Hydrochemical characteristics and transformation relationships between different water bodies in the Qixing Lake region of the Hobq Desert, China

doi:10.1007/s40333-025-0066-y

Journal of Arid Land

2025, Vol. 17

Issue (11): 1604-1622 DOI: 10.1007/s40333-025-0066-y

Research article

Hydrochemical characteristics and transformation relationships between different water bodies in the Qixing Lake region of the Hobq Desert, China

XI Cheng¹, YAN Min¹, ZUO Hejun¹^,²^,^*(

), LIU Ruimin¹

¹College of Desert Control Science and Engineering, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China
²State Key Laboratory of Water Engineering Ecology and Environment in Arid Area, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010018, China

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Abstract

Desert lakes are an important link in the water cycle and an important reservoir of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas, playing an important role in maintaining the stability of the regional natural environment. However, studies on the hydrochemical evolution and transformation relationships between desert lake groups and potential water sources are limited. Taking the Qixing Lake, the only lake group within the Hobq Desert in China, as the area of interest, this study collected samples of precipitation water, Yellow River water, lake water, and groundwater at different burial depths in the Qixing Lake region from July 2023 to October 2024. The hydrochemistry of different water bodies was analyzed using a combination of Piper diagrams, Gibbs diagrams, ratio of ions, and MixSIAR mixing models to reveal the transformational relationships of lake water with precipitation, groundwater, and Yellow River water. Results showed that both groundwater and surface water in the study area are weakly-to-strongly alkaline, with HCO₃^- as the dominant anion and Na⁺, Ca²⁺, and K⁺ as the main cations. The hydrochemical type of groundwater and some lakes was dominated by HCO₃^--Na⁺, whereas that of other lakes was dominated by Cl^--Na⁺ and HCO₃^--Mg²⁺. The hydrochemistry of groundwater and Yellow River water in the Qixing Lake region was controlled mainly by a combination of evaporite saline and silicate rock mineral dissolution. The local meteoric water line (LMWL) of the study area proved that regional water bodies are strongly affected by evaporative fractionation. The MixSIAR model revealed that shallow groundwater is the main recharge source of the lake group in the Qixing Lake region, accounting for 59.0%-64.2% of the total. The findings can provide references for the identification of water sources in desert lakes and the development and utilization of water resources in desert lake regions.

Key words： hydrochemical type cation exchange stable isotope MixSIAR model desert lake sources Qixing Lake

Received: 01 March 2025 Published: 30 November 2025

Corresponding Authors: ^*ZUO Hejun (E-mail: zuohj@126.com)

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Cite this article:

XI Cheng, YAN Min, ZUO Hejun, LIU Ruimin. Hydrochemical characteristics and transformation relationships between different water bodies in the Qixing Lake region of the Hobq Desert, China. Journal of Arid Land, 2025, 17(11): 1604-1622.

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http://jal.xjegi.com/10.1007/s40333-025-0066-y OR http://jal.xjegi.com/Y2025/V17/I11/1604

Fig. 1 Overview of the topographic and geomorphologic map of the Hobq Desert (a) and hydrogeologic zoning and groundwater discharge direction in Hanggin Banner (b), as well as the information of three boreholes near the Qixing Lake and the hydrogeologic situation (c). HK 06, HK 07, and ZK 256 are borehole designation; Q2 and Q4 are Quaternary deposits of the Pleistocene (Q2) and Holocene (Q4). Note that the boundary of Hanggin Banner is based on the standard map (蒙S(2023)0036) of the Map Service System (https://zrzy.nmg.gov.cn/bsfw/bzdt/), and the boundary of the standard map has not been modified.

Fig. 2 Overview of the Qixing Lake region and distribution of the sampling points for different water bodies. DDT, Dadaotu Lake; WRT, Wuritu Lake; ZJN, Zhangjinao Lake; ZHDT, Zhahandaotu Lake; YLS, Yueliangshen Lake; NR, Naren Lake; YKES, Yikeershen Lake. YR1-3, 3 water sample groups from Yellow River (YR); GW-DT1-3, 3 groups of groundwater samples in Daotu village; GW-DLT1-2, 2 groups of groundwater samples in Dalatu village; DDT1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from DDT; WRT1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from WRT; ZJN1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from ZJN; ZHDT1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from ZHDT; YLS1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from YLS; NR1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from NR; YKES1-3, 3 groups of lake samples from YKES; PP1-7, 7 water sample groups of precipitation (PP).

Water sample group	Concentration (mg/L)										pH
Water sample group	Cl^-	SO₄^2-	NO₃^-	F^-	HCO₃^-	K⁺	Na⁺	Ca²⁺	Mg²⁺	TDS	pH
YR1	72.7	129.9	12.6	0.2	155.2	5.0	69.6	35.7	29.8	504.6	7.23
YR2	75.3	131.8	13.7	0.3	169.5	4.8	72.6	24.1	32.9	518.2	7.98
YR3	70.9	125.6	11.4	0.3	198.3	4.2	71.2	41.7	25.6	490.9	7.49
GW-DT1	80.5	54.9	13.0	0.4	267.3	11.0	121.6	30.5	17.0	545.5	8.99
GW-DT2	6.5	17.4	3.3	1.5	226.7	8.0	76.4	10.4	8.2	272.7	8.28
GW-DT3	8.0	18.0	3.1	1.4	249.4	9.9	81.6	12.0	9.5	272.7	8.34
GW-DLT1	78.8	43.3	4.2	1.6	336.2	10.6	105.3	22.7	28.6	504.6	8.46
GW-DLT2	534.5	525.4	8.7	1.5	865.6	53.9	644.2	66.9	129.8	2113.6	8.60
DDT1	649.1	100.0	21.0	7.5	1152.6	83.1	607.8	34.5	146.4	1801.4	9.55
DDT2	430.4	69.3	12.8	3.5	956.2	47.4	412.5	32.1	95.4	1459.1	10.02
DDT3	559.5	86.2	18.3	6.5	1002.6	67.9	542.6	30.2	125.9	1759.1	8.67
WRT1	1145.5	184.1	4.3	0.6	1356.4	424.8	813.3	33.6	173.7	3054.6	9.97
WRT2	1205.6	198.7	5.0	0.5	1401.2	433.6	854.2	40.2	188.6	3313.6	10.35
WRT3	1099.6	179.7	4.2	0.5	1255.8	401.2	795.5	32.1	159.4	2877.3	9.76
ZJN1	371.5	46.6	1.6	0.6	1324.3	133.8	446.8	1.0	139.1	1581.8	10.58
ZJN2	394.5	48.7	1.9	0.9	1406.5	144.3	485.6	1.0	149.7	1854.6	10.98
ZJN3	355.9	42.0	0.9	0.3	1255.2	128.5	398.6	0.5	128.6	1486.4	10.33
ZHDT1	6152.1	465.7	19.3	2.7	8019.7	1832.6	6159.1	102.9	159.1	8645.5	10.42
ZHDT2	6251.6	475.6	20.9	3.0	8235.1	1945.7	6274.3	115.6	175.5	9531.8	10.74
ZHDT3	5986.6	446.9	18.2	2.4	7521.4	1695.6	5981.1	98.1	167.5	7472.7	10.03
YLS1	44.8	17.2	2.9	0.4	241.2	7.4	28.9	37.3	29.8	409.1	8.97
YLS2	49.7	19.9	3.0	0.4	269.6	8.6	30.7	41.3	30.5	451.4	9.34
YLS3	40.3	15.9	2.6	0.3	220.2	7.0	25.7	34.2	26.0	381.8	8.36
NR1	56.8	21.0	3.2	0.2	133.7	45.4	15.9	22.5	15.5	354.6	9.70
NR2	59.9	25.7	4.5	0.7	154.9	55.2	17.0	24.6	19.5	490.9	10.15
NR3	51.7	16.6	2.9	0.1	121.7	40.3	15.4	21.7	10.6	368.2	9.27
YKES1	60.5	7.0	7.6	0.4	203.1	7.8	41.4	26.5	22.7	381.8	8.97
YKES2	69.5	8.6	8.5	0.4	246.2	8.5	44.6	30.0	28.5	422.7	9.05
YKES3	55.5	5.7	5.8	0.2	169.0	6.0	34.7	22.6	21.1	354.6	7.94

Table 1 Characterization of hydrochemical ions in different water bodies

Fig. 3 Piper diagram for water samples from different water bodies in the study area

Fig. 4 Gibbs diagrams showing the hydrochemical formation process of different water bodies in the study area. (a), relationship between Na⁺/(Na⁺+Ca²⁺) and total dissolved solids (TDS); (b), relationship between Cl^-/ (Cl^-+HCO₃^-) and TDS.

Fig. 5 Distribution of the chlor-alkali indices (CAI-I and CAI-II) (a) and relationship between [(Na⁺+K⁺)-Cl^-] and [(Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺)-(HCO₃^-+SO₄^2-)] (b) for different water bodies in the study area

Fig. 6 Relationship between the major ion ratios in the different water bodies in the study area. (a), relationship between Ca²⁺/Na⁺ and HCO₃^-/Na⁺; (b), relationship between Na⁺ and Cl^-; (c), relationship between Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺ and HCO₃₃^-; (d) relationship between HCO₃^-+SO₄^2- and Ca²⁺+Mg²⁺.

Fig. 7 Comparison between the global meteoric water line (GMWL) and local meteoric water line (LMWL) in the Qixing Lake region and other adjacent areas (a) and relationship between deuterium excess (d-excess) and TDS in lake water (b), as well as the variations in stable isotopes of hydrogen (δD) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) among different water bodies (c and d). Bars are standard errors.

Table 2 Isotope characterization in different water bodies

Fig. 8 Composition of water sources recharging the Qixing Lake. (a), recharge proportions of precipitation, Yellow River, and groundwater to each lake of the Qixing Lake group; (b), recharge proportions of precipitation, Yellow River, and groundwater to the Qixing Lake; (c), recharge proportions of Yellow River to groundwater. Data in Figure 8b are mean±SD. Bars are standard errors.

Table 3 Water balance parameters for each lake of the Qixing Lake group


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