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The source of lithium in Lakkor Co Salt Lake on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China: evidence from hydrochemical characteristics and boron isotope

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Abstract

The availability of lithium resources is of great significance for the development of modern technologies, as well as for civil and military industries. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is a region known for its abundance of lithium-rich salt lakes. However, the specific origin of lithium in these lakes is still unknown, which hinders the advancement of the lithium resource business in this region. To research this issue, this study involved the collection of 20 samples from Lakkor Co Salt Lake on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, encompassing samples of surface brine, cold springs, fresh lakes, and recharge rivers. The composition of anions and cations in these samples was determined. Furthermore, the analysis extensively utilized the Piper three-line diagram, Gibbs model, and ion proportion coefficient. The findings of this study indicate that as the moves from the recharge water system to salt lake, there is a transition in water type from strong carbonate to moderate carbonate and weak carbonate, as well as Na sulfate. This research based on a similar source of both lithium and boron, utilized ion correlation analysis and boron isotope study in the Lakkor Co area, and analyzed the source and transporting process of lithium. The main origin of lithium in Lakkor Co is the dissolution of lithium-rich rocks, recharge water systems, and deep hydrothermal fluids. These findings are highly significant in enhancing the foundational data of lithium-rich brine resources in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and are beneficial for assessing the future development of such deposits.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Shaanxi Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars (2022JC); NSFC (41930863, 42173023) and The Science and Technology Plan Project of Qinghai Province Incentive Fund 2023.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geoscience and Technology, Taiyuan University of Technology, Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan, 030024, Shanxi Province, China

    Zheng Yan Li & Xue Qin Wen

  2. State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology, Institute of Earth Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an, 710061, China

    Zheng Yan Li, Mao-Yong He & Jiang Di Zhou

  3. Qinghai Provincial Key Laboratory of Geology and Environment of Salt Lakes, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, Qinghai, China

    Bin Kai Li

  4. School of Earth Science and Resources, Chang’an University, Xi’an, 710000, Shaanxi, China

    Jiang Di Zhou

  5. Qinghai Normal University, Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, Xining, 810016, China

    Mao-Yong He

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  1. Zheng Yan Li
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Contributions

ZYLi: Conceptualization; Investigation; data curation; writing—original draft. BKL: Investigation; resources. M-YH: Conceptualization; supervision; funding acquisition. XQW: Supervision; writing—reviewing and editing. JDZ: Writing—reviewing and editing.

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Correspondence to Mao-Yong He or Xue Qin Wen.

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Li, Z.Y., Li, B.K., He, MY. et al. The source of lithium in Lakkor Co Salt Lake on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China: evidence from hydrochemical characteristics and boron isotope. Acta Geochim (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11631-024-00697-z

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