Advances in Earth Science ›› 2005, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (4): 394-406. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2005.04.0394

• Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY OF RIVERS IN GUIZHOU PROVINCE, CHINA: CONSTRAINTS ON CRUSTAL WEATHERING IN KARST TERRAIN

HAN Guilin; LIU Congqiang   

  1. The State Laboratory of Environmental Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guizhou 550002, China
  • Received:2004-02-25 Revised:2004-08-23 Online:2005-04-25 Published:2005-04-25

HAN Guilin;LIU Congqiang. HYDROGEOCHEMISTRY OF RIVERS IN GUIZHOU PROVINCE, CHINA: CONSTRAINTS ON CRUSTAL WEATHERING IN KARST TERRAIN[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2005, 20(4): 394-406.

Major ions and Sr2+ concentrations and Sr isotopic compositions of two major river systems were measured in Guizhou karst region. The chemical composition of these rivers in the karst region represents that of river water from the typical carbonate areas. Its hydrogeochemical characteristics are different from those of global major rivers: The river and its tributaries have high total dissolved solid concentrations, with Ca2+ and HCO-3 being dominant, Ma2+ and SO2-4 coming next. Both Na++K+ and Cl-+Si account for 5%~10% of the cations and anions, respectively. These rivers have high total concentration (TZ+) ranging from 2.0 to 5.5 meq/L, which are significantly higher than those of the global river averge (TZ+=0.725meq/L). The chemical and isotopic compositions of these rivers are largely under controll by the geological signatures of their drainage areas. The Wujiang River system draining carbonate strata show high Sr2+ concentrations(1.07~9.70) and lower 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.7077~0.7110, as compared with the Yuanjiang River system (87Sr/86Sr=0.7090~0.7145, Sr2+=0.39~1.32) draining detrital strata. The end-member identification by the intercorrelations between chemical and isotopic ratios shows three main sources, which are derived from weathering of limestone, dolomite and silicates. The Wujiang River system has characterized by low Na/Ca, Mg/Ca mole ratios (0.05~0.34 and 0.18~0.79, respectively), showing a strong influence of limestone, about 96% of solutes derived from the weathering of carbonate. On the other hand, the Yuanjiang river system show high Na/Ca mole ratio from 0.06~1.80, Mg/Ca from 0.23~1.30, suggestive of a strong influence of limestone and dolomite weathering, about 90% of solutes derived from the weathering of dolomite in the Wuyanghe river system and about 54% of solutes derived from the weathering of limestone in the Qingshuijiang river system.

No related articles found!
Viewed
Full text


Abstract