Six hot and two ambient water travertine systems were sampled to deter
mine the relationships between the stable isotopic composition of the
travertines and the waters from which they were deposited. This was co
nducted in order to evaluate the use of geochemical analyses of ancien
t travertines for the interpretation of the composition of the waters
from which they precipitated, climatic conditions at time of formation
, etc. The waters displayed downflow trends of progressively higher (i
) delta C-13 values, in all 8 systems, and (ii) delta O-18 values, in
all 6 hot water systems. Whereas the stable isotopic values of the min
eral precipitates sometimes showed similar trends, the magnitude of th
e downflow changes commonly was quite different than that exhibited by
the water data. Additionally, different types of precipitates, which
formed within centimeters of each other, commonly had different stable
isotopic compositions, e.g., crusts which formed at the air/water int
erface always had higher delta C-13 and delta O-18 values than constit
uents which formed within the immediately subjacent water column. The
lack of a simple relationship between stable isotopic composition of t
he water and the precipitate is due to the fact that the stable isotop
ic composition of the precipitates are controlled by a number of varia
bles, including the water's composition, temperature, level of saturat
ion, etc. And these variables can change dramatically within very shor
t distances and at the same spot within very short time intervals. Thu
s, as demonstrated by the stable isotope data, attempting to interpret
the composition of the water from the composition of the deposit is a
highly risky venture.