Travertine-Tufa Deposition in Relation with Gafsa-Jeffara Fault System: Implication on Fluid-Flow (Southern Tunisia)

Abstract

Travertine and Tufa are continental carbonate deposits that originate from deep geothermal systems supersatu-rated by bicarbonates. These non-marine carbonates are characterized by complex interactions between biological, chemical and physical processes that make them interesting recorders of climatic and environmental changes. Previous works have shown that exhumed travertine affected by active tectonics could be an ideal tool in understanding the relation in a fault-fluid flow. The principal purpose of this work is to carry out for a the first time a detailed study on representative rock samples of Jebel El Mzar (Southern Tunisia, province of Kirchaou): “a thermogene travertine and tufa’’ related study to the Gafsa-Jeffara fault system activity which is characterized by diverse facies. Geochemical, microstructural, petrological and petrophysical studies of Travertine/Tufa samples were carried out.