Preview

Georesources

Advanced search

Main Mechanisms of Lake Evolution of Hilganta and Gorbunka (Southeastern Transbaikalia)

https://doi.org/10.18599/grs.2026.1.7

Abstract

The article examines the hydrogeochemical history of continental saline, chloride lakes Hilgant and Gorbunka, located in the southeast of Transbaikalia. Brief information is given on the composition of host rocks and the chemical composition of water involved in the salt supply to the lakes. The mineral and chemical compositions, values of the isotopic ratios of carbon and oxygen of carbonates in different layers of lake bottom sediments are described. Indicator minerals are distinguished that characterize different climatic conditions. The main conditions are identified that characterize the content and ratios of the main chemical components and pH during changes in the salinity of lake water. Based on 210Pb measurements, the current rate of sediment accumulation in the lakes is calculated. Thermodynamic calculations analyzing water evaporation and under-ice water concentration are discussed. The possibility of forming authigenic minerals is considered. Ultimately, the geochemical evolution of the lakes is interpreted in relation to regional climate changes in the recent past.

About the Authors

S. V. Borzenko
Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Svetlana V. Borzenko – Professor, Chief Researcher, Head of the Laboratory

16а, Nedorezova Av., Chita, 672014



I. A. Komogortseva
Institute of Natural Resources, Ecology, and Cryology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation

Irina A. Komogortseva – Junior Researcher, Institute of Natural Resources

16а, Nedorezova Av., Chita, 672014



References

1. Bąbel M. & Schreiber B.C. (2014). Geochemistry of Evaporites and Evolution of Seawater. In Treatise on Geochemistry: Second Edition, Vol. 9, doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00718-X.

2. Boros E.; Horváth Z.; Wolfram G.; Vörös L. (2014). Salinity and ionic composition of the shallow astatic soda pans in the Carpathian Basin. Ann. De Limnol. Int. J. Limnol., Vol. 50, p. 59–69. doi:10.1051/limn/2013068.

3. Borzenko S.V. (2020). Principal Parameters Controlling Water Composition in Saline and Brackish Lakes in Eastern Transbaikalia. Geochem. Int., Vol. 58, is. 12, p. 1382-1399.

4. Borzenko S.V. (2021) The main formation processes for different types of salt lakes: Evidence from isotopic composition with case studies of lakes in Transbaikalia, Russia. Sci. Total Environ. 782: 146782. DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv. 146782.

5. Borzenko S.V., Drebot V.V., Fedorov I.A. (2020). Main formation conditions of soda-type groundwater: A case study from south-eastern Transbaikal region (Russia). Appl. Geochem., 123 doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2020.104763.

6. Borzenko S.V., Fedorov I.A. (2024) Geochemical transformations of sulfur and their role in the formation of different types and subtypes of saline lakes in Southeastern Transbaikalia. Applied Water Science, 14:32 doi.org/10.1007/s13201-023-02082-2.

7. Borzenko S.V., Shvartsev S.L. (2019). Chemical composition of salt lakes in East Transbaikalia (Russia). Appl. Geochem., vol. 103, p. 72–84.

8. Dambaev V.B., Gonchikov G.G., Buryukhaev S.P., Tsyrenov B.S., Zyakun A.M., Namsaraev B.B. (2011). Microbiological and isotopic-geochemical studies in the dry-steppe lakes and saline solonchaks of Western Transbaikalia. Microbiology. Vol. 80, is. 6, p. 850-859.

9. De Lange G.J.; Krijgsman, W. Primary Messinian Salinity Crisis shallow gypsum vs. deep dolomite formation: A unifying biogeochemical mechanism. Mar. Geol. 2010. Vol. 275. P. 273–277.

10. Deocampo DM, Behrensmeyer AK, and Potts R (2010) Ultrafine clay minerals of the Pleistocene Olorgesailie Formation, southern Kenya Rift: Diagenesis and paleoenvironments of early hominins. Clays and Clay Minerals 58: 294–310.

11. Deocampo DM, Cuadros J, Wing-Dudek T, Olives J, and Amouric M (2009) Saline lake diagenesis as revealed by coupled mineralogy and geochemistry of multiple ultrafine clay phases: Pliocene Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. American Journal of Science 309: 834–868.

12. Deocampo, D.; Jones, B. (2014). Geochemistry of Saline Lakes. In Treatise on Geochemistry. Volume 7: Surface and Groundwater, Weathering, and Soils, 2nd ed.; Drever, J.I., Ed.; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Chapter 7.13, doi:10.1016/B978-0-08-095975-7.00515-5.

13. Donсhyts G.; Baart F.; Winsemius H.; Gorelick N.; Kwadijk J.; Van De Giesen N. (2016). Earth’s surface water change over the past 30 years. Nat. Clim Chang. Vol. 6, p. 810–813. doi:10.1038/nclimate3111.

14. Erler A.R., Frey S.K., Khader O., d’Orgeville M., Park, Y.-J., Hwang H.-T., Lapen D.R., Peltier W.R., Sudicky E.A. (2018). Simulating Climate Change Impacts on Surface Water Resources Within a Lake-Affected Region Using Regional Climate Projections. Water Resour. Res. 55. doi:10.1029/2018WR024381.

15. Galimov E.M. (1968). Geochemistry of carbon-stable isotopes. Nedra, 226 p.

16. Garrels R.M., Christ C.L. (1965). Solutions, Minerals, and Equilibria. Harper and Row, New York, 450 p.

17. Gaskova O.L., Strakhovenko V.D., Ermolaeva N.I., Zarubina E.Y., Ovdina E.A. (2017). A simple method to model the reduced environment of lake bottom sapropel formation. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. Vol. 35, p. 956–966.doi:10.1007/s00343-017-5345-9.

18. Hardie L.A., Eugster H.P. (1970). The evolution of closed basin brines. Mineral. Soc. Am. Vol. 3, p. 273-290.

19. Jones B.F., Naftz D.L., Spencer R.J., Oviatt C.G. (2009). Geochemical evolution of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. Aquat. Geochem. Vol. 15, p. 95–121. doi:10.1007/s10498-008-9047-y.

20. Jones BF and Spencer RJ (1999) Clay mineral diagenesis at Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. In: 5th International Symposium on the Geochemistry of the Earth’s Surface, Reykjavik, Iceland, pp. 293–297. Rotterdam: Balkema.

21. Jones BF, Naftz DL, Spencer RJ, and Oviatt CG (2009) Geochemical evolution of Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA. Aquatic Geochemistry 15: 95–121.

22. Khotinsky N.A. (1977). The Holocene of Northern Eurasia. Moscow: Nauka, 192 p.

23. Kolpakova M., Gaskova O., Borzenko S., Krivonogov S., Naymushina O., Rudaya N. (2020). Distribution profile of chemical elements during the last 13 thousand years from the sediments of Maloye Yarovoe lake (Western Siberia, Russia). Water. Vol. 12, is. 11. 3001. doi: 10.3390/w12113001.

24. Kolpakova M.N., Gaskova O.L., Naymushina O.S., Karpov A.V., Vladimirov A.G., Krivonogov S.K. (2019). Saline lakes of Northern Kkazakhstan: geochemical correlations of elements and controls on their accumulation in water and bottom sediments. Appl. Geochem. Vol. 107, p. 8-18.

25. Leonova G.A., Mal’tsev A.E., Melenevskii V.N., Miroshnichenko L.V., Kondrat’eva L.M., Bobrov V.A. (2018). Geochemistry of Diagenesis of Organogenic Sediments: An Example of Small Lakes in Southern West Siberia and Western Baikal Area. Geochem. Int. Vol. 56. P. 344–361 doi:10.1134/S0016702918040043.

26. Maberly S.C., O’Donnell R.A., Woolway R.I, Cutler M.E., Gong M., Jones I.D., Merchant C.J., Miller C.A., Politi E., Marian Scott, E. (2020). Global lake thermal regions shift under climate change. Nat. Commun. Vol. 11, 1232. doi:10.1038/s41467-020-15108-z.

27. Maltsev A.E., Krivonogov S.K., Vosel Y.S., Miroshnichenko L.V., Shavekin A.S., Leonova G.A., Solotchin P.A., Bychinsky V.A. (2022). Geochemistry of early diagenesis in sediments of Russian Arctic Glacial lakes (Norilo–Pyasinskaya water system). Minerals. Vol. 12, is. 4, p. 468. doi:org/10.3390/min12040468.

28. McCaffrey M.A., Lazar B., Holland H.D. (1987). The evapouration path of seawater and the coprecipitation of Br– and K+ with halite. J. Sedim. Petrol. 57, p. 928-937.

29. Mianping Z. (1997). Classification of Saline Lakes and Types of Mineral Deposit. In An Introduction to Saline Lakes on the Qinghai—Tibet Plateau; Monographiae Biologicae; Springer: Dordrecht, The Netherlands, 251 p.

30. Nordstrom D.K., Ball J.W., Donahoe R.J., Whittemore D. (1989). Groundwater chemistry and water-rock interactions at Stripa. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. Vol. 53, is. 8, p. 1727-1740. doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(89)90294-9.

31. Oblizov V.A. (2007). Changes in temperature and humidity in the territory of Transbaikalia and neighboring regions of China. Materials of the conference "Environmental cooperation of the Chita Region (RF) and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (China) in transboundary ecological territories". Chita, pp. 247-250.

32. Pac̆es, T. (1983). Rate constants of dissolution derived from the measurements of mass balance in hydrological catchments. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. Vol. 47. Is. 11. 1855-1863. doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(83)90202-8.

33. Parkhurst D.L., Appelo C.A. (2013). Description of Input and Examples for PHREEQC Version 3—A Computer Program. for Speciation, Batch-Reaction, One-Dimensional Transport, and Inverse Geochemical Calculations; U.S. Geological Survey Techniques and Methods: Denver, CO, USA, 497 p.

34. Pechenyuk S.I., Semushina Yu.P. (2021). The sorption of ions on the surface of metal oxyhydroxides. SUSU, 243 p.

35. Pitzer K.S. (1992). Thermodynamic model of dense aqueous solutions. Thermodynamic modeling in geology: minerals, fluids, melts. Moscow: Mir, pp. 110-153.

36. Shvartsev S.L. (1991). Interaction of water with aluminosilicate rocks: review. Sov. Geol. Geophys. Vol. 32, is. 12, p. 13-37.

37. Shvartsev S.L. (2000). Hydrogeochemistry of hypergenesis zone. Geochem. Int. Vol. 28, is. 2, p. 260-276.

38. Solotchin P.A., Solotchina E.P., Strakhovenko V.D., Zhdanova A.N., Kuzmin M.I., Bezrukova E.V., Shchetnikov A.A. (2021). New data on late quaternary sedimentation in high-mountain Khikushka Lake (Eastern Sayan): the role of climatic and volcanic factors. Doklady Earth Sciences. Vol. 501, is. 1, p. 938-944.

39. Sonnenfeld P. (1988). Brines and evaporites: Moscow : Mir Publishing House, 480 p.

40. Spencer R. J., Hardie, L. A. (1990). Control of seawater composition by mixing of river waters and mid-ocean ridge hydrothermal brines, in Spencer, R. J., and Chou, I. M., editors, Fluid-Mineral Interactions: A Tribute to H. P. Eugster: Special Publication 2, The Geochemical Society, p. 409–449.

41. Strakhov N.M. (1962). Fundamentals of the theory of lithogenesis. Aphorisms. Moscow: Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 551 p. Strakhov N.M. (1993). Selected works. Sedimentation in modern reservoirs. Moscow, Nauka, 396 p.

42. Strakhovenko V.D., Shcherbov B.L., Malikova I.N., Vosel’ Y. (2010). The regularities of distribution of radionuclides and rear-earth elements in bottom sediments of Siberian lakes. Russ. Geol. Geophys. Vol. 51, p. 1167–1178. doi:10.1016/j.rgg.2010.10.002.

43. Subetto D.A. (2009). Bottom sediments of the lake: paleolimnological reconstructions. St. Petersburg: RSPU Publishing House, 343 p.

44. Talbot M.R. (1990). A review of the palaeohydrological interpretation of carbon and oxygen isotope ratios in primary lacustrine carbonates. Chemical Geology (Isotope Geoscience Section). Vol. 80, p. 261-279.

45. Tessier A., Cambell P.G., Bisson M. (1979). Sequential extraction procedure for the speciation of particulate trace metals. Anal. Chem. Vol. 51, p. 844–851.

46. Tweed S., Grace M., Leblanc M., Cartwright I., Smithyman D. (2011). The individual response of saline lakes to a severe drought. Sci. Total Environ. Vol. 409, p. 3919–3933. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv. 2011.06.023.

47. Velichko A.A. (1989). The Holocene as an element of the global natural process. Paleoclimate of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 5-12.

48. Velichko A.A. (2012). Evolutionary geography: problems and solutions. Moscow: GEOS, 564 p. Velichko A.A. (1982). Gerasimov I.P. Paleogeography of Europe over the last hundred thousand years. Moscow: Nauka, 175 p.

49. W.D. Keller (1963). Geochemistry of lithogenesis. Moscow: Publishing House of Foreign Languages, pp. 85-197.

50. Warren J.K. (1989). Evaporite Sedimentology. J. Sedimentology. – Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, Vol. 29, is. 5, p. 548-556.

51. Yechieli Y., Wood W.W. (2002). Hydrogeologic processes in saline systems: Playas, sabkhas, and saline lakes. Earth Sci. Rev. Vol. 58, p. 343–365. doi:10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00067-3.

52. Zamana L.V., Oblizov V.A. (2004). Dynamics of the level and hydrochemical regime of the Torey lakes in the twentieth century. Scientific foundations of river basin protection: interdisciplinary approaches to natural resource management: Tez. Conf. Ulan-Ude (Russia) – Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia). In two volumes.1 – Ulan-Ude: BNC Publishing House, pp. 98-99.

53. Zheng M. (2014). Saline lakes and salt basin deposits in China. Beijing: Science Press, 321 p.


Review

For citations:


Borzenko S.V., Komogortseva I.A. Main Mechanisms of Lake Evolution of Hilganta and Gorbunka (Southeastern Transbaikalia). Georesursy = Georesources. 2026;28(1):160-176. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18599/grs.2026.1.7

Views: 390

JATS XML


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.


ISSN 1608-5043 (Print)
ISSN 1608-5078 (Online)