Geochemical simulation of the formation of brine and salt minerals based on Pitzer model in Caka Salt Lake

Abstract

The geochemical simulation of the formation of brine and salt minerals based on Pitzer model was made in Caka Salt Lake. The evolution of the mixed surface-water and the mineral sequences were calculated and compared with the hydrochemical compositions of the brine and the salt minerals of the deposit in Caka Salt Lake. The results show that the formation temperature of the lake is between 0°C and 5°C, which is well identical with other studies. The mixing of salt-karst water with the surface waters, neglected by the former researchers, is very important to the formation of the lake, indicating that the initial waters resulting in the formation of the lake are multi-source. It is the first time to use Pitzer model in China for making geochemical simulation of the formation and evolution of inland salt lake and satisfactory results have been achieved.