Engineer-Technologist I. V. Gebler.

Some Salt Lakes of Kokchetav Uyezd

From the Laboratory of Chemical Technology of Dyes and Fibrous Substances of the Tomsk Technological Institute.

(With 1 diagram in the text).

In the summer of 1923 the author of the present note visited the “Borovoe” resort and its immediate environs, taking part in the balneological expedition of Prof. M. G. Kurlov. The task of the expedition was to investigate the salt and mud lakes in the “Borovoe” region with a view to using them for medical-resort purposes.—This area abounds in small lakes mineralized to one degree or another.—From the summit of Mount Kok-chet-tau (Sinyukha), rising 1000 meters above the “Borovoe” resort itself, one can see up to 70 lakes situated in the steppe terrain to the N and NE of the resort. The expedition examined the most interesting of these lakes, and moreover those nearest to “Borovoe.” The samples of lake waters taken were analyzed by the author¹) in the laboratory of dyes and fibrous substances of the Tomsk Technological Institute. A brief description of the lakes and the results of the analyses are given below.

Lake Baltash. This name was assigned by the expedition to the largest lake in a close group of lakes located about 20 km north of “Borovoe”; the Kirghiz from the neighboring nomad camps, however, use the word “Baltash” to designate all the lakes of this group and apparently the locality itself. Lake Baltash is about 5 kilometers long and 2½ kilometers wide; its long axis has a S–N direction.—A faint smell of hydrogen sulfide is perceptible near the lake; there is mud on the bottom of the lake, but in insignificant quantity and of poor quality, with inclusions of more or less large particles of detrital material.

The lake was visited on July 22.

Analysis of the water of Lake Baltash:

Specific gravity . . . . : 1.0298 at \(t = 13.5^\circ\text{C}\).
Reaction . . . . . . . . : slightly alkaline.
Transparency . . . . . . : complete.
Coloration . . . . . . . : colorless.
Odor . . . . . . . . . . : none.
Taste . . . . . . . . . . : bitterish-salty.

One liter of water contains:

Thus the water of Lake Baltash is saline, with sodium predominating over the other cations.

¹) Except for one sample, the analysis of which was made by Eng. M. N. Mikhailov.
²) The solid residue was always dried at \(t = 130^\circ\text{C}\).

Lake Balpash-sor.—To the side, beyond Balpash, to the SE of it, behind a low hummocky ridge, there is a hollow in the form of a cirque; its middle is occupied by a small lake, about 3/4 kilometer across. The Kirghiz call it Balpash-sor.¹ This lake is very shallow; the brine layer is no more than 0.5 meter in the deepest places, and considerably less near the shores; in order to take a water sample for analysis it was necessary to move at least 60 meters away from the shore. On the bottom of the lake there is mud of a bluish-black color, rather soft and viscous, with the odor of hydrogen sulfide; the depth of its layer near the shores is about 0.4 meter. A broad belt of wet mud on the shores of the lake indicates its considerable drying during the summer heats; perhaps, in view of the very small quantity of water, this lake is already on the way to disappearance. The temperature of the water in the lake on July 22 at 5 o’clock in the evening was 26.0° C. (air temperature = 23.0° C.). At this temperature the water represents a saturated solution of salts, precipitating, upon cooling, crystals of decahydrated sodium sulfate, Na₂SO₄·10H₂O, as was established by analysis of the crystalline precipitate, the quantity of which, of course, increases with falling temperature; in connection with this, the composition of the lake brine is not constant. For analysis the water was heated to 27°C; at this temperature a definite portion was taken and diluted with distilled water; from this solution quantitative portions were taken for the corresponding determinations. In addition, determinations of the SO₄″ content in undiluted water were made for different temperatures, on the basis of which the composition of the lake water for these temperatures was calculated.

Analysis of the water of Lake Balpash-sor:

One liter of water contains (27.0°C):

Dense residue: 386930.0.
Loss on ignition » : 33880.0.

The quantity of Na and SO₄″ ions, changing at lower temperatures as a result of the crystallization of Glauber’s salt, is shown in the following table:

¹ By the word “sor” the Kirghiz denote bitter-salt lakes with mud, whose water gives off a foul odor.

As is evident from the figures given, by the character of its water Lake Balpash-sor also belongs to the haloid type, with a large, however, content of sulfate salts. Also noteworthy is the considerable content of magnesium salts; if the entire amount of magnesium is represented in the form of sulfate salt, this would amount to 17.42% of the weight of the solid residue.

Lake Moldabai-sor is located 25 km N of the Borovoe resort; it is elongated in the direction 103--NW for approximately 4 kilometers, with a width of about 2. Its water has a faint unpleasant odor, in which hydrogen sulfide can be detected; there is, however, only a small amount of mud, and that of poor quality--coarse and sandy. The temperature of the water on July 22 at 1 o’clock in the afternoon was 22.5°; the thermometer in the air at the same time showed 18.0°C. The lake plankton is sparse; near the shores only a small number of some tiny larvae are noticeable. In the surrounding steppe, dry and stony, licorice grows in abundance (licorice root--Glycyrrhiza sp.).

Analysis of the water of Lake Moldabai-sor:

One liter of water contains:

Solid residue: 95736.0.

Loss on ignition: 14860.0.

The character of the lake water is haloid. The relative content of magnesium salts is very considerable; moreover, as is evident from the table of equivalents, the amount of SO4'' ions present in the water can bind at most (assuming the entire amount of SO4'' to be bound with Mg'') 25% of all the magnesium; thus at least 75% of all Mg ions must be present in the brine of the lake described in the form of chloride salt.

Lake Bazarbai-sor--of approximately the same size as the preceding one--is located 3 km to its SW; with respect to mud the lake is of no interest. The temperature of the water on 27/VII at 2 o’clock in the afternoon was 21.5°; air temperature 27.0°C.

Analysis of the water of Lake Bazarbai-sor:

One liter of water contains:

Solid residue: 23504.0.
Loss on ignition: 1332.0.

The character of the lake water is haloid-sodium.

Lake Dzhanibek-sor.—This is a small lake, nearly round in form, about 3/4 kilometer across; it is located 15 kilometers from Borovoe to the north-east, in a basin among low hills; it is very shallow and, apparently, dries up greatly during the summer heat, especially from the western side, resembling in this respect the above-described Lake Balpash-sor, with which it is also similar in the large quantity of good mud, lying as a thick layer on the bottom of the lake. The temperature of the water and air on July 27 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon was 29.0° C.

Analysis of the water of Lake Dzhanibek-sor.

One liter of water contains:

Solid residue: 202800.0.
Loss on ignition: 25200.0.

In the character of its water the lake is haloid-sulfate-sodium.

Lake Ak-tuz-sor. Approximately 15 kilometers to the north of the “Borovoe” resort, between the system of the Balpash lakes and Dzhanibek-sor, there is [[unclear: lake name]], which the Kirghiz call in two ways: Ak-tuz-sor and [[unclear: Orz-uzun-kun-sor]]. The length of this lake, extending from north-east to south-west, should be taken as from 1½ to 2 kilometers, with a width of about one kilometer. The lake is a continuous layer of mirabilite, consisting of aqueous sodium sulfate, above which the layer of brine does not exceed 0.3–0.4 meter, below, apparently, not reaching a greater depth; in some parts of the lake the salt bed is exposed over a considerable extent. The thickness of this bed, for lack of drilling tools, was not determined¹). On July 22 at 2 o’clock in the afternoon the temperature of the saline solution 20 sazhens from the shore was 27.0° C (air t.: 24.5° C). According to the analysis of the sample taken under these conditions, the character and composition of such a solution proved to be as follows:

¹) Prof. D. P. Orlov, who visited Lake Ak-tuz-sor in 1920, reports that he found the thickness of the salt bed in one place to be about 18 vershoks, and beneath the salt bed a layer of mud of 8.5 vershoks was found.

One liter contains:

Thus the brine of the lake described is a saturated solution of sodium sulfate in a solution of other salts, from which, when the temperature is lowered, crystals of Glauber’s salt—Na₂SO₄·10H₂O—precipitate; this was established by analysis of crystals washed with water and dried.

Analysis of the salt:

In the 2nd volume of N. N. Lyubavin’s Technical Chemistry (p. 175) there is an indication that, according to Kosmann’s observations, from a saturated solution of Glauber’s salt sodium chloride precipitates anhydrous sodium sulfate; the same is observed for some lakes (see ibid., p. 179).

In the case described here, however, with the given composition of the brine, we do not see confirmation of such a rule: sodium sulfate separates from the saline solution in the form of the decahydrate and, moreover, in a chemically pure state. The latter circumstance may be connected with the high purity of the natural crystals, the content of foreign salts in which is often considerably lower than in factory sulfate.¹

To establish the dependence of the crystallization of Glauber’s salt on temperature, for the given composition of the saline solution, determinations of SO₄″ were made in the sample of lake water taken at different temperatures; the figures obtained are given in the following table:

SO₄″ in 1 liter, mg

The amount of precipitating sodium sulfate calculated on the basis of these data gives an idea of the crystallization of this salt and of the composition of the lake water with changing temperature, which is shown in the appended diagram.

¹ Cf. the article by Prof. V. I. Minaev, “The Kuchuk mirabilite deposit as a possible center of the soda industry of the Kuznetsk-Altai Industrial Region,” Bulletin of the Society of Siberian Engineers, vol. V, issue 1.

Several years ago, on Lake Ak-tuz-sor, Glauber’s salt was extracted by Mr. Menshikov in an amount of about 50,000 poods per year; the aqueous salt was calcined in furnaces and, in dehydrated form, sent to the city of Petropavlovsk to the glass factory. From the lake to the nearest railway station, Alekseevskaya of the Kokchetav railway, is about 60 versts; the steppe road over hard gristly soil is very good and quite convenient for automobiles. In general, the dirt roads in the steppes of Kokchetav Uyezd are rootless; this has made it possible recently to establish regular automobile communication in the Borovoe region and thus to connect the resort with Omsk and Petropavlovsk. All the above-mentioned lakes are very accessible in terms of approach to them; we drove around them by automobile, not infrequently without roads, which, however, did not impede movement.

Lake Mai-balyk. The approach to this lake, situated 10 kilometers to the N.-W. of the “Borovoe” resort, may be made by two routes, of which the nearer is very inconvenient; a carriage road is laid along the stony northeastern slope of the Kokchetau ridge, in a pine forest among granite outcrops, along the shore of Lake Bolshoe Chebach’e (weakly mineralized), which is about 15 versts long. The passage along this road, obstructed by granite boulders, with often occurring steep descents and ascents, is extremely difficult and ruinous for carriages, and therefore this road can, strictly speaking, be used only for horseback travel. The other road to Mai-balyk goes through the steppes, bypassing Kokchetau; it is quite convenient and accessible for automobile travel, but this route is much longer—up to 30 kilometers.

Lake Mai-balyk is up to 2 kilometers long, with a width in meters of 300–400; its long axis has a S.-W.—N.-E. direction; the depth is, apparently, considerable: at least, already several meters from the shore a foot does not reach the bottom. The water temperature in the lake on July 18 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon was 21.0°C (air temperature 24.0°C). There is a negligible amount of mud in the lake, and its quality is unsatisfactory. The water sample was taken in the southwestern part of the lake, 5 meters from the shore.

Analysis of the water of Lake Mai-balyk

(According to engineer M. N. Mikhailov.)

One liter of water contains

100 cubic centimeters of water require for neutralization 24.00 cubic centimeters of 1/10 N HCl. By the character of its water, Lake Mai-balyk may be classed among the weakly alkaline-saline waters.

To I. V. Gebler’s article: “Some Salt Lakes of Kokchetav Uyezd”

CRYSTALLIZATION OF GLAUBER’S SALT FROM THE BRINE OF LAKE AK-TUZ-SOR

Vertical-axis label: Quantity of precipitated $\mathrm{Na_2SO_4 \cdot 10H_2O}$, in grams per 1 liter of brine.

Horizontal-axis label: Temperature, $^\circ\mathrm{C}$.

Visible curve annotations:

• $0^\circ$: 301.5
• $5^\circ$: 277.8
• $10^\circ$: 226.7
• $14^\circ$: 148.7
• $18^\circ$: 0.98
• $23^\circ$: 0.26
• $27^\circ$