Carbon and Oxygen Isotopic Composition of Surface-Sediment Carbonate in Bosten Lake (Xinjiang,China) and its Controlling Factors

作     者：Steffen MISCHKE Alexander PROKOPENKO 

作者机构：Freie University BerlinBerlinGermany Department of Geological SciencesUniversity of South CarolinaColumbiaSouth CarolinaUSA 

出 版 物：《Acta Geologica Sinica(English Edition)》 (地质学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2009年第83卷第2期

页      面：386-395页

核心收录：

学科分类：08[工学] 081501[工学-水文学及水资源] 0815[工学-水利工程] 

基　　金：funded by NSFC grants(no.:40773064 40331012 and 40041004) 

主　　题：carbonate aragonite calcite stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition Bosten Lake 

摘      要：Bosten Lake is a mid-latitude lake with water mainly supplied by melting ice and snow in the Tianshan Mountains. The depositional environment of the lake is spatially not uniform due to the proximity of the major inlet and the single outlet in the western part of the lake. The analytical results show that the carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of recent lake sediments is related to this specific lacustrine depositional environment and to the resulting carbonate mineralogy. In the southwestern lake region between the Kaidu River inlet and the Kongqi River outlet, carbon isotope composition （δ^13C） values of the carbonate sediment （-1‰ to -2‰） have no relation to the oxygen isotope composition of the carbonate （δ^18O） values （-7‰ to -8‰）, with both isotopes showing a low variability. The carbonate content is low （〈20%）. Carbonate minerals analyzed by X-ray diffraction are mainly composed of calcite, while aragonite was not recorded. The salinity of the lake water is low in the estuary region as a result of the Kaidu River inflow. In comparison, the carbon and oxygen isotope values are higher in the middle and eastern parts of the lake, with δ^13C values between approximately ＋0.5‰ and ＋3‰, and δ^18O values between -1‰ and -5‰. There is a moderate correlation between the stable oxygen and carbon isotopes, with a coefficient of correlation r of approximately 0.63. This implies that the lake water has a relatively short residence time. Carbonate minerals constitute calcite and aragonite in the middle and eastern region of the lake. Aragonite and Mg-calcite are formed at higher lake water salinity and temperatures, and larger evaporation effects. More saline lake water in the middle and eastern region of the lake and the enhanced isotopic equilibrium between water and atmospheric CO2 cause the correlating carbon and oxygen isotope values determined for aragonite and Mg-calcite. Evaporation and biological processes are the main reasons for the salinity and carbonate mi