Facies character and depositional architecture of hydrothermal travertine slope aprons (Pleistocene, Acquasanta Terme, Central Italy)

This study identifies the centimetre-scale travertine facies variability linking it to the environment of deposition and to the depositional geometry of travertine units affected by the substrate topography and lateral shifts of the active springs. Despite the different scale and facies composition, the geometry of aggradational-progradational units of travertine aprons might resemble marine flat-topped high-relief carbonate platforms. Travertine units in the subsurface, if present with sizes that can be seismically resolved, might be wrongly interpreted as carbonate platforms with steep slopes without a detailed facies analysis.