Tectonic and climatic controls of lacustrine sedimentation in pre-rift and rift settings in the Permian-Triassic of East Africa

Lake sediments in the Ruhuhu Basin, Tanzania, and other East African basins have a similar facies evolution for particular time slices of the Permian and Lower Triassic. The Ruhuhu Basin exhibits three lacustrine phases related partly to climate and partly to tectonic setting. Two pre-rift lacustrine stages — post glacial and swampy lacustrine phases — are followed by major rifting in the Upper Permian. Postgacial lakes developed in pre-Karoo depressions were fed initially by meltwater and later by runoff and grounwater associated with climatic amelioration. The following swampy lacustrine episode developed from fluvial to lacustrine conditions with alternating clastic and organic input. Associated micritic carbonates and gypsum indicate high evaporation, and playa clay mineral associations provide evidence for poor drainage and saline, alkaline lake waters.The Upper Permian lake was characterized by fine clastics and biogenic carbonates. Facies include littoral clastics and turbidites, stromatolites, oolites and deeper water laminites. Early diagenetic cherts, chloritization and the absence of kaolinite indicate highly alkaline lake water during regressive phases. Stable isotopic evidence supports lake differentiation into hydrogeologically open and closed sub-basins.Two phases of rifting (Lower-Upper Permian; Upper Permian-Lower Triassic) are recognized in several Karoo basins. Rift evolution and lake formation are intimately related. The first rifting episode was characterized by local extension of depositional areas. Half-graben basinal asymmetry and permanent lacustrine conditions became established. The second episode was regional, and was characterized by further extension of depositional area, a basal unconformity, and a hiatus between the uppermost Permian and lowermost Triassic units. Climate was the main controlling factor during the Early Permian lake development, whereas structural constraints strongly influenced vertical and lateral facies development in the Late Permian/Early Triassic lakes.     

巴丹吉林沙漠盐湖面积变化对湖泊边缘表层沉积物盐类矿物组合影响

选择巴丹吉林沙漠17个代表性盐湖,采集了2013年春季和秋季湖泊边缘表层沉积物样品,通过X衍射分析其盐类矿物组成和百分含量;应用Landsat 8遥感数据提取了上述两时段湖泊面积。结果发现,自春季到秋季13个面积减小的湖泊中,碳酸盐类矿物百分含量均较低,变化不明显;氯化物矿物和总盐类矿物百分含量均有增加,其增加幅度与湖泊面积变化有关。面积减少超过10%的湖泊,氯化物矿物或硫酸盐矿物百分含量总体明显增加;其余面积减少的湖泊,氯化物矿物百分含量均较春季有一定的增加,盐类矿物总百分含量也有一定程度的增加,但与湖泊面积减小程度相比没有更为明显的规律。4个面积增大的湖泊中沉积物的总盐类矿物百分含量和各盐类矿物的百分含量并未呈现显著相关性,表明在该区域湖泊面积的变化过程中,湖泊边缘表层沉积物中的盐类矿物百分含量对盐湖萎缩的指示意义相对高于湖泊扩张时期,氯化物矿物百分含量变化对湖泊面积萎缩变化响应更为敏感。     

伊朗盐湖分布和研究现状

伊朗盐湖广泛分布,具有丰富的盐湖矿产资源和盐湖生物资源。综合文献资料,重点分析了伊朗盐湖的分布、研究热点、研究机构和研究人员等现状。伊朗盐湖主要为乌尔米耶湖、Meyghan湖、Fesendooz湖、马哈尔卢盐沼和Tashk湖;干盐滩为Houze Sultan干盐滩、巴赫泰甘干盐滩、Gaav Khooni干盐滩、纳马克干盐滩、Khur干盐滩和Haj Aligholj干盐滩;伊朗南部沿海盐类资源集中分布;盐沙漠为达什特坎维和达什特鲁。分析得出伊朗盐湖研究领域论文呈整体增长态势,伊朗盐湖主要的研究内容为盐湖生态环境、盐湖地质、水资源以及盐湖生物,涉及科研机构和科研人员最多的研究领域为盐湖微生物。     

Bedding characteristics of Holocene sediments from salt lakes of the northern Great Plains, Western Canada

The northern Great Plains region of western Canada contains many saline and hypersaline lakes. These lakes exhibit great diversity in geochemical and sedimentological characteristics which results in a wide range of bedding features and lamination types. Because of the high brine salinities and supersaturation with respect to many carbonate and sulfate evaporitic minerals, chemical laminae and beds are the most common stratification types observed. Simple monomineralic carbonate or sulfate layers as well as beds composed of complex mixtures of aragonite, magnesite, hydromagnesite, mirabilite, gypsum, epsomite,and/or bloedite occur frequently in Holocene sequences from these saline lakes. In addition, biolaminae, including microbialite bedding and accretionary tufa and travertine deposits, are present. Due to the dominance of chemical sedimentary processes operating in these lakes, physical laminae are uncommon. Other observed bedding features and sedimentary structures consist of distinctive pedogenic-cryogenic dry zones, salt karst structures, and clastic dykes and diapirs. Although paleoenvironmental investigations of these well-bedded sequences have just recently begun, several basins provide examples of the nature of paleolimnological information that can be derived from the salt lakes of the northern Great Plains. The chemical and biological laminae preserved in the Holocene sequence of Waldsea Lake provide evidence for significant fluctuations in brine chemistry and chemocline depth in this meromictic basin. Freefight Lake, another hypersaline meromictic lake, contains a relatively thick sequence of rapidly deposited, deep-water salts underlain by finely laminated carbonates, sulfates, and microbial mat sediments. These very thin, undisturbed laminae, combined with exceedingly high rates of offshore evaporite mineral accumulation, provide an excellent opportunity for high resolution geochemical and hydrologic reconstructions in a part of the region distinguished by a paucity of other sources of paleoenvironmental information. Chappice Lake, a shallow, hypersaline brine pool, contains a wealth of paleoenvironmental information. Although the basin probably never experienced the deep-water conditions that earmark Waldsea and Freefight lakes, nonetheless, finely laminated and well-bedded sequences abound in the Holocene record of Chappice Lake. The endogenic magnesium and calcium carbonates and sulfates comprising these laminae can be used to interpret the history of brine chemistry fluctuations which may then help to understand past changes in the hydrologic budget and groundwater inflow.     

伊朗盐湖分布和研究现状概述

伊朗盐湖分布众多,具有丰富的盐湖矿产资源和盐湖生物资源,本文综合文献资料,重点分析了伊朗盐湖的分布、研究热点、研究机构和研究人员等现状。分析得出伊朗盐湖研究领域论文整体增长态势。伊朗盐湖主要为乌尔米耶湖、Meyghan湖、Fesendooz湖、马哈尔卢盐沼和Tashk湖;干盐滩为Houze Sultan干盐滩、巴赫泰甘干盐滩、Gaav Khooni干盐滩、纳马克干盐滩、Khur干盐滩和Haj Aligholj干盐滩;在伊朗南部沿海分布大量的盐类资源;盐沙漠为达什特坎维和达什特鲁。伊朗盐湖主要的研究内容为盐湖生态环境、盐湖地质、水资源以及盐湖生物,涉及科研机构和科研人员最多的研究领域为盐湖微生物。     

Loch Macumber (early Carboniferous) of Atlantic Canada

Following the Acadian Orogeny, Atlantic Canada accommodated several, large, relatively deep lakes within a wrench-fault basin complex called the Maritime Basin. Late Devonian and Tournaisian lakes were hydrologically open, shallow to deep, mainly fresh water bodies. Middle Visean lakes, here collectively called Loch Macumber, were closed, deep, and meromictic. Their deposits comprise the first and thickest of five sequences in the Maritime Basin. Salinity in the loch increased with time from restricted marine or penesaline, to saline. Basin-centre facies consist of a thin, but extensive, sheet of black, peloidal laminated lime mudstones and an overlying thick evaporite complex. The carbonate sheet grades laterally into both laminated to thinly bedded marlstones, siliciclastic sandstones, and microbial, biocementstone mounds. Laminae consist of alternating carbonate and either silty carbonaceous shale or siliciclastic clay and silt. The mudstone and marlstone are locally interbedded with siliciclastic and carbonate turbidites, resedimented (?deep water) breccias, and olistostromes. Seasonal changes in anoxia and/or carbonate production produced rhythmic laminae of carbonate and carbonaceous shale. Carbonate grains consist of silt-sized microbial clots and rare arthropod carapaces and brachiopod shells. The mounds originated as tufa precipitated around subaqueous hydrothermal springs that supported chemosynthetic communities. Resedimentation processes including incipient brecciation, sliding, slumping, debris flows, and turbidity currents were common. The mounds trapped hydrocarbons from the surrounding laminite and sulphides from underlying hydrothermal vents. Increasing salinity with time resulted in sulphate and chloride precipitation that filled the basins and ended the life of Loch Macumber. After the deposition of thick evaporites the topography became less accentuated, the seas less saline, and the faunas more normal marine.     

察尔汗盐湖矿物组合特征及其成因指示

察尔汗盐湖赋存有硫酸镁亚型和氯化物型两种水化学类型,沉积了中国最大的液体钾镁盐矿床。为解释察尔汗盐湖卤水矿床成因,拟在别勒滩、达布逊、察尔汗和霍布逊区段选择4个剖面,剖面深度在0~7 m之间,属于全新统上含盐组的上部盐层,每隔10cm进行采样,运用XRD半定量方法分析矿物组合特征。结果表明,整个湖区矿物组合由石盐、石膏、水氯镁石和碳酸盐组成,其平均含量分别为70%、4.7%、3.4%和1%;显示其矿物组合特征简单,盐层主要沉积石盐而贫石膏和碳酸盐矿物。同时,研究发现各区段石膏(硫酸盐矿物)平均含量自西向东明显下降,含镁矿物平均含量自西南向东北明显下降。结合察尔汗盐湖区卤水化学组成和水化学类型的分带,基本符合盐湖北部和东北部卤水富Ca~(2+),贫Mg~(2+)和SO_4~(2-)的沉积事实,进一步说明盐湖北部和东北部卤水和盐类沉积受具有氯化物型盐泉水的补给影响,为察尔汗盐湖混合掺杂成因提供了一定的矿物学证据。     

Phytoplankton composition and dynamics in three shallow temporary salt lakes (Monegros, Spain)

The present study deals with phytoplankton composition and dynamics of three ephemeral saline lakes (La Muerte, Piñol and Sulfúrica) situated in one of the most arid inland zone in Europe (Los Monegros). The lakes show marked differences among one another, although they are all temporary, shallow and saline systems (>30 g l⁻¹). La Muerte is dominated by microbial mats that are absent from the other two. Piñol is more exposed to strong winds than the other two lakes and exhibits higher turbidity. Sulfúrica appears to be the most extreme system, with the highest salinity, which leads to a complete absence of macrozooplankton. Phytoplankton composition in these lakes varies as a consequence of the different physico-chemical conditions; it is fundamentally composed of typical hypersaline species such as Dunaliella sp., Aphanothece sp., and soil benthic species (e.g. Hantzschia amphyoxis) that appear to play an important role in these systems. Comparative analysis of the microbial component (phytoplankton diversity and temporal evolution) under in situ conditions and the presence of various abiotic and biotic factors, including the impact of macrozooplankton grazing, shows that it is easy to overlook large differences in the community structure of apparently similar ecosystems. The present study is a contribution to the understanding of the often-neglected microbial ecology of ephemeral shallow lakes.     

Quaternary evolution of ephemeral playa lakes on the Southern High Plains of Texas, USA: cyclic variation in lake level recorded in sediments

Ephemeral playa lakes on the Southern High Plains northeast of Amarillo, Texas, are underlain by more than 10 m of Quaternary lake deposits. Sediments beneath 12 lakes were examined in 76 hollow-stem auger cores and in excavations. Stacked depositional cycles recognized in lake sediments record repeated phases of (1) initial highstand, (2) ephemeral lake, and (3) lake shrinkage and prolonged exposure. Sedimentary and soil structures show that during all phases the lakes were ephemeral, but that the duration and frequency of flooding varied, which caused variation in the relative amounts of accumulation, deflation, and soil formation. The highstand phase is documented by wave-cut benches and lake sediments that extend beyond present lake margins. Mud transported as suspended load was deposited from ponded water. Desiccation resulted in mudcracks and allowed deposition of eolian sand, but exposure episodes were relatively short or infrequent, and vertic soil formation, oxidation of organic material, and deflation of sand were minimal. Decreased frequency and duration of flooding resulting in increased pedogenic modification under conditions similar to those under which modern playa lake sediments accumulate. Eolian silt deposited on dry lake beds and clays deposited in flooded lakes were mixed by vertic soil processes during repeated wetting and drying. Organic material was partly oxidized and partly translocated down roots and cracks, and interbedded upland facies were gleyed. Episodes of lake shrinkage and more frequent exposure are recorded by reddening and formation of calcic horizons within lake muds. Red-brown eolian loam prograded across lake sediments, and calcic soils developed on it. These grassland slope facies record decrease in the size of the playa lakes.     

Arctic microbial ecosystems and impacts of extreme warming during the International Polar Year

As a contribution to the International Polar Year program MERGE (Microbiological and Ecological Responses to Global Environmental change in polar regions), studies were conducted on the terrestrial and aquatic microbial ecosystems of northern Canada (details at: http://www.cen.ulaval.ca/merge/). The habitats included permafrost soils, saline coldwater springs, supraglacial lakes on ice shelves, epishelf lakes in fjords, deep meromictic lakes, and shallow lakes, ponds and streams. Microbiological samples from each habitat were analysed by HPLC pigment assays, light and fluorescence microscopy, and DNA sequencing. The results show a remarkably diverse microflora of viruses, Archaea (including ammonium oxidisers and methanotrophs), Bacteria (including filamentous sulfur-oxidisers in a saline spring and benthic mats of Cyanobacteria in many waterbodies), and protists (including microbial eukaryotes in snowbanks and ciliates in ice-dammed lakes). In summer 2008, we recorded extreme warming at Ward Hunt Island and vicinity, the northern limit of the Canadian high Arctic, with air temperatures up to 20.5 °C. This was accompanied by pronounced changes in microbial habitats: deepening of the permafrost active layer; loss of perennial lake ice and sea ice; loss of ice-dammed freshwater lakes; and 23% loss of total ice shelf area, including complete break-up and loss of the Markham Ice Shelf cryo-ecosystem. These observations underscore the vulnerability of Arctic microbial ecosystems to ongoing climate change.     

Within-lake variability of subfossil chironomid assemblages in shallow Norwegian lakes

Subfossil chironomids in the surface sediments of five small and shallow Norwegian lakes were studied to determine the within-lake variability of fossil assemblages, changes in chironomid assemblages with respect to water depth, and the representativeness of single samples for the entire chironomid fauna of a lake. In each of the lakes studied, six short sediment cores in the deepest part of the lake basin and two littoral to deep-water transects of seven cores each were obtained using a gravity corer, and chironomid assemblages in the uppermost centimetre of sediment were analysed. In three of the five lakes, chironomid concentrations were highest in the deepest parts of the lake basins. In the remaining two lakes, concentrations were either very variable or, in a lake with clear indications of anoxia in the bottom waters, highest at intermediate water depth. Chironomid assemblages tended to be dominated by the same taxa within a lake basin. However, in each of the lakes studied there was a clear and statistically significant shift in chironomid assemblages with respect to water depth. The organic content of the sediments was statistically significant in explaining the variance in the chironomid assemblages only in lakes where organic matter content was closely related to water depth. Only a few chironomid taxa were restricted to the shallowest parts of the lake basins, whereas a number of chironomids were found exclusively in deep-water sediments. Chironomid head capsules of running water taxa and simuliid remains were generally found in sediments close to lake tributaries and in the deepest parts of the lake basins. Although any individual sample contained only a part of the total subfossil chironomid fauna (21–63% of the total taxa per lake), chironomids dominant in any section of the study lakes were found in most of the transect and mid-lake samples.     

Factors controlling stratal pattern and facies distribution of fluvio‐lacustrine sedimentation in the Sivas mini‐basins,Oligocene (Turkey)

The Sivas Basin, located in the Central Anatolian Plateau of Turkey, is a foreland basin that records a complex interaction between sedimentation, salt tectonics and regional shortening during the Oligo‐Miocene leading to the formation of numerous mini‐basins. The Oligocene sedimentary infill of the mini‐basins consists of a thick continental succession, the Karayün Formation, comprising a vertical succession of three main sub‐environments: (i) playa‐lake, (ii) fluvial braided, and (iii) saline lacustrine. These sub‐environments are seen as forming a large Distributive Fluvial System (DFS) modified through time as a function of sediment supply and accommodation related to regional changes in climate and tectonic regime. Within neighbouring mini‐basins and despite a similar vertical stratigraphic succession, subtle variations in facies assemblages and thickness are observed in stratigraphic units of equivalent age, thus demonstrating the local control exerted by halokinesis. Stratigraphic and stratal patterns reveal in great detail the complex interaction between salt tectonics and sedimentation including different types of halokinetic structures such as hooks, wedges and halokinetic folds. The regional variations of accommodation/sediment supply led to coeval changes in the architectural patterns recorded in the mini‐basins. The type of accommodation regime produces several changes in the sedimentary record: (i) a regime dominated by regional accommodation limits the impact of halokinesis, which is recorded as very small variations in stratigraphic thickness and facies distribution within and between mini‐basins; (ii) a regime dominated by localized salt‐induced accommodation linked to the subsidence of each individual mini‐basin enhances the facies heterogeneity within the DFS, causing sharp changes in stratigraphic thickness and facies assemblages within and between mini‐basins.     

Heavy metal concentrations in surficial sediments from Wadi El Natrun saline lakes, Egypt

Heavy metal concentrations of Wadi El Natrun saline lakes were investigated. Pb, Zn, Mn, Cu, Cd, Ni, Fe and Al were measured in surficial sediments. The heavy metal concentrations largely indicate the influence of weathering of terrigenous sources on land. In comparison with the average in sedimentary rocks, the concentrations of the heavy metals studied are higher than the global average sandstone. This is also reflected in the high enrichment factors. The heavy metal concentration in lakes II and III decrease in the order Pb > Zn > Cu, while in lake I the decreasing order is Cu > Zn > Pb. Sediments with microbial mats were found to concentrate heavy metals above background sediment values.     

Temporal salinity variation in salt evaporation basins in south-eastern Australia

Salt evaporation basins in south-eastern Australia, in contrast with natural saline lakes in this region, were not highly saline and exhibited little seasonal pattern in water depth and salinity over a 2-year sampling period. Lack of seasonality arose from either constant inflow (from continuous groundwater pumping) or erratic inflow (from unpredictable irrigation demands). Differences in zooplankton species composition between the salt evaporation basins and natural saline lakes might reflect the differences in temporal salinity patterns. Some typical saline lake zooplankton were not found in the evaporation basins. Salt evaporation basins therefore may represent additions to the inland water habitats of semi-arid Australia.     

青藏高原盐湖Li地球化学

青藏高原是我国富 L i盐湖的主要分布区域 ,这些富 L i盐湖主要分布在柴达木盆地中部和西藏的中、西部地区。北部柴达木盆地盐湖 L i的储量大、Mg/ L i比值高、卤水 L i含量较高 ,南部西藏盐湖 L i的储量较大、Mg/L i比值低 ,L i含量很高。青藏高原富 L i盐湖主要分布在氯化物型—硫酸盐型过渡区内 ,其 L i含量在 12 0～ 2 6 0 m g/L之间 ;西藏富 L i盐湖主要分布在碳酸盐型—硫酸盐型过渡区内 ,其 L i含量在 2 5 0～ 6 6 0 m g/ L之间。在西藏各类盐湖中碳酸盐型盐湖含 L i较低 ,这很可能与其参加到早期沉淀的碳酸盐矿物晶格中有关。盐湖卤水中 L i的空间分布与其水源补给方向和蒸发环境紧密相关。Mg/ L i比值研究表明 ,盐湖中 Mg和 L i的含量成反比关系 ,即高 Mg环境不利于 L i的富集     

柴达木盆地盐湖硼矿资源的形成和分布特征

柴达木盆地盐湖富含硼矿资源,有沉积型和矿化水两种类型。盐湖卤水硼矿在方向性变化上呈北高南低的态势。固体硼酸盐矿床的成矿时间为晚更新世到全新世,并以全新世为主。固体硼矿主要分布在盆地北缘的大、小柴旦盐湖,马海干盐湖也有零星分布,卤水硼矿床的形成受控于丰富的硼物质来源、闭流汇水盆地和干旱的气候条件;稳定的物理化学环境、低温条件、稀释掺杂作用、生物作用、盐湖水体化学类型及其它相关成盐机制则对固体硼酸盐沉积矿床的形成起着重要的作用。     

Late quaternary paleoclimatic reconstructions for interior Alaska based on paleolake-level data and hydrologic models

Hydrologic models are developed for two lakes in interior Alaska to determine quantitative estimates of precipitation over the past 12,500 yrs. Lake levels were reconstructed from core transects for these basins, which probably formed prior to the late Wisconsin. Lake sediment cores indicate that these lakes were shallow prior to 12,500 yr B.P. and increased in level with some fluctuation until they reached their modern levels 4,000-8,000 yr B.P. Evaporation (E), evapotranspiration (ET), and precipitation (P) were adjusted in a water-balance model to determine solutions that would maintain the lakes at reconstructed levels at key times in the past (12,500, 9,000 and 6,000 yr B.P.). Similar paleoclimatic solutions can be obtained for both basins for these times. Results indicate that P was 35-75% less than modern at 12,500 yr B.P., 25-45% less than modern at 9,000 yr B.P. and 10-20% less than modern at 6,000 yr B.P. Estimates for E and ET in the past were based on modern studies of vegetation types indicated by fossil pollen assemblages. Although interior Alaska is predominantly forested at the present, pollen analyses indicate tundra vegetation prior to about 12,000 yr B.P. The lakes show differing sensitivities to changing hydrologic parameters; sensitivity depends on the ratio of lake area (AL) to drainage basin (DA) size. This ratio also changed over time as lake level and lake area increased. Smaller AL to DA ratios make a lake more sensitive to ET, if all other factors are constant.     

Late Miocene lacustrine sedimentation in the Mytilinii Basin,Samos Island,Greece

The Mytilinii Basin, eastern Samos Island, Greece, is one of many basins that developed in southeastern Europe during the Upper Neogene. The oldest lacustrine portion is of Late Miocene age, and besides tuffs, includes bituminous limestones, marlstones, dolostones and porcelanites of the Pythagorion Formation, and the limestones and diatomites of the overlying Hora Beds. Younger sedimentary rocks of Turolian through Pliocene age partially covered the Pythagorion Formation and Hora Beds (PFHB). Diatom floras range from well preserved to highly corroded and from sparse to abundant. The main taxa include Cyclotella aegaea, C. aegaea var. pythagoria, an unidentified Cyclotella and Nitzschia frustulum, and less common Epithemia turgida, E. reichelti, Synedra ulna, Tryblionella granulata, Encyonema silesiaca, Diploneis ovalis and Cocconeis placentula. Chrysophyte cysts, Hydrobia molluscs and trace fossils occur sporadically. The environmental evolution of the PFHB can be divided into three major stages. Fluctuating shallow to deeper waters in a saline lake characterized Stage A. Saline lake and playa environments with evidence for frequent earthquake events in the form of convolute bedding, drape folds and brecciated sediments characterized Stage B. During Stage C, the lake may have partially or completely split into two separate lakes. In the southeast, a saline playa passed laterally into a deeper-water lake. Locally, fresher-water ponds occurred. Subsequently, a deeper, possibly oligotrophic lake developed. In contrast, a saline lake with abundant diatoms formed in the northwest of the basin, in which diatom blooms led to whiting events and deposition of carbonate laminae. Cyclotella dominated the early floras in this water body, with later assemblages being co-dominated by Cyclotella and Nitzschia frustulum, possibly reflecting seasonal changes. Sedimentation was terminated by uplift and (or) increasing aridity associated with the Messinian Salinity Crisis.     

钾盐资源全球分布和我国找钾实践及方法探究

世界各国大型古代海相固体钾盐矿床多数是在石油、盐岩矿、盐泉卤水等资源的勘查过程中被发现的。国内几十年的找钾实践证实,我国缺乏大型海相固体钾盐矿床,近年来在新生代陆相沉积盆地中寻找大型固体钾盐矿床的努力也没有取得明显进展。我国已探明的钾盐储量主要分布在青海柴达木盆地和新疆罗布泊的11个盐湖及其晶间卤水中,约占资源总量的90%以上;以固体钾矿赋存的资源量少且品位不高,仅占己知总量的2.6%。从1958年察尔汗盐滩生产出第一批953吨钾肥填补我国钾肥生产的空白,到年产150万吨KCl的卤水钾盐开发规模的形成;从1995年在罗布泊发现大型卤水钾矿,到2008年预期生产120万吨K2SO4,显示了我国干旱区盐湖卤水钾盐资源的重要位置。有专家建议,今后的工作应在深入研究成盐盆地基底构造和岩相古地理的基础上,进一步划分可能成钾的次级盆地并进行重点勘探和研究。借鉴世界各国找钾经验,将地质观察分析、地球物理探测、地球化学与水化学等方法综合运用,我国的探盐找钾工作有可能取得突破性进展。