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Qarhan Salt Lake
date:2020/10/29
Qarhan Salt Lake (chá ěr hàn yán hú 察尔汗盐湖) , located in the salt marshes of the Qaidam Basin near the Mongol-Tibetan prefecture city of Haixi (hǎi xī méng gǔ zàng zú zì zhì zhōu 西蒙古藏族自治州) in the northeastern part of Qinghai Province (qīng hǎi shěng 青海省), is the largest salt lake belonging to the Qaidam Basin, sometimes called China's Salt Lake City. Qarhan Salt Lake is also the country's largest salt lake and, in fact, is one of the most famous inland salt lakes in the world. Although the Qaidam Basin is a low-lying marsh, it is situated on theQinghai-Tibetan Plateau (qīng zàng gāo yuán 青藏高原) at an altitude of 2670 meters. The lake, oriented on an east-west axis, is 160 kilometers in length and varies in width from 20-40 kilometers, while the lake's depth varies from 20 meters to a mere 2 meters.
The area around Qarhan Salt Lake produces so-called pearl salt, a product dubbed the "King of Salt Lake", a pure salt that is as white as driven snow, and glitters like jade. The 32 kilometers (20 miles) long 'Wan Zhang Salt Bridge' is the most famous attraction of the lake.
Overview
The word "Qarhan" is Mongolian, meaning "salt marsh". Located in a hyper-arid basin that is extremely hot and dry – and with long days – the amount of evaporation from the lake far exceeds the amount of rainfall for a comparable water surface elsewhere. Indeed, Qaidam Basin is itself endorheic, with no inflow of water from the outside except for runoff surface water that accumulates in the marsh and its lakes. The lakes have therefore shrunk over time, and this shrinkage is also due partly to the lakes' (marshes') briny water which crystallizes into salt under the searing heat, leaving a hard, sloped rim in the form of a salt bed that rings the present-day lakes, including Qarhan Salt Lake.
Though the terrain surrounding Qarhan Salt Lake is flat and desolate, the landscape is nevertheless interesting and unique. The lake itself, though devoid of fish, is home to a few special plants that grow in abundance here. For example, there is a species of flowering plant here that produce flowers in various suggestive shapes such as corals, gems, pagodas and even shapes reminiscent of certain constellations in the night sky. On a clear, calm, sunny day, the sun's reflection on the placid lake brings to mind the image of a mirror, and on days when the wind blows, the lake seems to be alive with dancing reflections that glisten with the heaving movements of the lake, creating a mirage that will fool you into believing that you are gazing at an ocean instead of a lake. The beauty of the lake at such times, enhanced by the salt flowers – known locally as "the blue flowers" – is truly compelling.
Geography
Qarhan Salt Lake is a large playa surface in the Chaerhan sub-basin, which lies in the Qaidam basin (chái dá mù pén dì 柴达木盆地) of inland Qinghai. The Chaerhan Salt Lake playa has an area of 5856km2 and is one of largest playa surfaces in the world, comprising nine salt lakes:Dabiele (bié lè tān 别勒滩), Xiaobiele(xiǎo bié lè tān 小别勒滩), Sheli (sè niè 涩聂), Xidabuxun (xī dá bù xùn 锡达布逊), Dabuxun (dá bù xùn 达布逊), Tuanjie, Nanhuobuxun (nán huò bù xùn 南霍布逊), Beihuobuxun (běi huò bù xùn 北霍布逊), and Xiezuo. Dabuxun Salt Lake, which lies in the western part of the Chaerhan basin (chá ěr hàn pén dì 察尔汗盆地), is the largest of the lakes. Their water depths vary from 20cm to 1m, their salt contents from 165 g/l to 360 g/l, and the pH values are ranging between 5.4 and 7.85. There is no outflow, but seven intermittent streams and six permanent streams bring water into the basin.
The Chaerhan basin originated through faulted structures in the Mesozoic. The underlying bedrock is formed from Proterozoic metamorphics, Palaeozoic sandstone and limestone, and Mesozoic granite. Lacustrine deposition with the Chaerhan Basin has been continuous since the late Cenozoic. There has been slow subsidence of the Chaerhan Basin throughout the Quaternary. As a result, Quaternary lacustrine deposits have a thickness of 2500m. However, there is no evidence for abrupt tectonic activity that might have disrupted the drainage network within the basin or otherwise affected the record of changes in relative lake depth. The climate in the catchment is cold (0.1°C annual mean temperature) and extremely arid with 28-40 mm total annual precipitation, but ca. 3000 mm total annual evaporation.
The area around Qarhan Salt Lake produces so-called pearl salt, a product dubbed the "King of Salt Lake", a pure salt that is as white as driven snow, and glitters like jade. The 32 kilometers (20 miles) long 'Wan Zhang Salt Bridge' is the most famous attraction of the lake.
Overview
The word "Qarhan" is Mongolian, meaning "salt marsh". Located in a hyper-arid basin that is extremely hot and dry – and with long days – the amount of evaporation from the lake far exceeds the amount of rainfall for a comparable water surface elsewhere. Indeed, Qaidam Basin is itself endorheic, with no inflow of water from the outside except for runoff surface water that accumulates in the marsh and its lakes. The lakes have therefore shrunk over time, and this shrinkage is also due partly to the lakes' (marshes') briny water which crystallizes into salt under the searing heat, leaving a hard, sloped rim in the form of a salt bed that rings the present-day lakes, including Qarhan Salt Lake.
Though the terrain surrounding Qarhan Salt Lake is flat and desolate, the landscape is nevertheless interesting and unique. The lake itself, though devoid of fish, is home to a few special plants that grow in abundance here. For example, there is a species of flowering plant here that produce flowers in various suggestive shapes such as corals, gems, pagodas and even shapes reminiscent of certain constellations in the night sky. On a clear, calm, sunny day, the sun's reflection on the placid lake brings to mind the image of a mirror, and on days when the wind blows, the lake seems to be alive with dancing reflections that glisten with the heaving movements of the lake, creating a mirage that will fool you into believing that you are gazing at an ocean instead of a lake. The beauty of the lake at such times, enhanced by the salt flowers – known locally as "the blue flowers" – is truly compelling.
Geography
Qarhan Salt Lake is a large playa surface in the Chaerhan sub-basin, which lies in the Qaidam basin (chái dá mù pén dì 柴达木盆地) of inland Qinghai. The Chaerhan Salt Lake playa has an area of 5856km2 and is one of largest playa surfaces in the world, comprising nine salt lakes:Dabiele (bié lè tān 别勒滩), Xiaobiele(xiǎo bié lè tān 小别勒滩), Sheli (sè niè 涩聂), Xidabuxun (xī dá bù xùn 锡达布逊), Dabuxun (dá bù xùn 达布逊), Tuanjie, Nanhuobuxun (nán huò bù xùn 南霍布逊), Beihuobuxun (běi huò bù xùn 北霍布逊), and Xiezuo. Dabuxun Salt Lake, which lies in the western part of the Chaerhan basin (chá ěr hàn pén dì 察尔汗盆地), is the largest of the lakes. Their water depths vary from 20cm to 1m, their salt contents from 165 g/l to 360 g/l, and the pH values are ranging between 5.4 and 7.85. There is no outflow, but seven intermittent streams and six permanent streams bring water into the basin.
The Chaerhan basin originated through faulted structures in the Mesozoic. The underlying bedrock is formed from Proterozoic metamorphics, Palaeozoic sandstone and limestone, and Mesozoic granite. Lacustrine deposition with the Chaerhan Basin has been continuous since the late Cenozoic. There has been slow subsidence of the Chaerhan Basin throughout the Quaternary. As a result, Quaternary lacustrine deposits have a thickness of 2500m. However, there is no evidence for abrupt tectonic activity that might have disrupted the drainage network within the basin or otherwise affected the record of changes in relative lake depth. The climate in the catchment is cold (0.1°C annual mean temperature) and extremely arid with 28-40 mm total annual precipitation, but ca. 3000 mm total annual evaporation.
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