Role of Subsurface Brines in Salt Balance: The Case Study of the Caspian Sea and Kara Bogaz Bay

The water level of the Caspian Sea fluctuated significantly during recent history, without consensus for the cause. The varied chemistry of the Caspian, Kara Bogaz and sediment a interstitial waters provides a further insight. Element concentrations and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the interstitial waters we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Aquatic geochemistry 2009, Vol.15 (1-2), p.237-261
Main Authors: Clauer, Norbert, Pierret, Marie-Claire, Chaudhuri, Sam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drainage basins
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Geochemistry
Hydrogeology
Hydrologic regime
Hydrology/Water Resources
Leaching
Morphology
Oceans
Original Paper
Rubidium
Saline environments
Salt
Salt balance
Salt deposits
Salt lakes
Sediment deposits
Sediments
Strontium 87
Water level fluctuations
Water levels
Water Quality/Water Pollution
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Summary:The water level of the Caspian Sea fluctuated significantly during recent history, without consensus for the cause. The varied chemistry of the Caspian, Kara Bogaz and sediment a interstitial waters provides a further insight. Element concentrations and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the interstitial waters were compared to those of Caspian and Kara Bogaz open waters, and of acid-leached extractable components. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the interstitial waters are explained by addition of subterranean waters similar to nearby spring waters. These subterranean waters yield chemical characteristics such as a Cl/SO₄, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, Ca/Sr and K/Rb ratios of respectively 80, 0.7086, 250 and 1,800. However, their addition does not explain the large difference in the K/Rb ratio of the Caspian and Kara Bogaz waters, respectively at 7,630 and 17,550, which implies also a leaching of salt deposits by the upward migrating subterranean waters. The sediments of the southern Caspian basin, with low Na, Cl and SO₄ in their interstitial waters, deposited apparently in an anoxic environment. The related chemical changes in the waters are also indicative of a recent change in the hydrologic regime, possibly induced by a changing morphology of the drainage basin.
ISSN:1380-6165
1573-1421
DOI:10.1007/s10498-008-9048-x