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Origin and circulation of saline springs in the Kuqa Basin of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China

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Abstract

It is widely accepted that hydrogeochemistry of saline springs is extremely important to understand the water circulation and evolution of saline basins and to evaluate the potential of potassiumrich evaporites. The Kuqa Basin, located in the northern part of the Tarim Basin in Northwest China, is a saline basin regarded as the most potential potash-seeking area. However, the origin and water circulation processes of saline springs have yet to be fully characterized in this saline basin. In this study, a total of 30 saline spring samples and 11 river water samples were collected from the Qiulitage Structural Belt (QSB) of the Kuqa Basin. They were analyzed for major (K+, Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, SO42−, Cl− and HCO3−) and trace (Sr2+ and Br−) ion concentrations, stable H-O-Sr isotopes and tritium concentrations in combination with previously published hydrogeochemical and isotopic (H-O) data in the same area. It is found that the water chemical type of saline springs in the study area belonged to the Na-Cl type, and that of river water belonged to the Ca-Mg-HCO3-SO4 type. The total dissolved solid (TDS) of saline springs in the QSB ranged from 117.77 to 314.92 g/L, reaching the brine level. On the basis of the general chemical compositions and the characteristics of the stable H-O-Sr isotopes of saline springs, we infer that those saline springs mainly originated from precipitation following river water recharging. In addition, we found that saline springs were not formed by evapo-concentration because it is unlikely that the high chloride concentration of saline springs resulted in evapo-concentration and high salinity. Therefore, we conclude that saline spring water may have experienced intense evapo-concentration before dissolving the salty minerals or after returning to the surface. The results show that the origin of salinity was mainly dominated by dissolving salty minerals due to the river water and/or precipitation that passed through the halite-rich stratum. Moreover, there are two possible origins of saline springs in the QSB: one is the infiltration of the meteoric water (river water), which then circulates deep into the earth, wherein it dissolves salty minerals, travels along the fault and returns to the surface; another is the mixture of formation water, or the mixture of seawater or marine evaporate sources and its subsequent discharge to the surface under fault conditions. Our findings provide new insight into the possible saltwater circulation and evolution of saline basins in the Tarim Basin.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the “The Belt and Road” Key Project of the Bureau of International Co-operation Chinese Academy of Sciences (122363KYSB20170002), the “One-Three-Five” Strategic Planning of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y760031091), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41671521), the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2018YFC0406605), the Science and Technology Plan of Qinghai Province of China (018-ZJ-T03) and the Light of West Talent Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y9140031013). We thank Ms. WANG Bo and Ms. XUE Yuan for their help in the laboratory. We also thank Mr. WANG Mingxiang, Dr. LI Jiansen, Dr. WEI Haicheng, Mr. CHEN Shuai, Dr. LI Yongshou, Mr. TANG Qiliang and Dr. YUAN Xiaolong for their help to collect water samples.

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  1. The second and third authors contributed equally to this work.

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  1. Key Laboratory of Comprehensive and Highly Efficient Utilization of Salt Lake Resources, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, China

    Junjie Shan, Jianping Wang, Fashou Shan, Qishun Fan, Qingkuan Li, Zhanjie Qin & Xiangru Zhang

  2. Key Laboratory of Salt Lake Geology and Environment of Qinghai Province, Xining, 810008, China

    Junjie Shan, Jianping Wang, Fashou Shan, Qishun Fan, Qingkuan Li, Zhanjie Qin & Xiangru Zhang

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China

    Junjie Shan

  4. Tianjin Center, China Geological Survey, Tianjin, 300170, China

    Xueming Teng

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  1. Junjie Shan
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Shan, J., Wang, J., Shan, F. et al. Origin and circulation of saline springs in the Kuqa Basin of the Tarim Basin, Northwest China. J. Arid Land 12, 331–348 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40333-020-0067-9

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