Home > Archive > No. 1 (201) 2026 > 63–89
Geology & Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals No. 1 (201) 2026, 63–89
ISSN 0869-0774 (Print), ISSN 2786-8621 (Online)
https://doi.org/
Anatoliy GALAMAYa, Daria SYDORb, Sofiia MAKSYMUKc, Oksana OLIIOVYCH-HLADKAd
Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Combustible Minerals of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Lviv, Ukraine
a e-mail: galamaytolik@ukr.net, https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4864-6401
b https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5704-3748
c https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6301-9988
d https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7678-1725
Abstract
Comprehensive studies of Messinian salt-bearing deposits of the Tuz Gölü Basin (Turkey) and Pleistocene deposits of the Qaidam Basin (China) have established the physicochemical causes of changes in brine composition in salt-forming basins and reconstructed the crystallization conditions of halite, glauberite, and polyhalite. These results contribute to the theoretical framework of salt mineralogenesis in applied evaporite studies and serve as geochemical criteria for predicting salt deposits. Particular attention to the identification of evaporite genesis was given to the preliminary investigation of the origin of fluid inclusions in halite.
According to the results of brine studies of fluid inclusions in halite from the Tuz Gölü Basin, the sources of salts in the basin were both continental and marine waters. A decrease in potassium concentration in basin brines is related to their interaction with organic matter and clay of continental origin. Since the concentration of sedimentary brines and their potassium content remained low throughout salt accumulation, this indicates a lack of potential for the occurrence of potash-bearing units within the salt sequence. The removal of sulfate ions and part of sodium from the brines at certain stages of basin evolution was caused by the formation of glauberite during periods of halted halite deposition. Repeated significant increases in sulfate ion concentrations in basin brines, followed by abrupt decreases, indicate favourable conditions for the occurrence of glauberite-bearing units within the depositional sequence.
According to the study of salt-bearing deposits of the Qaidam Basin, the principal mechanism of polyhalite formation was the salting-out of gypsum, which was transformed into polyhalite during the sedimentary stage. The sources of calcium in the sulfate-type salt-forming basin were continental fresh waters as well as pore and intercrystalline brines of chemogenic–terrigenous sediments. It was determined that the temperature regime of bottom brines during sedimentogenesis played a key role in the transformation of gypsum into polyhalite. Relics of potassium–magnesium minerals in the studied samples and elevated magnesium contents in the brines of secondary fluid inclusions indicate that part of the polyhalite may have formed through the replacement of sylvite and carnallite in the deposits due to calcium input from solutions associated with nearby oil accumulations. The established physicochemical conditions of polyhalite formation in the basin expand the theoretical understanding of polyhalite mineralization in fundamental and applied studies and represent geochemical criteria for predicting its deposits.
Detailed investigation of chemical paleooceanography, the features of salt mineral formation with specific chemical compositions in basins, and the discrimination between marine and continental salt-forming basins makes a significant contribution to understanding the genetic nature of evaporite-related mineral resources and to improving their future exploration and prediction.
Keywords
fluid inclusions, halite, glauberite, polyhalite, sources of salts
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Received: January 21, 2026
Accepted: February 23, 2026
Published: April 2026