Hydrochemical characteristics and processes for groundwater in salt lake area: a case of Bieletan in the Qaidam Basin, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Abstract

Abstract The Bieletan area is located in the middle of the Qaidam Basin on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and its potash resources are abundant, accounting for more than half of the entire Qarhan Salt Lake. To explore the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in the Bieletan area and to understand the hydrogeochemical processes that happened during groundwater migration. The hydrogeochemical impacts of Senie Lake water and groundwater in the Bieletan area are determined using correlation analysis, the ion proportionality coefficient, and hydrogeochemical modeling in this research. Through the qualitative and quantitative investigation of the hydrochemical properties and the hydrogeochemical process, the results demonstrate that the groundwater is of Cl-Mg and Cl-Na types, whereas the surface water is of Cl-Na type. The findings of hydrogeochemical simulations suggest that the key hydrogeochemical processes are evaporation, water-rock interaction, and cation exchange.