Mineralogical, geochemical and isotopic characteristics of Quaternary calcretes in the Adana region, southern Turkey Implications on their origin

Abstract Calcretes are widespread, and form as nodular, columnar/tubular, fracture-infill, laminated hardpan and conglomeratic crust in the Adana region. X-ray powder diffractometry (XRD), scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive analyses (SEM–EDX) and differential thermal analysis−thermal gravimetry (DTA–TG) reveal that calcretes and their host-rock mudstones are composed predominantly of calcite and smectite, respectively. The other minerals determined in the samples are palygorskite, quartz, and feldspar. Palygorskite is a minor component of the calcretes. The inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) analyses reveal that the calcrete samples are characterized by high CaO and LOI values whereas the host-rock mudstones contain relatively high values of SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 and MgO. The cross-plots of SiO 2 –Al 2 O 3 , CaO–SiO 2 , CaO–MgO and CaO–Fe 2 O 3 show positive and negative correlations. Their gradual change is due to the degree of the progressive calcretization causing mudstone replacement. The δ 18 O and δ 13 C values range from − 3.8 to − 5.7 (mean − 4.4) and from − 7.7 to − 10.0 (mean − 8.6) ‰ PDB, respectively which are consistent with values of pedogenic calcretes reported in the literature from worldwide sites. The δ 18 O values indicate formation from meteoric water either by replacement or precipitation at estimated temperatures from ~ 21 to 23 °C. The δ 13 C values are typical for pedogenic calcretes, reflecting development under the C3-dominated vegetation cover and semiarid or seasonally arid climatic conditions.

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