Abstract
Dangxiong Co is a salt lake located in the center of the Tibetan Plateau, China. We studied the petrology, mineralogy, geochemistry and microfossil assemblages in the Quaternary, first terrace of Dangxiong Co. Limnocytherellina was the most common ostracode in the first terrace and prefers warm-humid conditions. Grainy ankerite in the terrace exhibits obvious overgrowth edges and uneven surfaces. Rare earth elements and Y distribution patterns in the first terrace show moderate rare earth enrichment, whereas Eu and Dy show weak negative and positive anomalies, respectively. These features indicate that the first terrace in Dangxiong Co is composed of lacustrine hydrothermal deposits. Moreover, the δ11B value of the Quaternary travertine is low, reflecting the low values in hydrothermal waters of the Quaternary. We suggest that hydrothermal water has been an important source of boron in the Quaternary. The three rivers on the south side of Dangxiong Co contribute 95% of the B2O3. The geochemical characteristics and the δ11B values of the waters in these three rivers are the same as in waters from Maerzuo hot spring. Thus, the hot spring is still the main source of boron to Dangxiong Co. These results have important implications for future exploration of borate deposits in salt lakes.
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Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the China Geological Survey (Grant Nos. DD20190172, DD20190398 and DD20201115). The field work was supported by Dangxiongcuo Station for Salt Lake Resources and Environment Observation, Institute of Mineral Resources, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences. The authors thank Dr. Kunli Luo, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, for help with the ICP–MS and ICP–OES analyses, and Dr. Shifeng Dai, State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, for help with the XRD analysis.
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Luo, Y., Zheng, M., Ni, R. et al. The source of boron in Quaternary sediments of Dangxiong Co, Tibetan Plateau, China. J Paleolimnol 64, 167–178 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-020-00129-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10933-020-00129-x