Shrub morpho-types as indicator for the water flow energy - Tivoli travertine case (Central Italy)

Travertines from Tivoli area (Central Italy) possess abundant shrub-like fabrics that are laterally continuous over hundreds of square meters. They occur dominantly in horizontal layers with aggradational and progradational stacking patterns. Their fabrics and morphologies are remarkably similar to the shrubs lithotypes reported in literature for the Pre-Salt reservoirs, offshore Brazil and Angola, with huge oil accumulations. Petrographic and micro-computer tomography analyses allowed the identification of six shrub morpho-types (i.e., narrow dendriform, wide dendriform, fili dendriform, arborescent, arbustiform and pustular). Dendriform shrubs are the most common lithotype in Tivoli area, and three different subtypes could be distinguished according to the arrangement of their branches. The shrubs consist largely of peloidal micritic aggregates engulfed in spar calcite, ranging in average from 1 to 3 cm in height. The shrubs are interpreted to have developed in very shallow extensive waterlogged slightly inclined flat areas, changing laterally into a slope system with crusts as the main lithotype. Changes in the hydrodynamic conditions with episodes of stagnancy influenced the shrub morpho-types making them very variegated. Shrub morphologies likely reflect specific (micro-) environments that are controlled by water flow rates, evaporation and microbial activity. The latter processes influenced shrub fabric and morphology. Under high flow conditions, CO2 degassing is the main process leading to carbonate precipitation. Consequently, denser and tightly packed morphologies will precipitate, composing mainly the crust lithotype. In this scenario microbes are less dominant. Dendriform shrubs, with narrow, wide and fili morphologies are interpreted to occur in moderate to low energy water flows. Narrow dendriform shrubs reflect faster flowing conditions, with decreasing impact of flow on the morphological aspects from wide dendriform shrubs to fili dendriform shrubs. Slow to very slow flowing waters are more characteristic for the arborescent, arbustiform and pustular shrubs that possibly are highly influenced by evaporation. A decrease of water flow likely allows higher microbial activity, and consequently, shrub morphologies become more fragile and enriched in peloidal micritic aggregate fabrics.