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Climate Change Impact on the Evolution of the Saline Lakes of the Soan-Sakaser Valley (Central Salt Range; Pakistan): Evidences from Hydrochemistry and Water (δD, δ18O) and Chlorine (δ37Cl) Stable Isotopes

Authors

Hussain,  Syed Asim
External Organizations;

Han,  Feng-Qing
External Organizations;

Han,  Wenxia
External Organizations;

/persons/resource/arodrigu

Rodríguez,  A.
3.1 Inorganic and Isotope Geochemistry, 3.0 Geochemistry, Departments, GFZ Publication Database, Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum;

Han,  Ji-Long
External Organizations;

Han,  Jibin
External Organizations;

Nian,  Xiu-Qing
External Organizations;

Yi,  Lei
External Organizations;

Ma,  Zhe
External Organizations;

Widory,  David
External Organizations;

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Fulltext (public)

4522914.pdf
(Publisher version), 5MB

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Citation

Hussain, S. A., Han, F.-Q., Han, W., Rodríguez, A., Han, J.-L., Han, J., Nian, X.-Q., Yi, L., Ma, Z., Widory, D. (2019): Climate Change Impact on the Evolution of the Saline Lakes of the Soan-Sakaser Valley (Central Salt Range; Pakistan): Evidences from Hydrochemistry and Water (δD, δ18O) and Chlorine (δ37Cl) Stable Isotopes. - Water, 11, 5, 912.
https://doi.org/10.3390/w11050912


Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_4522914
Abstract
The surfaces of saline lakes are shrinking at a threatening rate worldwide. Likewise, the Uchhali complex (formed by three saltwater lakes located in the Salt Range, Pakistan) that serves as a major regional source of water for humans and as a habitat for water birds must be monitored. With this objective in mind, we conducted a study coupling hydrochemistry and stable isotope compositions (δ 37 Cl, δ 18 O and δD) in order to characterize its hydrochemical properties and the main processes controlling them. Results showed that the Uchhali complex salinity has dramatically increased compared to other similar lakes in the world. While the Uchhali (UL) and Khabbeki (KL) lakes present a sodium-chloride hydrofacies, the Jahlar (JL) is of a sodium-bicarbonate type. Hydrochemistry parameters indicate that the weathering of surrounding rocks is the major vector for the increase of total dissolved solids in the water. On the other hand, the observed enrichment in heavy isotopes of the water stable isotope compositions implies that the different lakes are undergoing a long history of intense evaporation. The study of the corresponding δ 37 Cl isotope compositions supports the conclusion that evaporation, along with weathering, are the main driving processes. Besides climate effects that result in the decrease of annual precipitation and the increase of evaporation, water consumption for domestic purposes (household and agriculture) aggravates the rise of the lakes' salinity.