Geochemical Signature of Natural Water Recharge in the Jungar Basin and Its Response to Climate

Abstract

This paper analyzed the physico-chemical characteristics of natural waters in a drainage system of the Jungar Basin, northwestern China to identify chemical evolution and recharge mechanisms of natural waters in an arid environment. The waters studied are different in mineralization, but are typically carbonate rivers and alkaline in nature. No Cl-dominated water type occurs, indicating an early stage of water evolution. Regolith and geomorphological parameters controlling ground-surface temperature may play a large role in the geological evolution of the water. Three main morphological and hydrological units are reflected in water physico-chemistry. Climate influences the salinization of natural waters substantially. Direct recharge from seasonal snow and ice-melt water and infiltration of rain to the ground are significant recharge processes for natural waters, but recharge from potential deep groundwater may be less important. The enrichment of ions in lakes has been mainly caused by evaporation rather than through the quality change of the recharged water.

Composition, Distribution, and Attribution of Hydrochemistry in Drainage Systems in the North of Tianshan Mountains, China

“…From August to September 2008, 2015, 2018, and 2022, natural water samples of different water types were collected from the north slope of Tianshan Mountains and the north area of Tianshan Mountains, including the upper, middle, and lower reaches of the main rivers, tributaries, lakes, reservoirs, springs, groundwater of mechanized wells, mountain snow, and rainfall in the plain areas. The collection locations, water sample types, sampling methods, water sample preservation and transportation, analysis methods, and other information of parts of samples can be seen in Figure 3, the Supplementary Tables S1 and S2, and the references [33][34][35][36][37][38]. In the process of water sample analysis, the samples were firstly filtered at the sampling site, and the temperature (T), pH, conductivity (EC), electric potential (Eh), total dissolved solids (TDS), and other parameters of the water samples were measured with a portable water parameter instrument.…”

“…The hydrogeochemical processes and related environmental effects can have potential impacts on global climate change [32][33][34]. At present, hydrochemical studies on the drainage systems in the north of Tianshan Mountains have been gradually carried out [33][34][35][36][37][38][39], but most of them are case studies at the sub-basin scale, lacking systematic comparison and synthesis at regional and even global scales. There are still few analyses on the attribution of similarities and differences in the hydrochemistry over basin scale.…”