Tufas are constructional landforms composed of calcium carbonate. They are common in karst terrains, and are known worldwide as useful archives of palaeoenvironmental information. In the case of fluvial tufas, these carbonate deposits experience net aggradation when environmental conditions are stable, whilst incision through the deposits occurs when conditions become wetter. In this study, the first of its type in temperate Australia, we used geomorphological and sedimentological evidence preserved in fossil tufas and alluvial terraces to investigate the fluvial history of Davys Creek (NSW, Australia). The nature and timing of fluvial changes along two quasi-independent reaches of the creek were synchronous, suggesting the operation of externally driven processes rather than local internal fluvial adjustments. Following a period of sustained aggradation, rapid incision occurred along the creek between 1500 and 1600 years before present ( bp ) in response to a shift to a moister climate. This was succeeded by a second major aggradation event (1500 years bp to 150 years bp ), then subsequent incision following the arrival of Europeans at 150 years bp.
INTRODUCTION Tufa is a consolidated to unlithified freshwater secondary limestone deposit that contains biological remains and forms in ambientto near-ambient-temperature waters in karstic terrains. It owes its origin to solution weathering, where solutes produced by carbonation are reworked through the karst system and deposited in streams and lakes (Figure 1). Tufas form unique constructional landscapes, and are an important source of palaeoenvironmental information (Martin-Algarra et al., in press). At Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland (Figure 2), tufas range in age from the Late Oligocene to actively developing landforms. Its tropical location makes it one of the few sites in northern Australia capable of preserving a record of Quaternary monsoon variability.
Abstract Spring‐fed rivers of the Barkly karst in tropical northern Australia form an array of tufa and related freshwater carbonate deposits. One of these deposits, calcite rafts, is precipitated at the water–air interface principally as a consequence of CO 2 degassing and evaporation. Calcite rafts have been reported in cave environments but have not been described in detail from fluvial systems. Observations using scanning electron microscopy coupled with water chemistry data reveal that they form by a combination of physical, chemical and biological processes. They grow downwards into the water column and form a dentate lower surface, while a flat upper surface occurs at the water–air interface. The rafts are readily inhabited by microorganisms, particularly diatoms, which frequently become entombed by calcite as the rafts develop. The decay of the biological material leaves voids, creating a pock‐marked texture. The rafts are subject to secondary calcite growth along the crystal edges. Once they become submerged in the water column after disturbance of the water surface, they may become completely covered by this overgrowth, creating a homogeneous veneer. The rafts form in quiescent settings, principally behind tufa dams in large, lake‐like water bodies along each river. Therefore, they can be used in conjunction with adjacent exposures of other tufa facies to decipher palaeohydrological conditions. Although the rafts are extremely thin and fragile, they are readily preserved within fossil waterhole facies, and their occurrence has been identified in rocks from the Quaternary to the Tertiary.
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