A multidisciplinary approach to a fissure ridge and vein dominated travertine complex: The Yenice Geothermal Field of the Denizli Basin, Western Turkey

The Denizli Basin is one the leading grabens in Western Anatolian Extensional Province of Turkey that is bounded by normal faults along its northern and southern margins. The basin includes many travertine localities, some of... [ view full abstract ]

The Denizli Basin is one the leading grabens in Western Anatolian Extensional Province of Turkey that is bounded by normal faults along its northern and southern margins. The basin includes many travertine localities, some of which are currently active such as Pamukkale, approved as a world heritage by the UNESCO.
One of the travertine localities is the Yenice Travertine Field (YTF) located in the valley of Büyük Menderes River to the northwest of the basin. Prominent bedrocks in the field are mostly marble and schist of the Menderes Massif and the Neogene fluvio-lacustrine succession that exposed in places at the both sides of the valley. The travertine mass is observed more commonly on the eastern side of the river in elevation ranging between 165 to 230 m above see level. The travertine complex were covered partly by the siliciclastic slope deposits that consisted mostly of disorganized conglomerates, sandstones, and red mudstones derived from the hilly topography (up to 400 m a.s.l.) in the east.
The Yenice Travertine Complex (YTC) is unique with the fissure ridges and widespread vein set (cf. banded travertine). Aim of this study is to study the YTC, with a multidisciplinary approach that includes depositional architecture, geochemistry and geochronology. The travertine fissure ridges are almost N-NE trended and parallel eachother, except a few ones. The bedded travertines at the flanks of fissure ridges, in some cases, were cut by the veins. The veins, embedded in marl and claystone, are multicolored and reach up to several metres in thickness. Some vein set accompanied by the laminae parallel intruded pebble interlayers. The U-Th ages from the veins vary between 65.6 and 600 ka, most of the ages correspond to the cold and dry periods of MIS 4 and MIS 6. The stable isotope values of the vein travertines display obviously a thermal origin.