Earth Environmental Research (ISEE), Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan
*
Corresponding author: Yoshihiro Asahara; Email: asahara.yoshihiro.z8@f.mail.nagoya-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

Travertine is widely distributed in northwestern (NW) Iran and Turkey and serves as a valuable sample for paleoenvironmental reconstructions in semi-arid areas. Previous studies have analyzed the chemical compositions, carbon and oxygen isotopes of the travertines in NW Iran for paleoenvironmental reconstructions, but little dating has been done because travertine 14C dating faces the problem of identifying the initial 14C concentration of each sample. The objective of this study is to determine the formation age of travertine in NW Iran using radiocarbon (14C) and δ13C from a travertine mound and its related spring water. Travertine samples were collected from the base to the top of a cone-shaped travertine mound, Zendan-e Soleyman, in the Takab region of NW Iran. The 14C concentrations of the travertine samples ranged from 0.67 to 3.72 pMC, with values fluctuating considerably and higher 14C being observed at higher elevations. The δ13C values were lower at higher elevations (+10.1 to +7.4‰) with fluctuations. The values suggest that the travertines were formed through the decarbonation of limestone and rapid degassing. The dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) of nearby spring water samples had 14C concentrations of about 10.4 pMC, about 89.6% dead carbon fraction (DCF), and δ13C value of +1.3‰. These values indicate that one of the of CO2 sources in the travertine-deposited spring water was of hydrothermal origin. Considering the DCF of the spring water DIC, the formation of the travertine mound began about 20 kyr BP, and the growth of the mound ended about 7 kyr BP.

Keywords

13CDCFDICtravertine

Information

Type
Conference Paper
Information
Radiocarbon , First View , pp. 1 - 8
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona

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Footnotes

Selected Papers from the 4th Radiocarbon in the Environment Conference, Lecce, Italy, 23–27 Sept. 2024

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