Isotopic studies on carbonates and lake sediments are a major source of paleoclimate and paleoenvironment data from continental records. Studies on recently deposited travertines from Northern Slovakia were basis for correlation of isotopic record with recent climate changes.
Many sites with presently deposited travertine are located in North Slovakia and they annual sedimentation rate is up to several tens of centimetres. The geochemical and isotopic measurements give possibility to precise description of deposition process and its relation to air and water temperatures. This was useful for revision of paleotemperature records obtain from fossil travertines in the region.
Two sets of data were collected for realisation of the project: water samples of stream flows through travertines cascades and samples of travertine. Actinide activity and stable isotope composition were measurement for both sets of data.
The results point to: (1) a high sedimentation rate of travertines – 1 mm of sediment is deposited during 2-4 days, (2) a high activity of actinides in water and travertine samples, (3) changes of actinides’ activity during the year, probably related to changes in metabolism of algae growing in travertine cascades, (4) no correlation between oxygen isotopic composition and changes in air temperature in annual scale.