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Abstract:
The paper presents an analysis of characteristic karst tufa from Guangxi, China, which has not been studied before. A comparison with tufa from Dinaric Karst of Croatia is discussed in view of the C-type climate. The major mineral is calcite. Minor minerals are quartz and dolomite, depending on location. The content of calcium carbonate varies from 65% to 92%, and that of magnesium carbonate from 0.03% to 1.77%. Among other elements, the most abundant are Fe, from 0.02% to 1.50%, and Ti, from 0.15% to 0.27%. Many other trace elements (V, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Se, Br, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Hg and Pb) are also present. Specific activity of radionuclides K-40, Th-232, Cs-137, Ra-226 and U-238 varies from sample to sample. Concentration of U in tufa is close to that reported for sedimentary carbonate. Low concentration Of Cs-137 indicates that this part of the world was not exposed to nuclear explosions. The concentration of Ra-226 is the highest in Mashan County. The ratio U-238/Ra-226 (0.21-0.71) in tufa from Mashan County is significantly lower than the theoretical value of 1. In 5 of the 11 studied samples, stable isotopes delta(13)C and delta(18)O were analyzed. They were dated by means of the C-14 method. One tufa sample originated in the Pleistocene and the others in the Holocene. Because all of the tufa samples contain traces of Na and K, and K < Na, the tufa from Guangxi belong to the CO2-outgassing 'N' type according to the classification of Liu and He (1994)