Journal article
High‐resolution synchrotron X‐ray fluorescence investigation of calcite coralloid speleothems: Elemental incorporation and their potential as environmental archives
Valentina Vanghi, Andrea Borsato, Silvia Frisia, Daryl L Howard, Gertruida Gloy, John Hellstrom, Petra Bajo
Sedimentology: The Journal of the International Association of Sedimentologists | Wiley | Published : 2019
DOI: 10.1111/sed.12607
Abstract
Synchrotron high-resolution and micro-X-ray fluorescence elemental mapping of two coeval coralloid speleothems from Lamalunga Cave (Italy) are complemented with petrographic, morphological and microstratigraphic studies. The importance of these speleothems relies on their direct and indirect association with a complete Neanderthal skeleton (‘Altamura Man’) found inside the cave. The coralloids grew discontinuously between 64.6 ka and the Holocene and reveal exceptionally high concentrations of Mg, Sr and Si, particularly on convex surfaces, where evaporation is more intense. The incorporation of trace elements depends on several factors including location, shape and geometrical evolution dur..
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Funding Acknowledgements
VV is the recipient of an Endeavour Award Postgraduate Scholarship founded by the Australian Government. We would like to thank the Sovrintendenza dei Beni Culturali della Regione Puglia that permitted the collection of the samples from the site and the C.A.R.S. - Centro Altamurano Ricerche Speleologiche - for assistance during field work. The authors are grateful to F. Corradini (Fondazione Edmund Mach, S. Michele all'Adige, Italy) for water analyses. The SR-micro-XRF analyses were undertaken at the X-ray fluorescence microscopy (XFM) beamline at the Australian Synchrotron (AS), part of ANSTO. We also thank Jens Bergmann of Bruker Pty Limited, Australia for the access to the micro-XRF analyses M4-Tornado instrument. We thank C.C. Day, I.J. Fairchild and P. Wynn for their thorough reviews and constructive criticisms. The authors declare no competing financial interests.