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Environmental controls on silica sinter formation revealed by radiocarbon dating

2019; Geological Society of America; Volume: 47; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/g45859.1

1943-2682

Silvina Slagter, Martín Reich, Carolina Muñoz‐Saez, John Southon, Diego Morata, Fernando Barra, Jian Gong, J. R. Skok,

Geochemistry and Elemental Analysis

Research Article| February 28, 2019 Environmental controls on silica sinter formation revealed by radiocarbon dating Silvina Slagter; Silvina Slagter * 1Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile2Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile *E-mail: sslagter@ing.uchile.cl Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Martin Reich; Martin Reich 1Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile2Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Carolina Munoz-Saez; Carolina Munoz-Saez 1Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile2Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar John Southon; John Southon 3Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, California 92697, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Diego Morata; Diego Morata 1Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile2Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Fernando Barra; Fernando Barra 1Department of Geology and Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla 803, Santiago, Chile2Millennium Nucleus for Metal Tracing along Subduction, Facultad de Ciencias Físicas y Matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Jian Gong; Jian Gong 4Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS–UMR7154, 75005 Paris, France Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar J.R. Skok J.R. Skok 5SETI Institute, Mountain View, California 94043, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Geology (2019) 47 (4): 330–334. https://doi.org/10.1130/G45859.1 Article history received: 25 Nov 2018 rev-recd: 23 Jan 2019 accepted: 28 Jan 2019 first online: 28 Feb 2019 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Silvina Slagter, Martin Reich, Carolina Munoz-Saez, John Southon, Diego Morata, Fernando Barra, Jian Gong, J.R. Skok; Environmental controls on silica sinter formation revealed by radiocarbon dating. Geology 2019;; 47 (4): 330–334. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/G45859.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Silica sinter deposits overlying geothermal fields are reliable records of environmental, geochemical, and biological changes through time. Therefore, determining the absolute ages of formation of these deposits is fundamental to constrain the timing and evolution of processes that have shaped silica precipitation on the Earth's surface. We performed 14C dating of organic matter trapped within silica sinter deposits from the high-altitude El Tatio geyser field in the Chilean Altiplano. Radiocarbon ages of stratigraphically controlled samples retrieved from four well-preserved paleosinter mounds range from 10,840 ± 30 to 230 ± 35 yr B.P., indicating that the El Tatio system has had active discharge of silica-rich chloride springs over at least the past 10,000 years that has resulted in the formation of extensive sinter deposits. These ages are used to determine the silica precipitation rate at El Tatio, which was calculated to be between 0.14 and 2.57 kg/yr/m2. These values are among the highest precipitation rates in geothermal systems for which data are available, and are consistent with in situ silica precipitation experiments at El Tatio (0.84–2.92 kg/yr/m2). Our results indicate that the extreme environmental conditions of the arid Chilean Altiplano, i.e., high evaporation and cooling rate of thermal waters and significant daily temperature oscillations, play a key role in the construction and preservation of silica sinter deposits. 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