On Biochemical Formation of Salt Deposits

A water/salt system in an evaporative environment is both a physicochemical region and a biological one. All the parameters of the system, such as the salinity, temperature and CO2 partial pressure, are affected by halophilic bacteria. The system controls salt deposition but is modified by an accompanying ecological system; therefore it should be called a water/salt/biological system. Salt minerals result from accumulation of the remains of bacteria/algae, namely, bacteria/algae formation; whereas biological, biophysical and biochemical processes provide full evidence for organic involvement. Consequently, salt deposits should not be called purely chemical but biological/chemical ones. This new argument supplements and develops the traditional idea and helps perfect the mineralization theory of salts and even general deposits, thus giving guidance to prospecting for salt deposits.

Numerical Simulation of Contamination Accumulation Characteristics of Composite Insulators in Salt Fog Environment

To investigate the fouling characteristics of the composite insulator surface under the salt fog environment,the FXBW-110/120-2 composite insulator was taken as the research object.Based on the field-induced charge mechanism,the multi-physical field coupling software COMSOL was used to numerically simulate the fouling characteristics,explored the calculation method of ESDD,and demonstrated its rationality.Based on this method,the pollution characteristics of the composite insulator under the pollution fog environment were studied,and the influence of wind speed,droplet size,and voltage type on the pollution characteristics of the composite insulator was analyzed.The results showed that:with the increase in wind speed,the amount of accumulated pollution of insulator increases in the range of droplet size,and the relationship between wind speed and accumulated pollution is approximately linear;at the same wind speed,the amount of accumulated pollution increases with the increase of droplet size under the action of DC voltage;when there is no voltage,the amount of dirt on the upper surface of the insulator is more than that on the lower surface,while it is the opposite under DC voltage.

Isotope Dating of the Potash and Rock Salt Deposit at Bamnet Narong, NE-Thailand

Bamnet Narong is located in northeastern Thailand (Chaiyaphum Province). It is the largest salt mine in the country and has been mined for decades. The landscape in this part of Thailand is characterised by a low plateau, which is called the Khorat Plateau. The plateau is divided into two basins by the Phu Phan Range, the Sakhon Nakhon Basin in the north and the Khorat Basin in the south. The analysed potashes and rock salts are deposited in the Maha Sarakham Formation, which represents the salt-bearing strata of the Khorat Basin. The stratigraphic age of this deposit has been debated since the late 1960’s. The assigned ages range from Mid-Cretaceous to Late Cretaceous and up to the Eocene. In this study different isotopic dating systems (Rb-Sr, Sr-Sr, K-Ar and K-Ca) were applied. The stratigraphic age for the time of deposition was confirmed to be Mid Cretaceous (Cenomanian). Furthermore, the homogeneity of the carnallites was investigated in order to trace a possible redistribution of rubidium.

Progress and Prospects of Salt Lake Research in China

China has unique salt lake resources, and they are distributed in the east of Eurasian salt lake subzone of the Northern Hemisphere Salt Lake Zone, mainly concentrated in the regions with modern mean annual precipitation lower than 500 mm. This paper preliminarily reviews the progress made in salt lake research in China for the past 60 years. In the research of Paleoclimate and paleoenvironment from salt lake sediments, a series of salts have been proposed to be indicators of paleoclimate, and have been well accepted by scholars. The chloride-sulfate depositional regions of the west Qaidam and the east Tarim have been revealed to be the drought center of China since the Quaternary, and more than 6 spreading stages of arid climate （salt forming） have been identified. Five pan-lake periods with highstands have been proved to exist during the late Quaternary on the Tibetan Plateau. In mineral resource prospecting and theories of the forming of salt deposits： the atlas （1：2500000） of hydrochemical zoning of salt lakes on the Tibetan Plateau has been compiled for the first time, revealing the zonal distribution and transition from carbonate type to chloride type from south to north and presenting corresponding mineral assemblages for different type of salt lakes; several large continental salt deposits have been discovered and the theory of continental potash deposition has been developed, including the salt deposition in deep basins surrounded by high mountains, the mineral deposition from multistage evolution through chains of moderate or shallow lakes with multilevels, the origin of potassium rich brines in gravel layers, and the forming of potassium deposits through the inheriting from ancient salt deposits, thus establishing the framework of ＂Continental Potash Deposition Theory＂; several new types of Mg-borate deposits have been discovered, including the ulexite and pinnoite bed in Da Qaidam Lake, Qinghai, the pinnoite and kurnakovite bed in Chagcam Caka, Tibet, the kurnakovite bed in Lake Nyer, and the corresponding model of borate deposition from the cooling and dissolution of boron rich brines was proposed based on principles of geology, physics and chemistry. The anti-floatation-cold crystallization method developed independently has improved the capacity of KCI production to 3 million tons per year for the Qarham, serving the famous brand of potash fertilizer products. One 1.2 million ton K-sulfate production line, the biggest in the world, has been built in Lop Nor, and K-sulfate of about 1.6 million tons was produced in 2015. Supported by the new technology, i.e. brine preparation in winter-cooling-solarization-isolation-lithium deposition from salt gradient solar pond＂ the highest lithium production base at Zabuye Lake （4421 m）, Tibet, has been established, which is the first lithium production base in China that reaches the year production of 5000 tons of lithium carbonate. The concept of Salt lake agriculture （Salt land agriculture） has been established based on the mass growth of Dunaliella and other bacillus-algae and the occurrence of various halophytes in saltmarsh and salt saline-alkali lands, finding a new way to increase arable lands and develop related green industry in salt rich environments. Finally this paper presents some new thoughts for the further research and development on salt science, and the further progress in salt science and technology will facilitate the maturing of the interdisciplinary science ＂Salinology＂.

Experiments on mechanical properties of salt rocks under cyclic loading

The primary purpose of underground gas storages is to provide gas for seasonal consumptions or strategic reserve.The periodical operations of gas injection and extraction lead to cyclic loading on the walls and surrounding rocks of gas storages.To investigate the mechanical behaviors of different host rocks in bedded salt deposit,laboratory experiments were conducted on the samples of rock salt,thenardite,glauberite and gypsum.The mechanical properties of rock samples under monotonic and cyclic loadings were studied.Testing results show that,under monotonic loading,the uniaxial compressive stress（UCS） of glauberite is the largest（17.3 MPa）,while that of rock salt is the smallest（14.0 MPa）.The UCSs of thenardite and gypsum are 16.3 and 14.6 MPa,respectively.The maximum strain at the peak strength of rock salt（halite） is much greater than those of the other three rocks.The elastic moduli of halite,thenardite,glauberite and gypsum are 3.0,4.2,5.1 and 6.8 GPa,respectively.Under cyclic loading,the peak strengths of the rock specimens are deteriorated except for rock salt.The peak strengths of thenardite,glauberite and gypsum decrease by 33.7%,19.1% and 35.5%,respectively;and the strains of the three rocks at the peak strengths are almost the same.However,the strain of rock salt at the peak strength increases by 1.98%,twice more than that under monotonic loading.Under monotonic loading,deformation of the tested rock salt,thenardite and glauberite shows in an elastoplastic style.However,it changes to a ductile style under cyclic loading.Brittle deformation and failure are only observed for gypsum.The results should be helpful for engineering design and operation of gas storage in bedded salt deposit.

Geological characteristics and genesis of subbottom pinnoite deposit of Da Qaidam salt lake in Qaidam Basin

Da Qaidam salt lake is known for its both liquid and solid boron resource.Data from previous investigation of the Da Qaidam salt lake provided a comparable framework for this study that focused on investigating the section beneath the bottom of the perennial salt lake,including the timing,

Origin of boron in the Damxung Co Salt Lake(central Tibet):Evidence from boron geochemistry and isotopes

The origin of boron in boron-rich salt lakes in the Tibetan Plateau has long been the subject of debate.The Damzung Co Salt Lake in central Tibet has high boron concentrations(B=276–313 mg/L)and is an ideal site for

A Comparative Analysis of Evaporate Sediments on Earth and Mars: Implications for the Climate Change on Mars

The knowledge of Martian salts has gone through substantial changes during the past decades. In the 70th of last century, Viking landers have noticed the existence of salts on Mars. Several salt species have been suggested from then on, such as sulfates and chlorides. However, their origin was a mystery due to the lack of observations. The recent explorations and related studies at the beginning of this century revealed that the crustal composition of Mars is similar to that of Earth, and it was hypothesized that almost one third of Martian surface was covered by oceans and lakes in the early stage of Mars. The huge water bodies may have dissolved a large quantity of ions from Martian primary rocks during the whole Noachian and Hesperian epoch. After the enormous drought event happened during the late Hesperian and the early Amazonian, these dissolved ions have formed huge salts deposits and most of them were preserved on Mars until today. To date, carbonates, sulfates, chlorides have all been detected by orbital remote sensing and by landers and rovers. However, the salt mineral assemblages on Mars seems to have some differences from those on Earth, e.g., rich in sulfates and lack of massive carbonates. To explain this difference, we propose that most of the surface carbonates precipitated from the ancient oceans may have been dissolved by the later ubiquitous acidic fluids originated from the global volcanism in the Hesperian era, and formed the enormous sulfate deposits as detected, and this hypothesis seems to be supported by the evidence that most of the sulfate deposits distribute around the Tharsis volcanic province while the survived carbonates located far from it. This process can release most of the carbon on Mars to the atmosphere in the form of CO2 and then be erased by the late heavy bombardments, which might have profound influence on the climate change happened in the Hesperian age. The positive correlation between the GRS results of the potassium distributions and the distribution of chlorides on Mars, together with the high Br concentration measured from the evaporate sediments at two Mars exploration rover landing sites, indicate that the brines in the regions where the chlorides deposited may have reached the stage for potassium salts deposition, thus we propose for the first time that potassium salts deposits might be prevalent in these regions.

Characteristics of dry deposited mineral particles associated with weather conditions in the adjacent sea areas of East China during a cruise in spring 2011

Dry deposited particles, larger than 1.3 μm, were collected under clear, cloudy, and foggy conditions during a cruise, traversing the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea from 23 March to 8 April 2011. In these areas, air masses are influenced by pollution outflows from the Asian continent. The size and elemental composition of dry deposited particles were investigated using a scanning electron microscope. Number-size distributions of these particles were approximately lognormal. Under clear conditions, the mode size was about 5.0 μm, with a mean diameter of 6.9 μm. Under cloudy and foggy conditions, the mean diameters were 5.7 and 6.0 μm, respectively, but the mode sizes were vague. Non-mixed mineral particles, sea salt, and mixed mineral-sea salt particles were the major particle types. Correspondingly, Al and Si were the most frequently detected elements. Frequencies of K-, Ca-, and S-containing particles were highest under foggy conditions, while the frequency of Na-containing particles was lowest. These results indicate that fog favored sulfate production on the particles and led to the deposited mineral particles more abundant in secondary salt, suggesting the importance to consider the dependence of the comoosition of deoosited mineral narticles on weather as well as narticle size.