Hydrogeological Significance of Secondary Terrestrial Carbonate Deposition in Karst Environments

Abstract

proportion of the dissolved calcium carbonate derived from limestone dissolution. The study of such secondary deposits is important because they provide information on the palaeohydrogeology of the unsaturated zone at the time of precipitation. They also offer the potential to provide information with respect to climatic conditions through the study of stable isotopes and dating through the study of radiogenic isotopes. This chapter introduces the formational processes, depositional environments (hydrogeological, hydrogeochemical, biological and geomorphological) and post depositional history of secondary terrestrial carbonate deposits. Consideration is given to the associated research themes and techniques, in particular to the current research focus on the role of microbial communities in present day sediment-water interface processes (Pedley and Rogerson, 2010) and the implications for furthering the understanding of climate change and landscape evolution. These deposits have a world-wide distribution (Ford and Pedley, 1996; Viles and Goudie, 1990) and include speleothems, travertines, tufas, calcareous nodules, calcretes and carbonate cements, such that speleothems and tufa represent two end members of a continuum of freshwater carbonate (Pedley and Rogerson, 2010). They form in a range of climatic conditions, but are best developed in warm humid climates. Examples cited in the text include case studies from the White Peak, Derbyshire UK, which currently experiences a temperate humid climate and hosts a range of deposits as a consequence of its recent geological history. The White Peak was not subjected to glacial erosion during the most recent (Devensian, MIS 2-4) glaciation, therefore there is a potential for an extensive record of Quaternary palaeoclimatic conditions to be preserved in the secondary carbonate deposits.