# Preservation and alteration of inclusion-based calcite-water oxygen isotope and clumped isotope temperature signals in calcite veins

## TL;DR

This study compares two isotope methods to determine the formation temperatures of calcite veins and finds that one method shows altered temperatures due to later changes in the rock.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates that retrograde oxygen isotope exchange affects OIT temperatures in calcite veins, even at low temperatures.

## Key findings

- Clumped isotope temperatures preserved original formation temperatures (16–45°C).
- OIT temperatures were shifted to lower values (−2 to 33°C) due to retrograde isotope exchange.
- Retrograde isotope exchange should be considered for low-temperature carbonate deposits with sufficient time for exchange.

## Abstract

Knowledge of the formation temperatures of geological deposits is essential for investigating their genesis. Oxygen isotope thermometry (OIT), using the temperature dependence of oxygen isotope fractionation between host carbonate mineral and mineral-forming water trapped in fluid inclusions, and clumped isotope thermometry, based on the degree of 13C and 18O clumping, are receiving increasing interest. However, only a few studies have applied combinations of these methods, and their databases are limited. In this study, we compare OIT and clumped isotope temperatures obtained for 18 samples from Mesozoic to early Cenozoic calcite veins. Our analysis indicates that the formation temperatures were preserved in the clumped isotopic compositions (16–45 °C), whereas the OIT temperatures were shifted to lower temperatures (− 2 to 33 °C). An OIT temperature shift occurred, due to a retrograde oxygen isotope exchange between the fluid inclusion water and the host calcite. These results imply that the retrograde isotope exchange should be taken into consideration, even for low-temperature carbonate deposits, if a sufficiently long time is available.